Willem Jacobsz Delff

Willem Jacobsz Delff (c. October 1580 – 14 April 1638[1]) was a Dutch Golden Age engraver and painter.

Biography

Delff was born and died in Delft. He learned painting from his father, Jacob Willemsz Delff the Elder, who painted a family portrait with his sons and wife Maria Joachimsdr Nagel. Jacob's sons were all artists in their own right; Cornelis (top left in the portrait) became a still life painter, while Rochus (between Cornelis and his father) became a portrait painter like his father. Willem married a daughter of Michiel Jansz van Mierevelt and became a renowned engraver.[2][3]

Willem's own son, Jacob Willemsz Delff the Younger (14 April 1619 - 12 June 1661)[4], won a lucrative commission from the Delft vroedschap to paint a schutterstuk in 1652, which was damaged by the Delft Explosion in 1654. Because he and his father were so well respected in Delft, this painting was commissioned to be restored afterwards.

References

  1. ^ Delff, Willem Jacobsz at the RKD databases
  2. ^ Jakob Willemsz Delff biography in De groote schouburgh der Nederlantsche konstschilders en schilderessen (1718) by Arnold Houbraken, courtesy of the Digital library for Dutch literature
  3. ^ Jakob Delff biography Houbraken misnamed his son Willem the engraver, calling him Jakob after his father.
  4. ^ Delff, Jacob Willemsz. (II) at the RKD databases