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| anonymous draughtsman after David Bailly Portrait of Jan Pynas (1582-1631) ca. 1620-1700 drawing Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam |
"Jan Pynas is one of the few artists who can be assumed to have visited Italy twice. . . . Pynas's name, together with Pieter Lastman's, appears in the biographies of the German artists Adam Elsheimer and Jakob Ernst Thomann, who were working in Italy. Houbraken took this information from Sandrart. Although he mentions Jacob Pynas in the same breath as Jan, it may not be concluded from this that the younger brother had also been in Italy. Jan Pynas is mentioned again in the biography of Thomann, and again Houbraken copied this information from Sandrart: 'He chose particularly to keep company in Rome with Adam Elsheimer, Pieter Lastman and Johannes Pinnazio, otherwise known as Jan Pinas, who every day with great industry, as soon as the sun rose above the horizon, drew pleasing landscapes from life.' . . . Jan's brother Jacob, who is mentioned in Houbraken's book, was born in Amsterdam in 1592 or 1593, making him more than ten years younger than Jan. It is quite likely that he became his older brother's pupil when Jan returned from Italy, and he may well have continued to work with him. They may have shared a studio. It is also conceivable that Jacob went to Italy with his older brother in 1617, but there is no evidence of this. His brother's influence is very evident in Jacob's work. However, the Italian buildings in his drawings and paintings could equally well have been borrowed from other artists' examples."
– Peter Schatborn, from the catalogue of a 2001 exhibition at the Rijksmuseum, published in English as Drawn to Warmth: 17th-century Dutch artists in Italy, translated by Lynne Richards
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| Jan Pynas after Adam Elsheimer Religious offering of cattle before the statue of a god before 1631 drawing private collection |
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| Jan Pynas Jacob seeking the household gods from Rachel ca. 1617 drawing (with background of Roman ruins) Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam |
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| Jacob Pynas Round tower and buildings 1616 drawing Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam |
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| Jacob Pynas Landscape with calling of St Peter before 1650 drawing Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York |
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| Jan Pynas Aaron transforming the Nile into blood 1610 oil on panel Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam |
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| Jan Pynas Jacob's sons showing him Joseph's blood-stained robe 1618 oil on panel Hermitage, St Petersburg |
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| Jan Pynas Ulysses and Nausicaa 1630-31 oil on panel Hermitage, St Petersburg |
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| Jacob Pynas Mountain landscape with Narcissus 1628 oil on panel National Gallery, London |
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| Jacob Pynas Paul and Barnabas at Lystra ca. 1627-29 oil on panel Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York |
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| Jacob Pynas Paul and Barnabas worshipped as gods by the people of Lystra 1628 oil on panel Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam |
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| Jacob Pynas Feast of Ceres before 1650 drawing Teylers Museum, Haarlem |
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| Jacob Pynas Ruined classical building with herdsmen ca. 1624 drawing British Museum |
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| attributed to Jan Pynas Imaginary landscape before 1631 drawing British Museum |
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| Jan or Jacob Pynas Mars in armor standing over defeated enemies before 1650 drawing British Museum |