Thomas Van Der Wilt (1659-1733) “portrait Of A Noble Woman”

Thomas VAN DER WILT (1659-1733) “Portrait of a Noblewoman”, oil on canvas55 cm x 46 cm without frame65 cm x 56 cm with frameVery good conditionThomas van der Wilt (1659-1733) was an 18th-century painter from the Dutch Republic.BiographyVan der Wilt was born in Piershil. Houbraken mentions him as one of Jan Verkolje’s students. He became a master portrait painter in Delft, where he died.According to the RKD, he was the teacher of Jacob Campo Weyerman. He is known for his portraits and historical allegories.Thomas van der Wilt was born in Piershil (near Spijkenisse) and was the son of the cloth merchant Willem van der Wilt and his wife Emmerentia van der Staf. He received his artistic training from Jan Verkolje (1650-1693), who took Thomas under his tutelage on the recommendation of the engraver Jan Goeree, who had discovered the young man's talent. Van der Wilt settled in Delft, where he was the most prominent portrait painter of the first decades of the 18th century. Many prominent citizens sat for him, including the mayor of Leiden, Adriaan van der Goes van Naters, as well as the mayor of Haarlem, Cornelis Colterman, and the renowned Amsterdam art collector Valerius Röver. Van der Wilt was renowned for his meticulous depiction of fine fabrics and his carefully drawn hands, and his skill in this regard clearly shines through in this work. Van der Wilt also painted the portrait of the Delft writer and poet Hubert Kornelisz Poot.3 When Van der Wilt died in 1733, Poot wrote the following lines about the painter: "Yesterday sluimert VANDER WILT, I did not think that ten minutes later.O gy, die kunst waerdeert, betreurt den schrandren man.De Schildermin, alas! Heeft meer aen hem verrerenDan op den Bresten Zerk de beitel schryven kan.