Portrait of Dirck van Nuyssenborgh (?-1566), half length, wearing black costume with black cape, lace shirt and hat, holding a sword; and Portrait of Margaretha van Nuyssenborgh, née van der Merwede, Vrouwe van Zuydewijn-Capelle (1525-1593), half length, wearing a red silk dress, lace chemise, black bodice and fur wrap, and a gold chain around her waist

The present unpublished works are rare examples of early Dutch 16th Century portraiture and have never been offered on the market before, as they have remained in the family, since their execution. They were probably painted on the occasion of the sitters' marriage in 1544, as Margaretha van der Merwede is likely to be 19 years old. Her husband Dirk van Nuyssenborgh was member of the Dordrecht city council and treasurer. As the sitters were citizens of Dordrecht, Jan Jacobsz. Doudijn, active from at least 1560-1585, may have executed these portraits. For more information on the artist, whose style suggests a training in Antwerp, A. Staring, 'Jan Jacobsz. Doudijn Portretschilder te Dordrecht', Nederlands Kunsthistorisch Jaarboek, XIV, 1963, pp.61/82, and G.J. Hoogewerff, De Noord-Nederlandsche Schilderkunst, IV, 1941/2, pp.600/1.