Pieter Barbiers, a painter, engraver and draftsman, born in Amsterdam, learned to paint from his father. He moved to Haarlem, where he was admitted to the Gilde van Sint Lucas on December 5, 1793. He became a drawing teachter of the Haarlems Teekencollege and was co-founder of the drawing society Kunst Zij Ons Doel. Barbiers taught his children Pieter Barbiers (1798-1848) and Maria Geertruida Barbiers (1801-1849).