Backer produced several group portraits of Hofje regents as well as historical allegories for city commissions.
The Hofje van Nicolaas van Beerensteyn was originally built on the Lange Herenstraat at a spot now housing a large parking garage across from the Haarlem railway station.
This hofje was built by the popular contemporary architect Leendert Viervant, who designed several other neo-classical objects in the 1780s in Haarlem.