Nicolaes Eliaszoon Pickenoy (10 January 1588 – 1653/1656) was a Dutch painter ofFlemish origin. Pickenoy was possibly a pupil ofCornelis van der Voort and presumablyBartholomeus van der Helst was his own pupil.
He was the son of theAntwerp monumental mason Elias Claeszoon Pickenoy (1565–1640) and Heijltje Laurens s'Jonge (1562–1638), who emigrated toAmsterdam before Nicolaes Pickenoy was born. In 1621, living near theOude Kerk, he married Levijntje Bouwens (1599-na 1656), an orphan of 21 years. They had ten children: Sara and Elias died young.
Pickenoy painted largeSchuttersstukken, group portraits of theregents of the orphanage, and individual portraits of local or national celebrities likeNicolaes Tulp,Cornelis de Graeff,Maarten Tromp andJochem Swartenhont,Elisabeth Bas's husband. The earliest picture ascribed to the artist is "Dr. Sebastiaen Egbertz de Vrij's Osteological Presentation" of 1619, now in Amsterdam Historisch Museum. His heyday was ca. 1630–1637, a period marked by a high artistic level and numerous commissions from prominent patrons. After 1637 he painted little, save for a number of prestigious—and lucrative—group portraits. Besides portraits, he also painted a small number of biblical subjects, one of which can be seen in theMuseum Catharijneconvent. TheRijksmuseum Amsterdam andAmsterdams Historisch Museum hold many of his best works, not least the Schutterstukken or militia paintings.
Around 1638 he bought the house next toRembrandt van Rijn from Nicolaes Seys Pauw, on the corner of Sint Anthoniessluis and Jodenbreestraat, a fashionable area with many painters, art dealers, jewellers and so on. Till 1620 the house had been owned by his master,Cornelis van der Voort, and rented out toHendrick van Uylenburgh from 1626. During the years 1631–1634 the latter was collaborating with Rembrandt, who painted numerous portraits for Van Uylenburgh's art business. Thus the house Pickenoy purchased had been a centre of Amsterdam portraiture for decades. In 1639 Rembrandt returned to the neighbourhood as he bought the house next to Pickenoys, on the site of the present dayRembrandthuis. Rembrandt could leave his house via an exit onto the Zwanenburgwal under the house of his neighbor Pickenoy. He brought outNight Watch—painted in his courtyard—rolled up through the tunnel. Like Rembrandt, Pickenoy was not able to bring up the loan and he sold the house in 1645.
The work of Pickenoy is difficult to distinguish from that of some of his contemporaries. Typical of Pickenoy are the fiercely invading light that makes the heads stand out sharply, the somewhat exaggerated gestures, the large greenish brown shadows and the odd-shaped eyes.
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