Hendrickje Stoffels

The couple were unable to marry because of the financial settlement linked to the will of Rembrandt's deceased wife Saskia, but they remained together until Hendrickje's death.

In the later years of their relationship Hendrickje managed Rembrandt's business affairs together with the painter's son Titus.

Hendrickje was born in the garrison city of Bredevoort, Gelderland,[1] the daughter of sergeant Stoffel Stoffelse and Mechteld Lamberts.

[4] On 30 October 1654, the couple's daughter Cornelia van Rijn was baptized in the Oude Kerk in Amsterdam.

[8] In 1656 Rembrandt “assigned” his share in the house to Titus just four weeks prior to the application for cessio bonorum.

[9] By February 1658, the house was sold at a foreclosure auction, and the family moved from Jodenbreestraat to more modest lodgings at Rozengracht.

To get around this, Hendrickje and Titus set up a dummy corporation as art dealers in 1660, with Rembrandt who had board and lodging, to continue his artistic pursuits.

Her biographer Christoph Driessen believes that Rembrandt’s noticeable productivity in the early 1660s was caused by the obvious support Hendrickje was rendering him.

A portrait in the National Gallery, London is identified as her "based on the knowledge of the sitter's relationship with the artist, and the informality and affection with which she is represented.

However, Rembrandt scholar Eric Sluijter is sceptical of attempts to identify Hendrickje in Rembrandt's work, writing that, If one compares the large number of etchings, drawings and paintings with the purpose of recognizing Hendrickje it appears more often than not that there is little mutual resemblance between all the candidates.

It is surprising how, still, in recent art historical literature numerous works are identified as Hendrickje Stoffels as a matter of course.

Sluijter has proposed otherwise, stating that Rembrandt would be very unlikely to portray his partner's own recognisable face on nudes to be sold publicly.