Jacob Willemsz Delff II: Portrait of Willem Reyersz. de Langue and Daniël Fransz. van der Brugge (1648)

 

(Prinsenhof, Delft, The Netherlands)

A painting by the Dutch artist Jacob Willemsz Delff the Younger (1619-1661). This painting shows two officers of the white company of the civic guard of Delft, one of the four civic guard companies of the town (the others were the Green, Orange and Blue company). Depicted are:

- on the left: Daniël Fransz. van der Brugge (? - 1676), musketeer in the civic guard. Innkeeper at the inn 'Hemelrijck' at the Voldersgracht in Delft. He was married with Maria Jansdr. Cordy.

- on the right: Willem Reyersz de Langue (1599 - 1656), Sergeant in the civic guard. Notary in Delft, art collector and poet. He was married with Maria Pijnacker. Willem de Langue was an important sponsor of the arts in Delft and had artists like Johannes Vermeer, Balthasar van der Ast and Willem Willemsz van der Vliet as his clients.


Usually, these two men would be included in a group portrait of other civic guard officers. Why Willem Reyersz de Langue chose not to be included in the group portrait of his fellow company officers is unknown (Jacob Willemsz Delff II - Five officers of the White company of Delft, 1648). This painting was lost for a long time but recently rediscovered at an auction. The museum Prinsenhof in Delft bought this painting to complete its collection of the other 4 civic guard paintings of Delft. Painting from 1648.