Johannes Cornelisz. Verspronck was predestined for an artistic career: his father, Cornelis Engelsz., was already active as a painter. Born in Haarlem between 1606 and 1609, Verspronck studied first under his father and then presumably under Frans Hals. After his training, he joined the Haarlem Guild of St Luke together with his brother Jochem in 1632. He would belong to the guild for the rest of his life, though without ever assuming any official post. Verspronck apparently remained unmarried and led an uneventful, reclusive life, for he is largely known for his artistic oeuvre and not from archival documents. It is only in connection with the death of his father around 1650 that Verspronck appears more often in the records. He was awarded a fifth of the inheritance. In addition to his father's house, he also inherited the sum of 175 gulden. Since there are no documents suggesting any activity other than that of a painter, Verspronck must have been very successful as a portraitist. He took over the greater part of the financial support of his mother, and also purchased a house for himself and his siblings in the vicinity of her dwelling. Dated paintings are preserved from the years 1634 to 1655. After this period, his productivity decreased noticeably. On 30 June 1662 the painter was buried in the Grote St Bavokerk in Haarlem.
In his most productive phase, in the first half of the 1640s, he produced group portraits of the regents of the St Elisabeth Gasthuis and the orphanage; a genre scene and a still life also survive from this time. From the 1650s his oeuvre is dominated by seated portraits.
