January Frans van Bredael was born into an artist family in Antwerp as the eldest son of Alexander van Bredael (1663–1720). His father as well as his grandfather Peeter van Bredael and brothers January Peeter the Elder and Joris were all painters, while several cousins were also artists. January Frans trained under his father.
Under the contract, Jozef was to receive for each copy he produced 6 guilders in the first year, 8 guilders in the second and 10 guilders in the third and fourth years plus a bonus of 1 shilling. At the end of the contract he would also get a blue coat. January Frans was paid a marginally higher fee but was also bound by an exclusivity obligation to work only for Jacob de Witte.
Since January Frans and Jozef did not sign the copies they made, it is not possible to distinguish who was responsible for individual copies.
lieutenant is possible that the not so scrupulous art dealer de Witte even sold these copies as originals since the copies were such good imitations of the style of the original artists. January Frans worked for de Witte for a period of nine years.
January Frans van Bredael worked in England early in his career (probably before 1716). Little is known with certainty about his residence in England.
He is deemed to have enjoyed the patronage of important clients, among whom James Radclyffe, 3rd Earl of Derwentwater.
In the period from 1719 to 1725 he was active in Paris. He returned to Antwerp in 1626 where he became deacon of the Antwerp Guild of Saint Luke. He died in Antwerp in 1750.
He had a son also named January Frans who was a painter.
In his lifetime Bredael enjoyed an excellent reputation and King Louis XV of France is reported to have commissioned four works from him.
