Jan Willem Pieneman was born on 4 November 1779 in Abcoude in the Dutch Republic (present-day Netherlands).

[1] In 1805 he was appointed as drawing instructor at the artillery and engineering training centre in Amersfoort.

He was particularly noted for his paintings depicting events from the history of the United Kingdom of the Netherlands.

[1] He played an important role as mentor and tutor to a group of young artists, one of whom was Jozef Israëls.

[1] Other pupils included: Christina Alida Blijdenstein, Jacob Bruggink, Gijsbertus Craeyvanger, Reinier Craeyvanger, Johannes Hinderikus Egenberger, Petrus Franciscus Greive, Lambertus Johannes Hansen, Louis Meijer, his son Nicolaas Pieneman, Jan Jacob Spohler and Willem Steelink.