Portrait of Maerten Ruychaver (1545-1626), Burgomaster of Haarlem, bust-length, in a black costume with a 'millstone' ruff and a fur mantle

Maerten Ruychaver's portrait of 1618 by Van Mierevelt, half-length, is in Museum Van Loon, Amsterdam. A later copy together with a portrait of his wife Aletta van der Laen (1542-1626) in the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam. Hofje Meermansburg in Leiden houses two smaller portraits of Ruychaver and his wife by Van Mierevelt and studio. So far, these two works were the only known portraits on a single sheet of wood (see: A. Jansen a.o., De Portretfabriek van Michiel van Mierevelt; 1566-1641, Delft, 2011, p. 133, note 4). The present lot adds a third to this very small group within his oevre. It is conceivable that this work as well as the Leiden pair, were commissioned as studio repetitions together with the Van Loon portrait.

We are grateful to Rudi Ekkart of the RKD, The Hague, for endorsing the attribution based on a photograph (verbal communication, 20 March 2013).