Jan Jansz. van de Velde was born in Haarlem to a Dutch family of artists. His father, Jan, drew and made prints, while his nephews Esaias and Anthonie (1617-1672) were both painters. Jan was trained in Haarlem, although who taught him is not known. He specialised in still-life painting. Jan Jansz. van de Velde moved to Amsterdam in 1656. His early still-lifes resemble the work of Pieter Claesz and Willem Heda in both style and content. While in Amsterdam, Van de Velde specialised in small intimate compositions of just a handful of objects. //