Pieter Jansz Saenredam

His engraver father had made profitable investments in the Dutch East India Company, the VOC, so when he died in 1607 Pieter and his mother received a substantial inheritance. The pair moved to Haarlem, where for 11 years Saenredam studied with the artist Frans de Grebber. Saenredam devoted himself from the outset to painting architecture, especially church interiors. He would make meticulous sketches in situ, which allowed him to perfect his skills in rendering perspective and the interplay of lines in his accurate depictions of the buildings in his paintings. With his church interiors, Saenredam created an entirely new genre of painting. Upon his death the artist was buried in Haarlem at St. Bavokerk, the church he had painted many times throughout his life.