Nicolaes Maes genre portrait
A signed and dated picture of 1653 shows that the artist had established himself as an independent artist by that year.
In the middle or end of the 1650s, Maes traveled to Antwerp where he studied the work of Flemish artists such as Peter Paul Rubens, Anthony van Dyck and Jacob Jordaens.  During his stay in Antwerp Maes is said to have paid a visit to Jordaens' studio and conversed with the artist at length about painting. From the 1660s, he dedicated himself almost exclusively to portrait painting. He continued to live and work in Dordrecht until 1673. He was clearly successful as attested by the fact that he paid municipal taxes on capital of 3,000 and 4,000 guilders. His high social status is demonstrated by his membership of the local civic guard, in which he reached the rank of lieutenant.
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