Bor came from a prominent and wealthy Catholic family. In 1577 his grandfather Bor Jansz. was a member of the Treffelicxte, a group of the most exceptional citizens of Amersfoort. His father, also named Paulus Bor, was a textile merchant. Bor’s style of painting shares elements with both the nearby Utrecht Caravaggisti and the so-called Haarlem classicists. The Haarlem architect and painter Jacob van Campen inherited a family estate in Amersfoort and was later in close contact with Bor, and some of his classicist works have been confused with those of Bor.