Vermeer's Clients and Patrons

Abstract

On the basis of newly discovered documents, this article establishes with a high degree of probability that Pieter Claesz. van Ruijven was Vermeer's patron throughout most of his career. He lent Vermeer 200 guilders in 1657; his wife left the artist a conditional bequest of 500 guilders in her testament of 1665; he witnessed the testament of Vermeer's sister Gertruy in 1670. There were twenty paintings by Vermeer in the estate of Van Ruijven's only daughter and heir, Magdalena, which she owned jointly with her husband, Jacob Dissius. The division of the estate in 1685 shows that paintings by Emanuel de Witte, Simon de Vlieger, and Vermeer, which had probably been acquired by Pieter van Ruijven, were allotted to Jacob Dissius' father, Abraham. After Abraham's death these paintings reverted to his son Jacob. The backgrounds and collections of other contemporary clients of Vermeer, including the baker Hendrick van Buyten, are briefly discussed. Finally, it is conjectured that Vermeer had access to Leyden collectors and artists via his patron Van Ruijven.

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John Michael Montias

Professor of Economics at Yale, John Michael Montias has published articles in Simiolus and Oud-Holland, in addition to his studies in various economic journals. He is author of Artists and Artisans in Delft: A Socio-Economic Study of the 17th Century (1982) and now is completing a book entitled Vermeer and His Milieu: A Web of Social History. [Institution for Social and Policy Studies, Yale University, P.O. Box 16A Yale Station, New Haven, CT 06520]