Pynaker, Adam

, a celebrated painter of landscapes, was born in 1621, at the village of Pynaker, between Schiedam and Delft, and always retained the name of the place of his nativity. He went for improvement to Rome, where he studied for three years, after nature, and after the best models among the great masters. He returned an accomplished painter, and his works rose to the highest esteem. His lights and shadows are always judiciously distributed and skilfully contrasted: but his cabinet pictures are much preferable to those of larger size. He chose generally a strong morning light, which allowed him to give a fine verdure to his trees. His distances are properly thrown back, by diversified objects intervening, and his landscapes enriched with figures, and pieces of architecture. He died in 1673. ²