Focus on View of Delft and explore the Patronage and provenance.
Pieter Claeszoon van Ruijven, a lover of architectural paintings, commissioned View of Delft along with The Little Street. Van Ruijven was a native of Delft and only eight years Vermeer's senior. He may have been introduced to Vermeer by his brother, Jan van Ruijven, the notary who documented Vermeer's marriage to Catharina Bolnes. It is known for certain, however, that in 1657 van Ruijven lent Vermeer 200 guilders. He left 500 guilders in his will for Vermeer and specifically worded the document so that Catharina Bolnes would not inherit the money. Vermeer was the only person named in the will who was not part of his or his wife's family. After van Ruijven's death, View of Delft was inherited by his daughter Magdalena. It was auctioned by her husband Jacob Dissius on 16 May 1696 for 200 guilders. This works out to about $21,000 in 2024. In the eighteenth century it was owned by merchant Willem Philip Kops. After his death it passed on to his wife, who in turn after her death in 1820 passed it on to her daughter, Johanna Kops, who finally decided to auction it. The director of the Mauritshuis at the time, Johan Steengracht van Oostcapelle, instructed the minister not to bid on it as it would not fit in the cabinet. On the other hand, the director of the Rijksmuseum, Cornelius Apostool, urged the minister to ask the king William I for money to buy it. The painting was then sold to the Dutch government in 1822 by S. J. Stinstra of Amsterdam for 2900 guilders. However, the king had it exhibited in the new Dutch Royal Cabinet of Paintings established at the Mauritshuis in The Hague, and not in Amsterdam as expected. The reasons for this decision are not known. It is assumed that William I simply liked the painting or that he saw the depiction of the Nieuwe Kerk as a reminder of his ancestors.
Delft The Hague Nieuwe Kerk Dutch The Little Street guilder Mauritshuis Jacob Dissius Pieter Claeszoon van Ruijven Rijksmuseum William I