(b Wijk bij Duurstede, nr. Utrecht, ?c.1595; d Utrecht, 21 Feb. 1624). Dutch figure painter. After training in Utrecht with Moreelse, he went (c.1612) to Rome, where his style was strongly influenced by Caravaggio (his patrons included Cardinal Scipione Borghese and Marchese Vincenzo Giustiniani, both of whom were important collectors of Caravaggio's work). He returned to the Netherlands in about 1621 and although he died only a few years after this, he played a leading role, with Honthorst and Terbrugghen, in establishing Utrecht as a stronghold of the Caravaggesque style. Most of his paintings are of religious subjects, but he also produced genre scenes, including what is perhaps his best-known work, The Procuress (1622, MFA, Boston). This picture is seen in the background of two paintings by Vermeer, whose mother-in-law evidently owned it.
Text source: The Oxford Dictionary of Art and Artists (Oxford University Press)