Werf, Adriaan Van Der

Werf, Adriaan Van Der an eminent Dutch painter, was born at Kralinger-Ambacht, near Rotterdam, in 1659. He studied under Cornelius Picolett for two years, and under Eglon van der Neer during the next four. At the age of eighteen he commenced his career as a painter at Rotterdam, and met with great encouragement. He was commissioned by the elector-palatine to paint a picture of the Judgment of Solomon and his own portrait. After finishing these works he went to Dusseldorf, where the elector desired to retain him in his service; but he agreed to paint for him six months of the year, and give the other six to his own engagements. He received a liberal pension from the elector and many valuable presents, and continued in his service until the death of his royal patron, in 1717. Among his pictures in the Duisseldorf Gallery is a life-size Magdalene, painted as a companion-piece to the St. John of Raphael, but considered, even by his friends and admirers, as inferior to that work. He carried his finishing to a very high pitch, and as a consequence his works are rare and command a high price. He died in 1722.