The seventh child of local brewer Jan Willemsz Leyster, Leyster was born in Haarlem.
She was described by contemporary Haarlem poet Samuel Ampzing in his book Beschrijvinge ende lof der stadt Haerlem, while the specifics of her education are unknown (1628).
Some scholars believe Leyster pursued a career in painting to help support her family following her father’s bankruptcy. She may have learned to paint from Frans Pietersz de Grebber, who ran a reputable workshop in Haarlem in the 1620s. During this time, her family relocated to Utrecht, and she may have met some of the Utrecht Caravaggisti.
Her first known signed work dates from 1629. By 1633, she had been admitted to the Haarlem Guild of St. Luke. Some sources say she was the first woman registered by the Guild; others say it was Sara van Baalbergen in 1631. Dozens of other female artists may have been admitted to the Guild of St. Luke during the 17th century; however, the medium in which they worked was frequently not listed – at the time, artists working in embroidery, pottery painting, metal and wood were all included in guilds – or they were admitted for continuing the work of their deceased husbands.
Who was Judith Leyster’s husband Jan Miense Molenaer?
In 1636, Leyster married Jan Miense Molenaer, a more prolific artist who worked on similar subjects as herself. In the hopes of bettering their financial prospects, the couple relocated to Amsterdam, where Molenaer already had clients. They stayed for eleven years before moving back to Heemstede in the Haarlem area. There they shared a studio in a small house located in the present-day Groenendaal Park. Only two of Leyster and Molenaer’s five children survived to adulthood.
