Abraham de Verwer worked for Stadholder Prince Frederik Hendrik and his secretary, the renowned author, poet and draughtsman Constantijn Huygens, who were both passionate art collectors and connoisseurs. It was Huygens who discovered, among others, Rembrandt and Jan Lievens.¹

In his day, Abraham de Verwer was a celebrated painter whose work was commissioned by people in the highest circles in the land. We know of an account dated 1639 recording a payment to Verwer for two paintings of the Louvre in Paris supplied to Stadholder Prince Frederik Hendrik: ‘For two paintings, being the Louvre in Paris and two different views supplied to His Highness’.² He was also awarded commissions by the Dutch East India Company (VOC) for which he was very well paid. His painting of The Battle of Gibraltar, for instance, earned him 2,400 florins.³ 

Several times between 1636 and 1641, at the behest of the Prince, Abraham de Verwer visited France, where he painted the Louvre and other cityscapes. We currently know of several French cityscapes that are attributed to De Verwer. He is considered to be the first painter to have made Parisian cityscapes, painting towering Dutch cloudscapes above Parisian panoramas. His work was often mistaken for that of Johannes Vermeer or Francois Verwilt, because of his subtle use of colour and impressive skies.4

The painting was most probably commissioned by Stadholder Prince Frederik Hendrik. This would appear to be confirmed in a letter from De Verwer to Constantijn Huygens, dated 5 January 1640, in which he refers to a painting he was to make for the Prince of Orange, ‘…and so to be of use to his beloved Highness in his wider service… to make various fine things for my noble Lord in gratitude.’5

With thanks to Professor Peter Fuhring, scientific advisor at the Fondation Custodia, Paris, for his help in searching for documentation about this painting.

¹ Bredius, A., Roever, N. de. Het schildersregister van Jan Sysmus. Oud-Holland; Nieuwe Bijdragen voor de Geschiedenis der Nederlandsche Kunst, Letterkunde, Nijverheid. Amsterdam, Gebroeders Binger, 1890, p. 218.

² ‘Ter sake van twee stucken schilderij sijnde de Louvre van Parijs en twee verscheyden gesichten, bij hem aen S. Hoocheijt gelevert.’ Giltay, J., Jan Kelch. Lof der Zeevaart; de Hollandse zeeschilders van de 17de eeuw, exh. cat., Museum Boymans van Beuningen. Rotterdam, 1996, p. 133.

³ Giltay, J., Jan Kelch. Lof der Zeevaart; de Hollandse zeeschilders van de 17^de eeuw, exh. cat., Museum Boymans van Beuningen. Rotterdam, 1996, p. 133. Personal correspondence A. De Verwer – C. Huygens, December 1641

⁴ Reflets du Siecle d’Or; Tableaux Hollandais du Dix-Septieme Siecle. exh. cat., Fondation Custodia, Paris 1983, pp. 152-53.

⁵ ‘…ende soo sijne Hoocheitmij geliefde in sijnnen wyderen dienst te gebruken … verscheyden fraije dingen voor mijn ed. Heer tot danckbaerheit te maeken.’ Personal correspondence A de Verwer – Constantijn Huygens , 5 January 1640.

Reflets du Siecle d’Or; Tableaux Hollandais du Dix-Septieme Siecle. exh. cat., Fondation Custodia, Paris 1983, pp. 152-53.

Pascal, G. Les Premiers Peintres du Paysage Parisien. Gazette des Beaux-Arts, 68^e annee. Paris, Imprimerie Moderne de Beaux-Arts. 1926, p. 288.

Literature: Wurzbach, von A. Niederländisches Künstler-Lexicon. Amsterdam 1968, B.M. Israel; Thieme, U., Becker, F. et al. (s.a.). Allgemeines Lexicon der Bildenden Künstler von der Antike bis zum Gegenwart. Leipzig, Seemann Verlag; Bol, L.J. Die Holländische Marinemalerei des 17. Jahrhunderts. Braunschweig 1973, von Klinkhardt und Biermann; Willis, F.C. Die Niederländische Marinemalerei. Leipzig, (s.a.) von Klinkhardt und Biermann; Bernt, W. Die Niederländischen Maler des 17. Jahrhunderts; 800 Künstler mit 1470 Abbildungen in drei Bänden. (s.a.); Archief A. Bredius. Vol. De Verwer. The Hague, Rijksbureau voor Kunsthistorische Documentatie (Netherlands Institute for Art History); Alsteens, S., Buijs, H., Paysages de France dessinees par Lambert Domer et les artistes hollandaises et flamandes de XVIe et XVIIe siecle, cat. d’exposition, Fondation Custodia, Paris 2008, pp. 247-56; Reflets du Siecle d’Or; Tableaux Hollandais du Dix-Septieme Siecle. exh. cat., Fondation Custodia, Paris,1983, p. 44, pp. 152-153; Giltay, J., Jan Kelch. Lof der Zeevaart; de Hollandse zeeschilders van de 17^de eeuw, tent. cat, Museum Boymans van Beuningen. Rotterdam, 1996, p. 133; Bredius, A., Roever, N. de. Het schildersregister van Jan Sysmus. Oud-Holland; Nieuwe Bijdragen voor de Geschiedenis der Nederlandsche Kunst, Letterkunde, Nijverheid. Amsterdam, Gebroeders Binger, 1890; Pascal, G. Les Premiers Peintres du Paysage Parisien. Gazette des Beaux-Arts, 68^e annee. Paris, Imprimerie Moderne de Beaux-Arts, 1926, p. 288; Département de l’Information et de la Communication du Ministère de la Culture et de la Communication.  (s.a.) Resultat de recherche Verwer Abraham de.

The Cleveland Museum of Art. (s.a.). View of Paris: View of the Louvre and the Tuileries.

The Bridgeman Art Library. 2010. Image XJL 62437, XIR 167348, XIR 163287, XIR 210371, XIR 167347, XIR 52294, XIR 180003.