The son and pupil of Cornelis Engelszoon, he worked for a long time in the studio of Frans Hals at Haarlem. In 1632 he
was enrolled in the guild of St. Luke. He painted nothing but portraits and, while these were modeled exclusively on his fatherÆs work in the beginning, he soon developed a style of his own, characterized by refined execution, a leaning for subtle shad
ing and a fondness for monochrome backgrounds, veiled with a light and transparent glaze. His masterpieces include the \i Portrait of a Girl in Blue\i0 (Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam) and \i Doctor Akersloot\i0 (Frans Halsmuseum, Haarlem), along with paintin
gs representing regents. The quantity and quality of his paintings make him one of the finest representatives of the Haarlem school of portraiture.
