(b Harlingen, c.1608; d Amsterdam, 27 Aug. 1651). Dutch portrait and history painter, active mainly in Amsterdam, where he had a prosperous career. The tradition (stemming from Houbraken) that he was a pupil of Rembrandt is now doubted, but his work was certainly strongly influenced by him; indeed, attributions have sometimes been disputed between them (see Bol). His best-known painting is the beautiful Portrait of a Boy in Grey (1634, Mauritshuis, The Hague). His nephew, Adriaen Backer (1630/2–84), also had a successful career as a portraitist in Amsterdam.