Dutch painter. He is frequently incorrectly referred to in the literature without his family name. He was a son of the monumental mason Elias Claesz. Pickenoy who had come to Amsterdam from Antwerp. Nicolaes may have studied painting with Cornelis van der Voort, one of the most important portrait painters in Amsterdam, who also originally came from Antwerp. The earliest work attributed to Pickenoy is Anatomy Lesson of Sebastiaen Egbertsz. de Vrij (1619; Amsterdam, Historical Museum). Although Pickenoy's paintings included other subjects, he apparently earned his living primarily as a portrait painter. Soon after 1624 he succeeded to van der Voort's place as a portrait painter whose work was greatly in demand from the upper-class citizens of Amsterdam. //