Willem Jacobsz Delff after Michiel van Miereveld Portrait of Frederick Henry, Prince of Orange 1632 hand-colored engraving Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam |
Willem Jacobsz Delff after Michiel van Miereveld Portrait of Hugo de Groot 1632 engraving Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam |
Willem Jacobsz Delff after Michiel van Miereveld Portrait of George Villiers, Duke of Buckingham 1626 engraving Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam |
Willem Jacobsz Delff after Michiel van Miereveld Portrait of Elizabeth Stuart, Queen of Bohemia (The Winter Queen) 1630 engraving Teylers Museum, Haarlem |
Willem Jacobsz Delff after Michiel van Miereveld Portrait of Frederick V of the Palatinate (The Winter King) 1632 engraving Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam |
Willem Jacobsz Delff after Michiel van Miereveld Portrait of Catharina, Countess of Pallandt 1636 engraving Teylers Museum, Haarlem |
Willem Jacobsz Delff after Michiel van Miereveld Portrait of Christian the Younger of Brunswick 1623 engraving Teylers Museum, Haarlem |
Willem Jacobsz Delff after Michiel van Miereveld Portrait of Sophia Hedwig of Brunswick 1631 engraving Teylers Museum, Haarlem |
Willem Jacobsz Delff after Michiel van Miereveld Portrait of Henry Casimir I, Count of Nassau-Dietz ca. 1630-38 engraving (unfinished) Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam |
Jacob Willemsz Delff the Younger Portrait of Saloman van Schoonhoven (possibly) 1643 oil on panel Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam |
Jacob Willemsz Delff the Younger Portrait of a Lady 1654 oil on panel private collection |
Jacob Willemsz Delff the Younger Portrait of Michiel Paux 1642 oil on panel private collection |
Jacob Willemsz Delff the Younger Officers of the Civic Guard, Delft 1648 oil on canvas Museum Prinsenhof, Delft |
Jacob Willemsz Delff the Younger Portrait of a Gentleman 1647 oil on panel Cantor Arts Center, Stanford University |
Jacob Willemsz Delff the Younger Portrait of Gabriël Vernatti 1650 oil on panel Cultural Institute of the Netherlands, Amsterdam |
Willem Jacobsz Delff (1580-1638) was the son-in-law of Michiel van Miereveld (1567-1641), the most prominent portrait painter of the early 17th century in the region of Delft. Marrying into the family, Delff became part of the Miereveld workshop, mainly responsible for high-quality engraved copies of his father-in-law's portraits of dignitaries and celebrities. Obviously, these prints could be disseminated to a broader European audience than might have access to the original paintings. Delff predeceased the master, as did van Miereveld's two painter-sons, who had contributed to the family enterprise as well. At van Miereveld's own death in 1641, Delff's son (and Miereveld's grandson), the twenty-two-year-old Jacob Willemsz Delff the Younger (1619-1661) inherited the portrait-making business and went on, as seen above, creating images of the rich and powerful, maintaining the style set by his grandfather, though lacking the same lustre.