Background
His father Marten Sorgh (ca 1641-1702) was registered as a silk trader when he became an Amsterdam citizen in 1665. Sorgh, who came from Rotterdam, probably was the son of the painter Hendrick Martensz Sorgh and Adriaantje Hollaer, but being from a Remonstrant family not always a birth certificate did survive.
His mother Elisabeth Rombouts was the daughter of Jacob Romboutsz, an Amsterdam silk trader. In the summer of 1675, Vermeer borrowed 1,000 guilders in Amsterdam from Jacob Romboutsz, using Maria Thins, his mother-in-law"s property as a surety.
Her grandfather was Arminius, a Remonstrant theologian.
His parents married in May 1665.
Their first child Hendrick was baptized at home, like all of his brothers and sisters.