Jan Baptist de Wael was born in a painting family in
Antwerp. His grandfather was the painter
Jan or Jan Baptist de Wael who had been included by
Anthony van Dyck in his "Iconography" (Icones Principum Virorum), a collection of portraits of leading personalities in van Dyck's time. Jan Baptist the Younger's father was
Lucas de Wael. Lucas de Wael was not only a painter and engraver but also a dealer in art and luxury goods and had spent years in Italy, in particular
Genoa, with his brother
Cornelis de Wael. After Lucas had returned to Antwerp, Lucas and Cornelis, who had remained in Genoa, established a lucrative business trading in art and luxury items between Italy and Flanders. In Genoa, Cornelis' workshop was the centre of the colony of Flemish artists who resided in or passed through the city. Cornelis assisted them with their local integration, passed on recommendations to clients and formulated competition rules. When
Anthony van Dyck visited Genoa, he had stayed with the brothers and Cornelis was one of his closest collaborators in the city. Jan Baptist de Wael travelled to Genoa in 1642 where he became a pupil of his uncle Cornelis. When his uncle moved to Rome around the year 1656 to avoid an outbreak of the
plague in Genoa, Jan Baptist likely followed him as he was later recorded as a resident of Rome. Here he reportedly moved in the circle of the
Bentvueghels, an association of mainly Dutch and Flemish artists working in Rome. The exact time and place of his death are not known. ==Work==