Jacob van Swanenburg was the son of the painter and stained glass artist Isaac Claesz. van Swanenburg (1537-1614). He began his training as a painter in his father's workshop before leaving the Netherlands for Italy around 1591. After working in Venice and Rome for a while, he moved to Naples where he married Margaretha De Cardone in 1599. Both a painter and an art dealer, he sold his own paintings directly from his shop which opened onto the street. In 1608, he was prosecuted by the Neapolitan curia because he had exhibited paintings depicting scenes of witchcraft in his store. As a result, he returned to Leiden in 1616 to settle permanently with his wife and three children. He became very successful in his home town and between 1621 and 1623, he taught the young Rembrandt then aged 15. After a prolific career, Jacob van Swanenburg died in 1638 during a trip to Utrecht. Despite producing so many works, it has only been possible to attribute a few dozen to this painter. His body of work consists mainly of paintings of hell and diablerie scenes.