Jacob Willemsz Delff

Jacob Willemszoon Delff the Elder, (c. 1550 in Gouda – 5 May 1601 in Delft) was a portrait painter active in Delft. He is known by a picture of an 'Archery-feast' in the Hotel de Ville at Delft, dated 1592; and by a Reconciliation of Esau and Jacob, in the Belvedere at Vienna, bearing the date 1584. He also painted The Sportsman's Dinner, and a portrait group of his family. His works display good conception and execution, but are somewhat heavy in colouring.

Portrait of the artist and his family, ca. 1590, now at the Rijksmuseum Amsterdam

Portrait of a boy aged two, 1581, now at the Rijksmuseum

Jacob Delff had three sons, Cornelis, Rochus, and Willem. Cornelis Jacobsz Delff (Gouda c. 1571-15 August 1643, Delft), was a pupil of his father and of Cornelis van Haarlem, and distinguished himself by very fine pictures of still life. Rochus Delff was a portrait painter, and a pupil of his father.

Sources

•  This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Bryan, Michael (1886). "Delff, Jacob Willemszoon". In Graves, Robert Edmund (ed.). Bryan's Dictionary of Painters and Engravers (A–K). Vol. I (3rd ed.). London: George Bell & Sons.

External links

• Vermeer and The Delft School, a full text exhibition catalog from The Metropolitan Museum of Art, which has material on Jacob Willemsz Delff