Karel Breydel

Breydel studied under Peter Ykens, upon whose death he continued his studies under Peter Rysbrack. After completing his training he travelled to Germany where he worked in Nuremburg and then Frankfurt before briefly serving with his brother Frans as court painters to the court of Hasse-Kassel. In 1703 he returned to Amsterdam, where he was to turn his attention away from the landscape tradition and to work in the genre in which he made his reputation – battle painting. Remaining in Amsterdam until 1723, he then travelled to Antwerp, then to Brussels and Ghent before returning to Antwerp where he would spend the remainder of his career.