Focus on this artwork and explain the History.
The painting was commissioned by the Amsterdam patrician Willem Schrijver. It shows him with his wife Wendela de Graeff and their children as biblical persons. After Willem Schrijver's death in 1661, Wendela's brother Andries de Graeff, burgomaster of Amsterdam, took over her estate, including the Rembrandt painting discussed here. The painting belonged in the De Graeff family until 1752. After the death of Gerrit de Graeff van Zuid-Polsbroek, the family heirs sold the work through Anthony Rutgers, a Hamburg art dealer, to Landgrave William VIII of Hesse-Kassel, who added it to his art collection at his Bellevue Palace in Kassel.
De Graeff William VIII of Hesse-Kassel Hesse Kassel Anthony Rutgers Rembrandt Gerrit de Graeff van Zuid-Polsbroek Willem Schrijver Andries de Graeff Wendela de Graeff