Jan Breughel the Younger was the eldest son of Jan Brueghel the Elder, also known as 'Velvet' Brueghel, and his first wife Isabella de Jode. After losing his mother at the age of two, he was introduced to the art of painting in his father's studio. He then went to Italy, where he joined the Cardinal and Archbishop of Milan Federico Borromeo in 1622, who was also his father's patron. Three years later, he returned to Antwerp after his father's death to take over the management of the family studio. It was then that he began to sign his works "Breughel" rather than "Brueghel" to distinguish himself from his illustrious progenitor. At the same time, he joined the Guild of St. Luke and became dean in 1630. In 1626, he married Anne-Marie Janssens, daughter of the famous painter Abraham Janssens.

Close to his father's subjects and compositions, he adopted his models, copied them, modified them and renewed them in order to create something new, thus adapting to the desires of his contemporaries by substituting a more realistic, simple and cheerful art for the mannerism that had prevailed until then. Owing to the affinity of his painting with that of Jan Brueghel the Elder, his works are sometimes confused with those of his illustrious father. His works, characterised by the use of a delicate palette and a succession of precise and rapid strokes with full and deep contouring, charm the viewer thanks to a diversity of subjects and a unique, almost modern rendering.