Portrait of Henrick Hooft, Michiel Jansz. van Mierevelt, 1640 oil on panel, h 69cm × b 60cm. The demand for portraits was high in the Netherlands in the 17th century. Michiel Jansz van Mierevelt was the most prolific and successful portrait painter in Delft: with some exaggeration, he produced some ten thousand portraits, according to a contemporary. His fame extended beyond the city limits. Twenty-somethings Henrick Hooft and Aegje Hasselaer from Amsterdam had themselves immortalised by him on the occasion of their wedding.
