Jan Frans van Bredael

[2] In 1706 Jan Frans van Bredael and his cousin Jozef entered into a contract with the Antwerp art dealer Jacob de Witte to produce for a number of years copies after the paintings of Philips Wouwerman and Jan Brueghel the Elder.

His brother Jozef was paid a marginally lower fee but was not bound like Jan Frans by an exclusivity obligation to work only for Jacob de Witte.

Jan Frans finally ended up working for de Witte for a period of nine years.

He is deemed to have enjoyed the patronage of important clients, among whom James Radclyffe, 3rd Earl of Derwentwater and possibly even the King.

While he initially mainly copied works of Wouwerman and Brueghel, Jan Frans van Bredael was able to develop his own style.

Van Bredael quoted Wouwerman's tropes in his own compositions of equestrian and battle scenes.