Relatively little is known about the life of the old master Johannes Bouman. Bouman worked successively as an antique painter in Strasbourg, Amsterdam and Utrecht, where he probably spent the rest of his life. Johannes Bouman's oeuvre consists of 17th-century still lifes of fruit, often accompanied by a staged monkey, and a few portraits. During the Golden Age, old masters such as Abraham Bloemaert, Nicolaes Knüpfer, Joachim Wtewael and Adam Willaerts were also active in Utrecht.