Vermeer's work was also highly esteemed after his death. One of the largest collections of his work belonged to the Delft printer Jacob Abrahamsz. Dissius, owner of the Gulden ABC printing office on the Markt.
Dissius was married to Magdalena van Ruijven, the daughter and
only heiress to Pieter Claesz. Van Ruijven. this father-in-law
was a wealthy burgher of Delft who bought many paintings directly
from Vermeer during his lifetime.
On Magdalena's death in 1682, the collection became the property of her husband. An inventory was made of all the pictures in his possession, which included as many as twenty paintings by Vermeer, without mentioning their titles.
Jacob Dissius died in October 1695 and his collection of paintings
was sold at auction in Amsterdam six months later. There were
twenty-one Vermeers in the collection then, one more than was
noted in the inventory made after the death of Magdalena.
The paintings are described
and mentioned by name in the auction catalogue. Famous paintings
such as The Little Street, The Lacemaker and the
View of Delft belonged to Jacob Dissius and graced his
home at number 32 the Markt.
The building had a different aspect in Vermeer's day as its present
front dates from the early nineteenth century.
Hata Stichting
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