Wybrand de Geest
Wybrand Simonsz. De Geest (16 August 1592 – c. 1661) was a Dutch Golden Age portrait painter from Friesland.
Also recorded as Wybrand Symonsz de Geest · studio of Wybrand de Geest · Wybrand Simonsz. de Geest the Elder · Wybrand de Geest I.
Wybrand de Geest

Wybrand de Geest · Public domain
- Name
- Wybrand de Geest
- Born
- 16 August 1592
- Birthplace
- Leeuwarden
- Died
- c. 1661
- Field
- Painting
- Movement
- Baroque
- Nationality
- Dutch Republic.
- Occupation
- painter, designer and artist.
- Fields
- painting.
- Movements
- Baroque.
- Teachers
- Abraham Bloemaert.
- Languages
- Dutch.
VALÉORINE Encyclopedia
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Documentary summary
Wybrand Simonsz. De Geest (16 August 1592 – c. 1661) was a Dutch Golden Age portrait painter from Friesland.
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Authority files
wikidata · Q636727 · wikipedia · Wybrand de Geest
In this article
Biography
Biography
Training under Abraham Bloemaert is recorded. The recorded working language is Dutch. The field of work recorded is painting. Subjects and genres recorded for the work are portrait. Places of work recorded in the authority are Rome. Residence is recorded at Leeuwarden and Utrecht. Positions recorded include court painter. Works named in the authority record are Portrait of Adolf (1540-68), Count of Nassau, Portrait of Hendrik (1550-74), Count of Nassau, Portrait of Willem Frederik (1613-64), Count of Nassau-Dietz and Self-portrait. Work by Wybrand de Geest is recorded in the collections of Fries Museum, Rijksmuseum, Frans Hals Museum, Statens Museum for Kunst and Prinsenhof.
Key facts
Key facts
• Name — Wybrand de Geest • Birth Name — Wybrand de Geest • Born — 16 August 1592 • Birthplace — Leeuwarden • Died — c. 1661 • Place of death — Leeuwarden • Field — Painting • Movement — Baroque
Biography
Biography
Wybrand de Geest was born and died at Leeuwarden. He learned painting from his father, Simon Juckesz, a stained glass worker. He studied later with Abraham Bloemaert. From 1614 to 1618 he travelled in France and Italy on a Grand Tour. In 1616 he met up with Leonard Bramer in Aix-en-Provence. While in Rome he became a member of the painters' circle known as the Bentvueghels. He earned the nickname 'De Friesche Adelaar', or "the Frisian Eagle". De Geest married Hendrickje Fransdr Uylenburgh in 1622, a niece of Saskia van Uylenburgh, the wife of Rembrandt. In 1634, just before his own marriage, Rembrandt visited De Geest's studio. In 1636 the Frenchman Charles Ogier, secretary to Cardinal Richelieu visited De Geest, to view his large collection of curiosities and coins.
Portraits
Portraits
De Geest was the most important portrait painter of Friesland and painted numerous portraits of the well-to-do citizens of his day, many of which survive in the Fries Museum. Perhaps the most intimate portraits he painted were those of his direct family: • Illustration — Adam Pynacker, his son-in-law • Illustration — Eva de Geest, his daughter De Geest influenced Jacob Adriaensz Backer, and his students were Jan Jansz. de Stomme, and Jacob Potma. His sons Julius and Frank also became painters. His grandson Wybrand wrote plays, a travel guide to Rome, and published "Het Kabinet der Statuen" (1702).
Identity and origins
Identity and origins
Other recorded relations include Wybrand de Geest II.
Career and activity
Career and activity
Wybrand de Geest worked in painting. His work is associated with Baroque. Recorded position is court painter. He belonged to Bentvueghels. He worked at Rome, Leeuwarden and Utrecht.
Identity
Identity
Wybrand de Geest is recorded as a citizen of Dutch Republic. Classed in the genre portrait painting. Recorded with the occupation designer.
Life and career
Dated record
Life and career
The full dated record · 2 entries
1592
Wybrand de Geest was born on 16 August 1592.
1661
Wybrand de Geest died on 1 January 1661.
Places
Named by the record
Places
Only places the record itself states, plotted where the house gazetteer settles their coordinates. Nothing is inferred from a name or a nationality.
Wybrand de Geest was born at Leeuwarden.
Birthplace
Wybrand de Geest died at Leeuwarden.
Deathplace
Leeuwarden and Utrecht.
Residences
Leeuwarden.
Birth place
Literature
Literature
Literature
Geest, Wybrand de, the Younger, Benezit Dictionary of Artists, 2011
Geest, Wybrand (Symonsz.) de, I, Oxford Art Online, 2003
Geest, Wybrand Simonsz. De, the Elder, Benezit Dictionary of Artists, 2011
Sophia Anna van Pipenpoy geschilderd door Wybrand de Geest, The Rijksmuseum Bulletin, 2006
Sophia Anna van Pipenpoy geschilderd door Wybrand de Geest, The Rijksmuseum Bulletin, 2024
Scholarly footprint
Literature
Scholarly footprint
A count of publications is evidence of attention, not of standing, and is given here only as a measure.
Notes from the source article
Cited by Wikipedia
Notes from the source article
These works are cited by the source article, in its own numbering. They are recorded as its citations, not as sources VALÉORINE has verified.
- 1.Gazette des beaux arts.
- 2.Cita web http://www.artnet.com/library/03/0311/T031163.asp The Grove Dictionary of Art
- 3.Cita web http://www.artnet.com/library/01/0108/T010878.asp Leonard Bramer in The Grove Dictionary of Art
- 4.Dutch Culture in a European Perspective.
- 5.Treccani
- 6.Artist-Biographies.
- 7.Dictionnaire historique des peintres de toutes les écoles.
- 8.Cita web https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Friedrich_V_by_Wybrand_de_Geest.jpg Ritratto di Federico V Elettore Palatino - Commons
- 9.Ritratto di famiglia di due fratelli e due sorelle.
- 10.Cita web https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Wybrand_de_Geest,_zelfportret.jpg Commons
- 11.Cita web https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Ernst_Casimir_van_Nassau-Dietz_(Wybrand_de_Geest,_1635).jpg Ritratto di Ernst Casimir conte di Nassau-Dietz - Commons
- 12.Cita web https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Hendrik_Casimir_I_van_Nassau.jpg Ritratto di Ernst Casimir conte di Nassau-Dietz - solo busto - Commons
- 13.Cita web https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Portrait_of_Ernst_Casimir_van_Nassau-Dietz_(Wybrand_de_Geest,_1633).jpg Ritratto di Ernst Casimir conte di Nassau-Dietz - busto - Commons
- 14.Cita web https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Hendrik_Casimir_I_van_Nassau-Dietz.jpg Hendrik Casimir Conte di Nassau-Dietz - ommons
- 15.Ritratto di signora in elaborato costume - Artnet.
- 16.Ritratto di giovane donna in abito nero con ampio colletto di pizzo.
- 17.Cita web https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Wybrand_de_Geest_Portrait_of_a_child.jpg Ritratto di bambina - Commons
- 18.The Family in the Western World from the Black Death to the Industrial Age.
References
Citations
References
Each reference names the institution holding it, so a reader may go to the document itself.
reference work
Wikidata, structured authority record Q636727: Wybrand de GeestWikimedia Foundation
Partially resolvedreference work
Partially resolved
The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 14 August 2026.
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