Jan Verkolje

He is mainly known for his portraits and genre pieces of elegant couples in interiors and, to a lesser extent, for his religious and mythological compositions.

[2] Trained in Amsterdam, Verkolje spent his active professional career iLien Delft where he had access to powerful patrons.

[5] In 1672, the so-called rampjaar (disaster year), which was marked by a large-scale invasion of the Dutch Republic by French and other armies, Verkolje moved from Amsterdam to Delft.

Of these celebrity subjects, only the Delft naturalist Antonie van Leeuwenhoek was portrayed by Verkolje in a painting (Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam) as well as in a print.

His other portraits were mezzotint engravings after the work of other artists, such as Peter Lely, Willem Wissing and Godfrey Kneller.

[9] At the time Verkolje was active in Delft, Gerard ter Borch was the leading genre painter working in the city.

[11] Verkolje's genre paintings typically depict elegant figures in interiors engaged in music making or the playing of games.

In The messenger (1674, the Mauritshuis) Verkolje reprises the theme of the delivery of a letter, which had been treated previously by other Delft artists such as Vermeer.

The openly emotional reaction of the participants in the scene contrasts with that of the persons in Vermeer's works when receiving letters.

[12] The portraits of Verkolje often doubled as genre pieces in their extensive detail and the addition of emblematic and symbolic elements.

The crossed trunks of the trees visible outside on the left and their intertwined crowns possibly symbolise the commitment to each other of the sitters while the fountain is likely an allegory of the source of life or a reference to fertility.

The mezzotint work of Jan Verkolje shows the influence of the smoother tone developed by Abraham Blooteling.