Pieter Claeszoon van Ruijven (December 1624 – 7 August 1674) has been known as

Johannes Vermeer Johannes Vermeer ( , ; see below; also known as Jan Vermeer; October 1632 – 15 December 1675) was a Dutch painter who specialized in domestic interior scenes of middle-class life. He is considered one of the greatest painters of the Dutch ...

's main patron for the better part of the artist's career, but in 2023 his wife Maria de Knuijt was identified by the curators of the 2023 exhibition of Vermeer's works at the

Rijksmuseum The Rijksmuseum () is the national museum of the Netherlands dedicated to Dutch arts and history and is located in Amsterdam. The museum is located at the Museum Square in the borough of Amsterdam South, close to the Van Gogh Museum, the S ...

, in Amsterdam as the main patron due to her long-standing and supportive relationship with the artist. He built a sizeable estate from inheritances he and his wife received and fruitful investments. In 1669, he became the Lord of Spalant when he purchased land owned by Willem, Baron van Renesse.

Personal life

Van Ruijven was born in December 1624, the son of Niclaes Pietersz and Maria Graswinckel. His father was master of the ''Camer van Charitate'' in Deflt (municipal charitable department) from 1623 to 1624 and the brewer at the Ox Brewery. The brewery failed in about 1650, after Niclaes Pietersz died. Pieter's brother was Johan (also Jan) van Ruijven, a notary. Van Ruijven and his paternal family members were

Remonstrants The Remonstrants (or the Remonstrant Brotherhood) is a Protestant movement that split from the Dutch Reformed Church in the early 17th century. The early Remonstrants supported Jacobus Arminius, and after his death, continued to maintain his or ...

, and some were considered loyal to Oldenbarnevelt. As a result, they were unable to seek the most important municipal positions. Van Ruijven was related to artist Pieter Jansz van Ruyven. Van Ruiven was related to artists of the Delff family through the marriage of Christina Delff to his cousin Jan Hermansz. van Ruijven. The artists include Christina's brother Jacob Willemsz Delff and her nephew Willem Jacobsz Delff, an engraver. Jacob Delff's father-in-law was

Michiel Jansz. van Mierevelt Michiel Janszoon ( Jansz.) van Mierevelt (; also spelled Miereveld or Miereveldt; 1 May 1566 – 27 June 1641) was a Dutch painter and draftsman of the Dutch Golden Age. Biography Van Mierevelt was born and died in Delft, as a son of a goldsm ...

. He was also related to the Graswinckels and Van Santens, Dutch noble families. Van Ruijven married Maria Simonsdr de Knuijt in August 1653. De Knuijt was a Dutch Reformed Protestant. Van Ruijven was not known to have a profession, but de Knuijt and van Ruijven were well-off and had two homes in Delft. From 1668 to 1674, Van Ruijven was master of the ''Camer van Charitate'', which provided relief to the poor and served as a

diaconate A deacon is a member of the diaconate, an office in Christian churches that is generally associated with service of some kind, but which varies among theological and denominational traditions. Major Christian denominations, such as the Catholi ...

for Delft. His fortune was made through wise investments of the riches they inherited, including investment in the

Dutch East India Company The United East India Company ( ; VOC ), commonly known as the Dutch East India Company, was a chartered company, chartered trading company and one of the first joint-stock companies in the world. Established on 20 March 1602 by the States Ge ...

. De Knuijt brought most of the wealth into the marriage. Van Ruijven became the Lord of Spalant when he purchased the land from Willem, Baron of Renesse on 11 April 1669. He used his new-found title when he witnessed the testament of Vermeer's sister. The van Ruijven family, who lived off the Oude Canal in Delft, were members of the

Arminian Arminianism is a movement of Protestantism initiated in the early 17th century, based on the Christian theology, theological ideas of the Dutch Reformed Church, Dutch Reformed theologian Jacobus Arminius and his historic supporters known as Remo ...

party in the

Dutch Reformed Church The Dutch Reformed Church (, , abbreviated NHK ) was the largest Christian denomination in the Netherlands from the onset of the Protestant Reformation in the 16th century until 1930. It was the traditional denomination of the Dutch royal famil ...

. The also lived off Voorstraet and in

The Hague The Hague ( ) is the capital city of the South Holland province of the Netherlands. With a population of over half a million, it is the third-largest city in the Netherlands. Situated on the west coast facing the North Sea, The Hague is the c ...

. Van Ruijven had a daughter, Magdalena van Ruijven, baptized at the Old Church of Delft on 12 October 1655. She married Jacob Dissius on 14 April 1680, and was generally known after that by her husband's surname. Baptism records at the Old Church identify two additional children of Van Ruijven and his wife, Maria baptized in 1657 and Simon in 1662. They are believed to have died young, since they were not identified as heirs to Maria and Pieter's fortune. Pieter died and was buried on 7 August 1674. Maria died by 26 February 1681 when she was buried in

Delft Delft () is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of South Holland, Netherlands. It is located between Rotterdam, to the southeast, ...

next to her husband at the Old Church. Their daughter Magdalena died on 16 June 1682 at the age of 27. She and her husband had no children. The van Ruijven estate was inherited by Jacob Dissius and his father Abraham Dissius. As stipulated in Magdalena's will, Abraham was to inherit half of the estate if her mother had died before her and Magdalena and Jacob did not have any children. This may have been because Jacob, of no means himself, married Magdalena, who was an heiress. Jacob may have been given the printing press his father Abraham owned to use as a dowry, and Abraham was compensated by receiving half of his son's inheritance. Besides the Vermeer paintings passed down through the family, Magdalena's estate included her legacy of a house in Voorstraet, the domain of Spalant, and interest-bearing obligations.

Art collector

John Michael Montias identified van Ruijven as Vermeer's main patron, beginning in 1657 when van Ruijven loaned 200

guilder Guilder is the English translation of the Dutch and German ''gulden'', originally shortened from Middle High German ''guldin pfenninc'' (" gold penny"). This was the term that became current in the southern and western parts of the Holy Rom ...

s to the artist. There is no record of such a relationship. In 2023, his wife Maria de Knuijt was identified by the curators of the 2023 exhibition of Vermeer's works at the

, in Amsterdam as the main patron due to her long-standing and supportive relationship with the artist. Maria de Knuijt included Vermeer, the only non-family member to be addressed, in her will of 1665. The will stated that he should have received 500 guilders. Regardless of whether he or his wife was the main patron, van Ruijven was a serious art collector who admired Vermeer. He owned paintings from other artists, like Emanuel de Witte and Simon de Vlieger, who were from Delft and created works of Dutch subjects.

Popular culture

Van Ruijven is depicted as a predatory lecher in Tracy Chevalier's historical novel '' Girl with a Pearl Earring'' (1999), and in the 2003

film A film, also known as a movie or motion picture, is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, emotions, or atmosphere through the use of moving images that are generally, sinc ...

of the book, although there is no evidence of this.

References

Bibliography

* * * * Including footnotes. * {{DEFAULTSORT:Ruijven, Pieter Van Johannes Vermeer People from Delft Dutch art collectors 1674 deaths 1624 births