Otto van Veen was born in Leiden in a noble family in 1556 and had as ancestor an illegitimate son of Duke John III of Brabant. He studied painting with J.C Suanenburgen in 1570 and two years later went to Antwerp with his father Cornelis van Veen when the supporters of King Philip II of Spain fled before the army of the Prince of Orange.
After residing in Aix and Liege he resumed his artistic studies with D. Lampsonius and Jean Ramey and went to Italy in 1576 thanks to the protection of cardinal Grosbeeck.
Van Veen was greeted in Rome by cardinal Madruccio and studied with Frederigo Zucchero.
Back in Liege after fulfilling a mission in Vienna he worked for a while in that city and returned to Leiden in 1584. A year later he became painter to the court of Prince Alexander Farnese, who was governor of the Low Counties and lived in Brussels.
When Prince Farnese died in 1592 he went to Antwerp and became a master of the city guild and a painter to the court of Albert and Isabel.
Otto van Veen had Peter Paul Rubens as a pupil in his studio and much impressed the future great master. He also published several illustrated books and exerted some influence over several other artists of the beginning of the 17th Century.
Van Veen, who died in 1629, painted many mythological and historic themes as well as portraits.
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