Pieter Jansz. Quast was born and worked in Amsterdam. In 1634 he entered the Guild of St. Luke in The Hague. By 1644 he had returned to Amsterdam, where he died. He painted peasant interiors, conversation pieces, soldiers, comic theatrical scenes, representations of the five senses, portraits and landscapes, as well as biblical and historical compositions. He was very influenced by other Amsterdam painters like Anthonie Palamedesz. and Pieter Codde, but also by the French artist Jacques Callot. Some of his drawings were engraved and published by Salomon Savery in the 1630s.
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Pieter Quast
1605/6 - 1647
Paintings by Pieter Quast

An officer stands in a stable yard resting his foot on top of a turned over washtub, while a peasant kneels to adjust his spur. This task was normally part of a page’s duties, as seen in guardroom scenes of the time, but in several of Pieter Quast’s paintings officers humiliate peasants by forcin...
Not on display

Bathed in a bright spotlight, a man stands alone in front of a fairly plain background. His clothes – he is wearing boots with spurs, a short cape and a wide brimmed hat with an ostrich feather – suggest that he is a soldier.Quast made a number of small full-length portraits of sitters in similar...
Not on display