Adriaen van der Werff

Dutch, 1659–1722

BiographySon of a well-to-do miller and city alderman, Adriaen van der Werff was born in Kralingen, now part of Rotterdam, on 21 January 1659. He was apprenticed to the painter Cornelis Picolet in 1669-70, but his study with the fijnschilder ("fine painter") Eglon Hendrik van der Neer (ca. 1634-1703) between 1671 and 1676 had a more visible impact on his art. The artist married Margareta Rees in 1687. He served as dean of the Rotterdam St. Luke's Guild between 1691 and 1695, and held several important civic posts between 1706 and his death in 1722. From 1696 to 1716 van der Werff was employed by Johan Willem, Elector Palatinate, in Düsseldorf, although he continued to reside in Rotterdam. He was richly rewarded for his services; he was made court painter in 1697, and knighted in 1703.

During the early part of his career, van der Werff painted fashionable genre scenes and portraits; his meticulous and refined technique earned him the patronage of many influential collectors. From the mid 1690s he painted an increasing number of history paintings--including large decorative works--in a more classicizing style. Among van der Werff's pupils was his younger brother Pieter (1661/65-1722). A studio journal kept by the artist records the hours he and his brother worked on individual paintings, including copies after Adriaen's original compositions.

Henrik van Limborch was born in The Hague, the second son of a prosperous lawyer. He was a pupil of Robert Duval (1644-1732) and Jan de Baen (1633-1702) in The Hague, then studied with Adriaen van der Werff in Rotterdam from 1699 to 1702. He returned to The Hague in 1702 and lived there, unmarried, until his death in 1739. Van Limborch painted primarily portraits and history paintings, both small cabinet pictures and large-scale decorative works. In addition to his own paintings, van Limborch added figures in landscapes by Johan van Gool (1687-1763), and completed pictures by his former master Adriaen van der Werff after the latter's death in 1722.