© 2017 The Leiden Collection

Portrait of Willem Craeyvanger (1615/16 – after 1666)
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Portrait of Willem Craeyvanger, 1651,& Caspar Netscher, Portrait ofChristine van der Wart, ca. 1655-56:
Portrait of Willem Craeyvanger(1615/16 – after 1666)

Oil on canvas
93 x 67 cm
PaL-100
Currently on view at: Museum de Fundatie,
ZwollePaulus Lesire(Dordrecht 1612 – 1654/56 probably The
Hague)How To Cite
Van Suchtelen, Ariane. "Portrait of Willem Craeyvanger, 1651, & Caspar Netscher, Portrait of Christine vander Wart, ca. 1655-56." In The Leiden Collection Catalogue. Edited by Arthur K. Wheelock Jr. New York,2017.
https://www.theleidencollection.com/archive/.
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© 2017 The Leiden Collection

Portrait of Willem Craeyvanger (1615/16 – after 1666)
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Willem Craeyvanger and Christine van der Wart of Arnhem had six sonsComparative Figures

and two daughters. In the seventeenth century, such a large family was
unusual, because children often did not survive infancy (they did have one
other daughter who died at a very young age). In the prime of their lives,
the Craeyvangers had portraits painted of themselves and every one oftheirsurvivingchildren.

Ratherthancommissioning

a

group

portrait—which would have been an understandable alternative for afamily with so many offspring—they chose instead to have individual
portraits made. Willem and Christine are depicted half-length and nearlylife-size in two pendant portraits.[1]The portrait of Willem was produced in 1651 by Paulus Lesire(1612–54/56), a painter active in The Hague.[2] His signature with the ageof the sitter, “Aetatis 35,” appears in the left background. The

Fig 1. Adriaen Hanneman,Portrait of Constantijn Huygens
and His Children, 1640, oil oncanvas, 204.2 x 173.9 cm,
Mauritshuis, The Hague, inv. no.
241

accompanying portrait of Christine was not executed by Lesire. During therestoration of the painting carried out in 2009, the signature of Caspar
Netscher (ca. 1639–84) was discovered, along with her age: “Aetatis 35”(at the left in the shadow, barely visible with the naked eye).[3] Christine’s
age reveals that her portrait dates from 1655 or 1656, since she was bornin 1620.[4]For the series of portraits of their children, the Craeyvangers chose anentirely different form of portraiture and a different format. The children
were painted in about 1658 in a collaborative effort by Netscher and histeacher, Gerard ter Borch (1617–81), who portrayed them in pairs,
grouped according to age, as pendants facing each other. The brothers
and sisters are depicted three-quarter-length, standing, in painted ovals.
This exceptional group of 10 portraits was inherited by the second son,Willem Craeyvanger, and subsequently passed down through thegenerations, remaining in the family for nearly 350 years.
The cloth merchant Willem Craeyvanger was 35 years old when he had
himself portrayed by Lesire in 1651. A native of Arnhem, Craeyvanger had
probably taken advantage of a visit to The Hague to have his portrait
painted, presumably because in those years the thinly populated easternpart of the country, where he lived, lacked good portrait painters. The only
well-known portraitist in Arnhem, Hendrik Coster (ca. 1620–64), had arather stiff style that made a provincial impression.[5] In comparison,
Lesire’s fluently painted portrait of Willem Craeyvanger radiates stylish© 2017 The Leiden Collection

Portrait of Willem Craeyvanger (1615/16 – after 1666)
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elegance.
People from the whole of the Dutch Republic, particularly from regions
lacking good portraitists, had their portraits painted whenever they stayed
for any length of time in The Hague. They might have been brought there
for political reasons, such as representing their province at the meetings of
the States General (the national assembly) or acting as a delegate to oneof the other boards or colleges. In the seventeenth century, a number ofthe portrait painters active in The Hague had close ties to England andEnglish patrons, and worked in a fashionable courtly style strongly
influenced by Anthony van Dyck (1599–1641). In the 1640s and 1650s
Adriaen Hanneman (ca. 1604–71), who had worked in Van Dyck’s studioin London, created a furor among the international courtly circles in The
Hague with this elegant style of portraiture. Lesire, a native of Dordrecht,
worked in The Hague from around 1643/44 until his death sometime after
1651.[6] No more than a handful of his portraits from those years havesurvived.[7] Whereas his early work, produced in Dordrecht, displays theinfluence of both Jacob Gerritsz Cuyp (1594–1652) and Rembrandt van
Rijn (1606–69), in The Hague Lesire assumed the elegant style inspiredby the popular Hanneman (fig 1).
Portrait of Willem Craeyvanger was painted swiftly with much attention to
the details in Willem’s clothing, his shoulder-length hair and his gracefulhands. He holds his left hand to his chest—a gesture perhaps intended toexpress his devotion to his wife—while reaching with his other hand
toward the armrest of his chair. His hands are softly modeled, and his
fingers are unnaturally long and graceful. His black cloak is draped over
his right shoulder and arm. With his nonchalant hairstyle, thin moustacheand goatee, Willem cuts a fashionable figure, though his small, flat collar
and narrow cuffs do not suggest a taste for excessive finery. It is notknown why Craeyvanger visited The Hague in 1651, but in any case hetook home a valuable souvenir of his stay there: a portrait that seems toradiate an awareness of his prominence in society. Visitors to his house in
Arnhem must have been impressed by his stylish depiction.
At the time of his visit to The Hague, Craeyvanger had been married toChristine van der Wart for 12 years, and she was expecting their seventhchild. Gerrit, their youngest son, would be baptized on 4 December 1651
in the Grote Kerk in Arnhem.[8] Perhaps this pregnancy was the reason she© 2017 The Leiden Collection

Portrait of Willem Craeyvanger (1615/16 – after 1666)
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did not accompany her husband to The Hague. In any case, her likenesswas not painted until some time after the completion of Willem’s portrait.
Even so, it must have always been the intention to have her portrait
painted as a pendant, because Lesire portrayed Willem turned toward her
still-to-be-painted likeness. In the heraldic sense, he is on her dexter side,
the position traditionally reserved for the man. In 1653 and 1655 theyoungest Craeyvanger children were born—two girls, at last (an elder
sister had died young)—after which time Christine’s portrait was painted.
Although it would have been natural to have her pendant portrait done by
the same artist, the Craeyvangers commissioned Caspar Netscher, whoworked in nearby Deventer, to paint this work. The reasons for thisdecision are not known: maybe Lesire had already died by then or perhaps
it was impossible for Christine to travel to Lesire’s studio in The Hague.
One might speculate that the Craeyvangers first approached Gerard ter
Borch for Christine’s portrait since this renowned portraitist was not only
Netscher’s teacher, but had also been working for Arnhem patrons sincearound 1653. In that year, for example, he had painted portraits of Willem
Craeyvanger’s cousin Willem Everwijn and his wife, Johanna Kelffken.[9]Perhaps Ter Borch was unwilling to paint a portrait that conformed toLesire’s likeness of Willem—so unlike his own work in both scale andexecution—and therefore passed the commission on to his talented pupiland studio assistant. Netscher grew up in Arnhem, where he had learned
the rudiments of the trade from Coster, but he completed his training with
Ter Borch soon after that master had moved to Deventer from his native
Zwolle in 1654/55.[10] Netscher would master the refined, small-figure styleof his teacher and continue to work in Ter Borch’s studio until his
departure for Bordeaux in 1659. After his return from France in 1662 hesettled in The Hague, where he painted small-scale portraits for the rest of
his career.
If the signature applied in light-colored paint to Christine’s portrait had notbeen discovered, one would hardly guess that Netscher was its maker,
because its size is remarkably large compared with the rest of his
oeuvre.[11] The portrait of Christine of 1655 or 1656 is one of Netscher’s
earliest known paintings and a remarkable addition to his early oeuvre.[12]From 1655 onward Netscher occasionally signed his own paintings, eventhough he was still working under his teacher’s supervision. Evidently hehad acquired a certain degree of independence in Ter Borch’s studio and© 2017 The Leiden Collection

Portrait of Willem Craeyvanger (1615/16 – after 1666)
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was occasionally permitted to sign his own work. The lack of documentary
evidence leaves us unenlightened with regard to the exact nature of theworking relationship between Ter Borch and Netscher. In the seventeenth
century, various kinds of contracts between teacher and pupil werepossible, depending on such things as the pupil’s level of experience andfinancial means.[13] It is not clear why Netscher signed the portraits ofChristine and the youngest Craeyvanger children so faintly with a thin
application of light-colored paint, making his name almost illegible. One
might speculate that this was a deliberate attempt to disguise the fact thatthe pendants were executed by different artists.[14]Clearly, Netscher did his best to ensure that Christine’s portrait matchedLesire’s likeness of Willem in scale, composition, palette, and its rather
broad brushwork, though with the light falling onto the figure from the rightinstead of the left. The somewhat harsh light falling on her face, with ashadow providing a dark accent below the nose and a dark line dividing
the lips, resembles Lesire’s portrayal of Willem. The background, too, issimilar: both portraits display cast shadows and details executed in lightbrown paint, slightly reminiscent of cloudy skies. Netscher went on to use
dark contours in the rendering of Christine’s hands; her right hand inparticular was executed with rather pastose brushstrokes, which differ
from Lesire’s soft modeling of Willem’s hands. Over her black dress
Christine wears a double collar of translucent white linen that falls far
below her shoulders. The lowest layer of the collar is decorated with stripsof lace and tied closed with small white bows and a black rosette, as was
the fashion in the 1650s.[15] Her cuffs, too, consist of various transparent
layers of starched linen. Christine holds up her dress with her left hand andrests her right hand on a red-upholstered armrest. Her hair is tied backbeneath a black cap; long pendants inlaid with precious stones areattached to the ends of the cap brooch. Seen together, these pendants
form a striking whole.
Who were Willem Craeyvanger and Christine van der Wart, who hadthemselves and their children immortalized with such apparent faith in the
future? Since the discovery of their portraits in 2009, numerous details of
their lives and their respective families have been found in the archives ofArnhem, Nijmegen and surroundings.[16] The documentary evidence
suggests that the couple—both typical representatives of the upper middle
class—prospered for a long time, and that Willem Craeyvanger played a© 2017 The Leiden Collection

Portrait of Willem Craeyvanger (1615/16 – after 1666)
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prominent role in Arnhem’s public life. Willem, the third son of Johan
Craeyvanger and Naleken Sluisken, must have been born in 1615 or
1616, according to the inscription on his portrait. Christine van der Wart
was a native of Nijmegen, where she was baptized in the Stevenskerk on
16 September 1620.[17] Christine’s mother was the daughter of Peter
Verstegen, town secretary of Arnhem; one of her mother’s brothers was
married to an aunt of Willem. Evidently Willem had become acquainted
with his bride in the family circle. Willem and Christine, both fromProtestant families, married on 20 November 1639.
In 1640, at the age of 24, Willem Craeyvanger was first appointed to public
office in Arnhem,[18] after which he steadily climbed the social ladder.
Many important posts were to follow, though he never secured a top
administrative office as magistrate or burgomaster. He held various offices
in, for instance, the Guild of St. Nicholas—the merchants’ guild, whose
400 members made it the largest guild in the city. He also fulfilled
administrative functions in one of Arnhem’s civic militias,[19] organizations
originally intended to help defend the city. In addition, he was a member ofthe elite St. Joost civic militia. Between 1644 and 1663, he served twice as
deacon of the Reformed Church and afterwards was twice appointed anelder.[20] For Craeyvanger, an important step upward was his honorable
appointment in 1647 to membership in the prestigious Brotherhood of St.
Nicholas, a charitable organization that administered poor relief. Thisappointment occurred several years before he had his portrait painted in
1651.
In 1662 Craeyvanger was appointed by the town council to the office of
town treasurer, after working for three years as assistant to the previous
treasurer; one of his duties in this capacity was to collect various city
taxes. This post could have been a stepping-stone to higher government
offices, but Craeyvanger overplayed his hand. Although he was rather
wealthy—for one reason because he had inherited money from both his
own family and that of his wife—financial recklessness got him into
trouble. In the end he lost his fortune, and as a result his social position.
In March 1666 Craeyvanger went bankrupt and absconded from Arnhem,leaving his wife and children behind, destitute. His possessions largely
went to his creditors, except for the family portraits, which apparently had
no monetary value to outsiders. To compound the family’s misfortunes,© 2017 The Leiden Collection

Portrait of Willem Craeyvanger (1615/16 – after 1666)
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Christine died five months after her husband declared bankruptcy. She
was possibly a victim of the plague, which swept through Arnhem inAugust 1666. The children, then between the ages of 11 and 25, could noteven afford the few guilders needed to have the church bells rung at her
burial. The stricken family fell apart, but their portraits remained together.
Inherited by the second son, Willem, they were passed down from one
generation to the next for more than three centuries.
-Ariane van Suchtelen© 2017 The Leiden Collection

Portrait of Willem Craeyvanger (1615/16 – after 1666)
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Endnotes
1. The portraits of Willem Craeyvanger and Christine van der Wart were once lined, but theirlinings were removed during the restoration recently carried out by Patrick Corbett in London
at the request of Johnny van Haeften, who acquired the pictures at the sale of 6 May 2009.
The portraits were registered in 1939 by Dr. H. Schneider for the Iconographic Bureau, The
Hague (IB nos. 39669 and 39673).
2. On Paulus Lesire, see the biography in this catalogue and Werner Sumowski, Gemälde derRembrandt-Schüler in vier Bänden, 6 vols. (Landau, 1983), 3:1711–43; Edwin Buijsen,et.al., Haagse schilders in de Gouden Eeuw: Het Hoogsteder Lexicon van alle schilders
werkzaam in Den Haag 1600–1700 (Zwolle, ca. 1998), 324. Closely related to the portrait ofWillem Craeyvanger are Lesire’s pendant portraits of the Tiel burgomaster Albert van Lidthde Jeude and his wife, likewise of 1651 (Flipje en Streekmuseum, Tiel, not published by
Sumowski). The Departure of Henriette Maria from Scheveningen in 1643 (Sumowski,
Gemälde der Rembrandt-Schüler in vier Bänden , no. 1162) of 1644 is the earliest known
painting produced by Lesire in The Hague (art dealer P. de Boer, Amsterdam, 2011).
3. In Christie’s sale catalogue (Amsterdam, 6 May 2009), the portrait of Christine wasattributed to Paulus Lesire, but Netscher’s signature was discovered during the restoration
carried out by Patrick Corbett in London at the request of Johnny van Haeften, who acquired
the pictures at the sale of 6 May 2009.
4. Regionaal Archief Nijmegen, Doopregisters (baptismal registers), RBS 1164/187.
5. On Coster, see R. E. O. Ekkart, “Gelderse portretten en portrettisten: Hendrick Coster,”in Gelderse Gezichten: Drie eeuwen portretkunst in Gelderland 1550–1850 , ed. J. C.
Bierens de Haan, P. van der Coelen, and R. E. O Ekkart (Exh. cat. Nijmegen, Valkhof
Museum) (Zwolle, 2002), 60–63.
6. Paulus Lesire’s date of death is unknown, but his last dated works were produced in 1651.
Lesire’s Portrait of a Man in Armor from the Musée des Beaux-Arts in Metz (inv. no. 11423;
Werner Sumowski, Gemälde der Rembrandt-Schüler in vier Bänden , 6 vols. [Landau,
1983], no. 1161) was previously considered his last painting, because it supposedly bears
the date 1654 or 1656. Closer inspection (under a microscope) has shown, however, that thedate should be read as 1650 (with thanks to Raphaël Mariani, Metz).
7. Werner Sumowski, Gemälde der Rembrandt-Schüler in vier Bänden , 6 vols. (Landau,
1983), nos. 1158–62, and the portraits of the Tiel burgomaster Albert van Lidth de Jeude
and his wife, of 1651 (Flipje en Streekmuseum, Tiel, not published by Sumowski).
8. For the history of the Craeyvanger family, see Ariane van Suchtelen and Menno Potjer, “De
Arnhemse familie Craeyvanger: Een bijzondere groep portretten door Paulus Lesire, Gerard
ter Borch en Caspar Netscher” Oud Holland 127 (2014): 7–24. The most important sources© 2017 The Leiden Collection

Portrait of Willem Craeyvanger (1615/16 – after 1666)
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of the information presented in this entry are to be found in the Gelders Archief, namely the
Doop-, Trouw- en Overlijdensregisters (Registers of Baptism, Marriages, and Deaths), theregisters of members of the Reformed Church, the documents of the Arnhem church council
and of the provincial synod of the Dutch Reformed Church in Gelderland (Guelders), theraadsignaten (formal records of the decisions taken by the local council), the records ofdecisions taken by the magistrates and their summaries in the protocols of conveyances andmortgages, the court records (Low Court and High Court), the accounts of the town
treasurers, the ledger of the decisions taken by the deacons and accounts of the parish,
idem of the Brotherhood of St. Nicholas, idem of the guilds, idem of the Orphanage, thearmorials of the St. Joost civic guard and the Brotherhood of St. Luke, all in Arnhem, and therecords of sentences issued by the courts of private law (contract law) and civil law (conflicts
between private persons) of the Overbetuwe (Gelders Archief). On Arnhem in theseventeenth century, see, among others, Menno Potjer and R. R. A van Gruting, De
Velperweg in kaart gebracht, 1600–1795: Eigenaren en eigenaardigheden (Utrecht, 2008),
and Jeroen Benders and F. Keverling Buisman, Arnhem tot 1700 (Utrecht, 2008).
9. S. J.Gudlaugsson, Gerard ter Borch, 2 vols. (The Hague, 1959–60), nos. 103 and 104,
Stichting Brantsen van de Zyp, Arnhem, since 2010.
10. See Netscher’s biography in this catalogue; see also Marjorie E. Wieseman, Caspar
Netscher and Late Seventeenth-Century Dutch Painting (Doornspijk, 2002), 23–35.
11. For the only other large-scale portraits in Netscher’s oeuvre, see Marjorie E.Wieseman,Caspar Netscher and Late Seventeenth-Century Dutch Painting (Doornspijk, 2002), nos. 19
and 201.
12. On Netscher’s early career, see Marjorie E. Wieseman, “The Craeyvanger Portraits inContext–Shedding Light on Caspar Netscher’s Early Career,” Oud Holland 127 (2014):
31–47.
13. Cf. R. de Jager, “Meester, leerjongen, leertijd: Een analyse van zeventiende-eeuwse NoordNederlandse leerlingcontracten van kunstschilders, goud- en zilversmeden,” Oud Holland
104 (1990): 69–111.
14. Marjorie E. Wieseman, “The Craeyvanger Portraits in Context–Shedding Light on Caspar
Netscher’s Early Career,” Oud Holland 127 (2014): 41, n. 11. The signatures have become
even more difficult to read over time, owing to abrasion and the formation of craquelure (withthanks to Petria Noble).
15. Cf., for example, S. J. Gudlaugsson, Gerard ter Borch, 2 vols. (The Hague, 1959–60), nos.
38, 104, 106, 108, 118, 134, 135, 159, 160, 163, 175, 178, 180, 182, 184, 186, 196, and210; Marjorie E. Wieseman, Caspar Netscher and Late Seventeenth-Century Dutch
Painting (Doornspijk, 2002), no. 3.
16. For the history of the Craeyvanger family, see Ariane van Suchtelen and Menno Potjer, “De© 2017 The Leiden Collection

Portrait of Willem Craeyvanger (1615/16 – after 1666)
Page 11 of 13

Arnhemse familie Craeyvanger: Een bijzondere groep portretten door Paulus Lesire, Gerard
ter Borch en Caspar Netscher” Oud Holland 127 (2014): 7–24. The most important sourcesof the information presented in this entry are to be found in the Gelders Archief, namely the
Doop-, Trouw- en Overlijdensregisters (Registers of Baptism, Marriages, and Deaths), theregisters of members of the Reformed Church, the documents of the Arnhem church council
and of the provincial synod of the Dutch Reformed Church in Gelderland (Guelders), theraadsignaten (formal records of the decisions taken by the local council), the records ofdecisions taken by the magistrates and their summaries in the protocols of conveyances andmortgages, the court records (Low Court and High Court), the accounts of the town
treasurers, the ledger of the decisions taken by the deacons and accounts of the parish,
idem of the Brotherhood of St. Nicholas, idem of the guilds, idem of the Orphanage, thearmorials of the St. Joost civic guard and the Brotherhood of St. Luke, all in Arnhem, and therecords of sentences issued by the courts of private law (contract law) and civil law (conflicts
between private persons) of the Overbetuwe (Gelders Archief). On Arnhem in theseventeenth century, see, among others, Menno Potjer and R. R. A van Gruting, De
Velperweg in kaart gebracht, 1600–1795: Eigenaren en eigenaardigheden (Utrecht, 2008)
and Jeroen Benders and F. Keverling Buisman, Arnhem tot 1700 (Utrecht, 2008).
17. Regionaal Archief Nijmegen, Doopregisters (baptismal registers), RBS 1164/187.
18. At this time he became a “gemeensman” (Gelders Archief, Raadsignaten 1640–66), i. e., amember of the council of the “sworn community” (“gezworen gemeente”). This council
played an advisory role in the Arnhem city government.
19. Craeyvanger was recorded in 1646 as the standard-bearer of the Bakkerstraatvendel; in
1651 he was a lieutenant; and in 1661 he became a captain (hopman), which meant that at
one time or other he held every administrative office in the organization.
20. Gelders Archief, Archief Nederlands Hervormde Kerk, access 2179, Acta van dekerkenraad (documents of the church council) 1640–66, inv. 1 and 2. Lidmatenlijsten(members of the congregation), inv. 86 and 87.

Provenance
Willem Craeyvanger (1615/1616–after 1666) and Christine van der Wart (1620–1666),
Arnhem; by descent to their second son, Willem Craeyvanger (1643–after 1712) and Mariavan Ommen; by descent to their second son, Gijsbert Craeyvanger (born ca. 1700), andGeertruida Margaretha Bongers (born ca. 1705); by descent to their second son, Gijsbert
Craeyvanger (born ca. 1730), and Geertruida Klingen (1737–1817), Utrecht; by descent totheir third son, Willem Craeyvanger (born ca. 1762), and Sophia Florentina Hovij© 2017 The Leiden Collection

Portrait of Willem Craeyvanger (1615/16 – after 1666)
Page 12 of 13(1751–1830); by descent to their second son, Lodewijk Craeyvanger (1788–1859), andMaria Alexandrina Kennedy (1793–1871), Utrecht; by descent to their son Willem
Craeyvanger (1820–1873) and Jacoba Theodra Steijn Parvé (born 1827), Deventer; bydescent to their eldest daughter, Louise Maria Craeyvanger (1854–1924), Naumburg a/d
Saale; by descent to her sister Jacoba Theodora Craeyvanger (1856–1938), Naumburg a/d
Saale; by descent to Maria Louise van Limburg Stirum-Luden (1886–1962), and SamuelJohn van Limburg Stirum (1879–1963), Olst; by descent to the family members (sale,
Christie’s, Amsterdam, 6 May 2009, no. 78, as by Gerard ter Borch II; no. 79, as by Paulus
Lesire; and no. 80, as by Gerard ter Borch II and studio [Johnny van Haeften, Ltd., London,
2009]).
From whom acquired by the present owner in 2009.

Exhibition History
Oxford, Ashmolean Museum, December 2009–January 2010, on loan with the permanentcollection [lent by the present owner].
The Hague, Royal Picture Gallery Mauritshuis, 10 February 2010–16 January 2011, on loan
with the permanent collection [lent by the present owner].
Nijmegen, Museum het Valkhof, March–December 2011, on loan with the permanentcollection [lent by the present owner].
Istanbul, Sakıp Sabancı Museum, “Rembrandt and His Contemporaries: The Golden Age ofDutch Art,” 21 February–10 June 2012, nos. 9–18 [lent by the present owner].
Aachen, Suermondt-Ludwig-Museum, October 2012–February 2013 [lent by the present
owner].
Maastricht, Bonnefantenmuseum, February–August 2013[lent by the present owner].
Zwolle, Museum de Fundatie, on loan with the permanent exhibition, September 2013– [lentby the present owner].

References
Gudlaugsson, S. J. Gerard ter Borch. 2 vols. The Hague, 1959–1960, 2:113 (under no. 103),146 (under no. 135), 289 (under Pieter van Anraadt).
Van Suchtelen, Ariane. “De hele familie Craeyvanger/The Craeyvanger Family All Together.”
Mauritshuis in Focus 23 (2010): 22–28.
© 2017 The Leiden CollectionPowered by TCPDF (www.tcpdf.org)

Portrait of Willem Craeyvanger (1615/16 – after 1666)
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Wuestman, Gerdien, ed. Rembrandt and His Contemporaries: The Golden Age of Dutch
Art. Exh. cat., Istanbul, Sakıp Sabancı Museum. Istanbul, 2012, 48–51, nos. 9–18.
Van Suchtelen, Ariane, and Menno Potjer. “De Arnhemse familie Craeyvanger: eenbijzondere groep portretten door Paulus Lesire, Gerard ter Borch en Caspar Netscher.”Oud
Holland 127 (2014): 7–24.
Petria Noble, “From One Piece of Canvas. The Supports of the Eight Craeyvanger
Children’s Portraits,” Oud Holland 127 (2014): 25–30.

Technical Summary
The half-length Portrait of Christine van der Wart painted by the artist Caspar Netscher and thehalf-length portrait of her husband, Willem Craeyvanger, paintedby the artist Paulus Lesire are
executed on similarly sized, unlined fabric supports and both paintings are signed and inscribedin light paint.
The Portrait of Christine van der Wart , the mother of the eight Craeyvanger children(CN-110.a–d and GB111.a–d), is signed and inscribed: “Aetatis 3[5?] / C. Netscher” in barely
discernible light-colored paint along the lower left. The last digit of the inscription bearing her
age appears to be a 5 although it is difficult tomake out. Based on her baptism in 1620, together
with the inscription, a date of 1655 or 1656 isproposed, making her portrait one of Netscher’s
earliest known works.[1]The Portrait of Willem Craeyvanger, the father of the eight Craeyvanger children, is inscribed,
signed, and dated in light-colored paint along the center of the left side: “Aetatis 35. /P. Lesire. /1651. Fecit.”
Neither portrait has undergone conservation treatment since its acquisition in 2009 and both
portraits remain in a good state of preservation.[2]Technical Summary Endnotes

1. Ariane van Suchtelen,“De hele familie Craeyvanger/The Craeyvanger Family All
Together,” Mauritshuis in Focus 23 (2010): 23.
2. Entry based on technical examination report by Petria Noble, head of conservation,
Mauritshuis, The Hague, and Oleg Karuvits during his internship as part of the Conservation
and Restoration program at the University of Amsterdam, 2009–10.

© 2017 The Leiden Collection