BRUYN, CORNELIS DE

(c. 1652–1727)

   Painter. De Bruyn was born in The Hague. From 1674 to 1693, he traveled extensively and stayed in Italy and in the Levant (Turkey, Palestine, and Egypt). His second extended journey (1701–1708) took him to Muscovy and Persia. De Bruyn published two travel accounts, lavishly illustrated with engravings after his own drawings; he was convinced of the accuracy of his own renderings—for example, of the cuneiform inscriptions on the ruins of Persepolis (Persia)—which was opposed to those of his predecessors such as Engelbert Kaempfer. His accounts were published in 1698 and 1714 (English translations in 1720, 1737, and 1759).