Monday, September 27, 2021

Willem Jacobsz Delff and Jacob Willemsz Delff the Younger

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.