Documents refer to Jan Jansz. Mostaert, a painter, working from 1498 in Haarlem. From 1518 he was in the service of Margaret of Austria, Regent of the Netherlands. Van Mander says he remained in her service for 18 years. Later he was again in Haarlem; and from 1549 in Hoorn.
There are no certainly documented works by the artist, but a number of paintings can be plausibly associated with those mentioned in the documents of life and in his biography by Van Mander.
