 He learned to paint from Cornelis van Poelenburch, and later lived in Utrecht from 1626, alternating between Utrecht and The Hague between 1635 and 1640.He married Petronella van der Hove in 1639 in the Hague, and in 1640 he moved to Utrecht, and in 1642 he moved to Amsterdam, the same year his second son was born, who died in infancy.In 1644 he became a member of the Hague painter's guild (that contained not only painters, but glass makers, chair makers, and book binders, according to Houbraken), and in 1656, he became a city magistrate and helped form the Confrerie Pictura.