Background
Van Ruijven was the son of a brewer and a Remonstrant. Like his father, he worked for the city institution, the Camer van Charitate (1668–1672).
Van Ruijven was the son of a brewer and a Remonstrant. Like his father, he worked for the city institution, the Camer van Charitate (1668–1672).
Van Ruijven (Delft, 1624 - Delft, August 7, 1674) is best known as Johannes Vermeer"s patron for the better part of the artist"s career. The couple had one daughter named Magdalena, born in 1655. In 1657, he lent Vermeer 200 guilders.
His father owned a printing press on the Market square, close to Maria Thins.
Magdalena had 20 of Vermeer"s works in her estate at her death, inherited from her father. Magdalena van Ruijven died in 1682, one year after her mother.
Her spouse inherited most of her wealth, including 20 paintings by Vermeer. In 1683, the estate was divided by Dissius and his father.
On May 16, 1696, twenty-one paintings by Vermeer were sold in an auction in Amsterdam.
These paintings brought a total of 1,503 guilders, about seventy guilders each. lieutenant is presumed the paintings had belonged to the Van Ruijvens, who had built up a large collection of paintings by Vermeer, three by Emanuel de Witte, four by Simon de Vlieger and one by January Porcellis. He is portrayed by Tom Wilkinson in the 2003 film Girl with a Pearl Earring, in which he is depicted as a predatory lecher.