Leyster produced most of her paintings between ca. 1629 and 1635; her artistic output decreased dramatically after her marriage in 1636 to the painter Jan Miense Molenaer. The couple soon moved to Amsterdam and had at least five children. In addition to raising the children, Leyster may have managed the family's business and properties; she probably also assisted with her husband's art. By 1649 the family was back in Haarlem, where Leyster spent the remainder of her life.

     Although well known during her lifetime, Leyster and her work were largely forgotten after her death until 1893, when a painting acquired by the Louvre was found to have Leyster's distinctive monogram (her initials entwined with a five-pointed star) hidden under a false signature reading "Frans Hals." This discovery led to renewed research and appreciation of Leyster's oeuvre, which had previously been confused with that of Hals. A 1993 retrospective exhibition of Leyster's paintings and the related research have helped restore this painter to her proper place in art history.