Dutch painter. Little is known about his life. He was a pupil of the painter and engraver Willem Doudijns (1630-1697) in The Hague. He lived in Rome between 1680 and 1690, where he joined the Bentvueghels, also known as the Schildersbent, a society of Netherlandish artists in Rome. Upon his initiation into the Schildersbent he was given the bent name 'Ascanius', a reference to the son of the Trojan hero Aeneas. He was a painter of historical allegories and conversation pieces. Several of the dozen or so paintings firmly attributed to him depict scenes of witchcraft. //