Willem Willemsz van der Vliet: Portrait of Willem Reyersz. de Langue and Maria Jorisdr. Pijnaecker (1626)

(Museum Het Prinsenhof, Delft, The Netherlands)

Two beautiful portraits made by the Dutch artist Willem Willemsz van der Vliet (1584-1642). These two paintings form a couple, depicting Willem Reyersz. de Langue (1599-1656) and his wife Maria Jorisdr. Pijnaecker (1599-1678). Willem Reyersz. de Langue was an important person from the Dutch town of Delft. He was a notary, an art-collector and sponsored the artists in Delft. Artists from Delft like Johannes Vermeer , Balthasar van der Ast, Evert van Aelst, Hans Jordaens and Willem Willemsz van der Vliet himself all belonged to De Langue's clientele. Willem Reyersz. de Langue and Maria Jorisdr. Pijnaecker married on October 19, 1625 and these 2 portraits were made for this special occasion. Willem Reyersz. de Langue is shown with a sealed document in his hand with an ink jar, some papers and a pen (a sign of his work as a notary) while his wife Maria is shown with a small bible. The text on the portraits gives the age of the couple, both are 27 years old ("Ætatis. 27. an° 1626"). Painting from 1626.