Johannes Cornelisz. Verspronck (between 1600 and 1603 – 30 June 1662 (buried)) was a Dutch

Golden Age The term Golden Age comes from Greek mythology, particularly the ''Works and Days'' of Hesiod, and is part of the description of temporal decline of the state of peoples through five Ages of Man, Ages, Gold being the first and the one during ...

portrait A portrait is a portrait painting, painting, portrait photography, photograph, sculpture, or other artistic representation of a person, in which the face and its expressions are predominant. The intent is to display the likeness, Personality type ...

painter from

Haarlem Haarlem (; predecessor of ''Harlem'' in English) is a city and municipality in the Netherlands. It is the capital of the province of North Holland. Haarlem is situated at the northern edge of the Randstad, one of the most populated metropoli ...

Life

Johannes Cornelisz. Verspronck was born between 1600 and 1603 in

as the son of the painter

Cornelis Engelsz Cornelis Engelsz. (1575–1650) was a Dutch Golden Age painter and the father of Johannes Cornelisz Verspronck. Biography Engelsz was born in Gouda. According to Houbraken, he was a pupil of Karel van Mander and a colleague of Frans Hals ...

from

Gouda Gouda may refer to: * Gouda, South Holland, a city in the Netherlands ** Gouda (pottery), style of pottery manufactured in Gouda ** Gouda cheese, type of cheese originally made in and around Gouda ** Gouda railway station * Gouda, Western Cape, a s ...

, who taught him to paint. In 1632 he became a member of the

Haarlem Guild of St. Luke The Haarlem Guild of Saint Luke was first a Christian, and later a city Guild for various trades falling under the patron saints Luke the Evangelist and Saint Eligius. History During the lifetime of Geertgen tot Sint Jans, there was probably a ...

and started a successful career as a portraitist of mostly Catholic sitters in Haarlem. He may have been a

Frans Hals Frans Hals the Elder (, , ; – 26 August 1666) was a Dutch Golden Age painter, chiefly of individual and group portraits and of genre works, who lived and worked in Haarlem. Hals played an important role in the evolution of 17th-century group ...

pupil, and was strongly influenced by him, especially in his natural expressions and relaxed poses. He is best known for his exactness in painting details such as jewelry and lace, which made him quite popular with female sitters. Most notably, he won a lucrative commission in 1642 for a group portrait of the regentesses of the Heilige Geesthuis, at the time one of the wealthiest charity institutions in Haarlem, situated on the Krocht. This was won at the expense of Frans Hals himself, who had painted the regents of the St. Elisabeth Gasthuis in 1641 and fully expected to win the commission for the women. Twenty years later Verspronck even painted the regentesses of the St. Elisabeth Gasthuis. According to Houbraken, he was called "Gerard Sprong", and was the son of the painter

who made many schuttersstukken that could be seen in the Doelen (he meant the buildings in Haarlem that were used for target practise, and where today the central

library A library is a collection of materials, books or media that are accessible for use and not just for display purposes. A library provides physical (hard copies) or digital access (soft copies) materials, and may be a physical location or a vir ...

and proveniershuis are located.