据阿诺德Houbraken，扬是列文Hendriksze，织锦工人（儿子borduurwerker），是由里斯Verschoten培训。他被送往彼得·斯特曼在阿姆斯特丹的约10岁的满两年。之后，他开始了他的职业生涯作为一个独立的艺术家，在大约12岁的莱顿。[1]他在这么小的年纪就成了，因为他的才华已小有名气了。具体而言，他的副本Democriet＆Herakliet由科内利斯面包车哈勒姆（插图），和他的母亲Machtelt JANS面包车Noortzant的肖像，被推崇。这引起了的注意拿骚，奥兰治亲王的莫里斯，1620左右，谁用草皮火光买了一个真人大小的画一个年轻人阅读。他给这幅画反过来英国大使，谁把它交给詹姆斯一世。这就是为什么，当Lievens是31，他被邀请到英国法庭的原因。[1]当他通过从英国回来加莱，他定居在安特卫普，在那里他于12月23日1638年结婚的苏珊娜Colyn德德约科维奇，雕塑家米歇尔Colyns的女儿，[2]在此期间，他赢得了费，市长和市政厅许多佣金。据Houbraken，一个西庇阿的尿被漆成了莱顿市政府。[1]一首诗约斯特·范·登·冯德尔写在一幅画的荣誉（一schoorsteenstuk，或在壁炉件），他为市长的办公室发阿姆斯特丹市政府（现为阿姆斯特丹王宫）在1661 [1]按照阿姆斯特丹历史博物馆，这块生存和描绘Brinno上调与盾Cananefates，通过类似的画后，奥托面包车维恩于1613年。[3]
Lievens合作和共享同一个工作室伦勃朗从约1626处理以1631年他们的竞争合作，在一些二十几油画，素描和版画代表，[4]足够亲密引起从这一时期作品的归属的困难。Lievens显示人才在一个真人大小的规模绘画，他的戏剧组成建议的影响卡拉瓦乔主义者。在康斯坦丁惠更斯 “评估，Lievens是更具创造性，但低于伦勃朗少表现。[5]这两人分裂在1631年，当伦勃朗搬到阿姆斯特丹和Lievens英格兰。1656年伦勃朗仍然对他以前的朋友所拥有的画作。

期间，他在英格兰Lievens时间画了一幅肖像托马斯·霍华德，阿伦德尔伯爵21日，并成为由作品的影响安东尼·范戴克。Lievens曾在安特卫普，并与合作迪恩布劳威尔。是在海牙和柏林的宫廷画家后，他回到了阿姆斯特丹在1655后的第一任妻子去世后，他娶的妹妹简·德·布雷在1648年1672年后，灾难年 Lievens增加了财政困难和他的家人全部作废声明在他的死亡继承，由于他的债务。
 

According to Arnold Houbraken, Jan was the son of Lieven Hendriksze, a tapestry worker (borduurwerker), and was trained by Joris Verschoten. He was sent to Pieter Lastman in Amsterdamat about the age of 10 for two full years. After that he began his career as an independent artist, at about the age of 12 in Leiden.[1] He became something of a celebrity because of his talent at such a young age. Specifically, his copy of Democriet & Herakliet by Cornelis van Haarlem (illustration), and a portrait of his mother Machtelt Jans van Noortzant, were admired. This attracted the attention of Maurice of Nassau, Prince of Orange, around 1620, who bought a life-size painting of a young man reading by the light of a turf-fire. He gave this painting in turn to the English Ambassador, who presented it to James I. This was the reason why, when Lievens was 31, he was invited to the British court.[1] When he returned from England via Calais, he settled in Antwerp, where he married Suzanna Colyn de Nole, the daughter of the sculptor Michiel Colyns, on 23 December 1638.[2] In this period he won many commissions from royalty, mayors, and city halls. According to Houbraken, a Continence of Scipio was painted for the Leiden city hall.[1] A poem by Joost van den Vondel was written in honor of a painting (a schoorsteenstuk, or over the mantel piece) he made for the mayor's office of the Amsterdam city hall (now the Royal Palace of Amsterdam) in 1661.[1] According to theAmsterdams Historisch Museum, this piece survives and depicts Brinno raised on a shield with the Cananefates, after a similar painting byOtto van Veen in 1613.[3]

Lievens collaborated and shared a studio with Rembrandt van Rijn from about 1626 to 1631. Their competitive collaboration, represented in some two dozen paintings, drawings and etchings,[4] was intimate enough to cause difficulties in the attribution of works from this period. Lievens showed talent for painting in a life-size scale, and his dramatic compositions suggest the influence of the Caravaggisti. In Constantijn Huygens' assessment, Lievens was more inventive, yet less expressive than Rembrandt.[5] The two men split in 1631, when Rembrandt moved to Amsterdam and Lievens to England. In 1656 Rembrandt still owned paintings by his former friend.

During his time in England Lievens painted a portrait for Thomas Howard, 21st Earl of Arundel, and became influenced by the works of Anthony van Dyck. Lievens worked in Antwerp, and cooperated with Adriaen Brouwer. After being a court painter in The Hague and Berlin, he returned to Amsterdam in 1655. After his first wife died he married a sister of Jan de Brayin 1648. After 1672, the Rampjaar Lievens had increasing financial difficulties and his family voided all claims of inheritance on his death due to his debts.