Gaspar de Crayer was born in
Antwerp as the son of Gaspard de Crayer the Elder, a decorative painter, illuminator and art dealer. His mother Christina van Abshoven or Apshoven descended from a
family of painters who at the time enjoyed some fame, but whose work is barely known now. Rather than stay in Antwerp, he looked for opportunity in the capital Brussels. He is believed to have studied under
Raphael Coxie, the court painter of the governors of the
Spanish Netherlands Albert VII, Archduke of Austria and
Isabella Clara Eugenia. He became a master in the Brussels
Guild of Saint Luke in 1607. He was a dean of the Guild from 1611 to 1616 and was a member of the
Brussels City Council in 1626–1627. He remained in Brussels until 1664. He operated a large workshop which produced portraits of members of the leading classes in Brussels as well as a large number of altarpieces for churches in Flanders and abroad including Germany and Spain. He also received in 1647 a commission from Dutch architect
Jacob van Campen to assist in the decoration of
Huis ten Bosch, the palace of
stadtholder Frederick Henry in
The Hague. De Crayer also completed commissions for Spanish patrons, the largest of which was a commission for at least 17 images of saints, possibly destined for the Monastery of St Francis in
Burgos. Another important foreign patron was the German Catholic ruler
Maximilian Willibald of Waldburg-Wolfegg, for whom de Crayer executed several large altarpieces for the churches in the Palatinate between 1658 and 1666. Even while he gained a high social position in Brussels, de Crayer did not lose contact with his hometown Antwerp. He was in particular a friend and business associate of the art dealer
Matthijs Musson (c. 1600–78), who was also his patron and arranged commissions for him. He married Catharina Janssens on 17 February 1613. , 1645 He worked regularly in
Ghent where he produced altarpieces. He had previously established a reputation in Ghent: before 1620 he had regularly completed commissions for various religious and secular institutions of the city and he been given an important role in the execution of the monumental decorations for the
Joyous Entry into Ghent of
Cardinal-Infante Ferdinand of Austria in 1635. In 1664 he finally moved to this city where he spent the last five years of his life. In spite of his age, he received numerous important orders for altarpieces. Among the numerous paintings made in Ghent stand out the
Martyrdom of St. Blas and the works that are in the
Saint Bavo's Cathedral. In his large workshop de Crayer trained between 1610 and 1661 a large number of pupils, including presumably
Jan van Cleve (III),
Anselm van Hulle and François Monnaville. Gaspar de Crayer died on 27 January 1669 in Ghent. ==Work==