Pieter Hermansz Verelst

Pieter Harmensz Verelst (c. 1618, Dordrecht – 1668 in England) was a Dutch Golden Age painter. Four of his sons, Herman, Simon, John (1648-1679) and William (1651–1702), also became painters.^[1][a]

Pieter Hermansz Verelst
Born	c. 1616-1618 Dordrecht
Died	c. November 1668 England
Citizenship	Dutch
Occupation	painter
Years active	1640-1668
Spouses	Adriana van Gesel (m. 11 July 1638–⁠before September 1659) Elisabeth Schölts (m. 30 September 1659-before 1668)
Relatives	Herman Verelst (son) Simon Verelst (son) John Verelst (1648-1679) (son) William Verelst (1651–1702) (son) Lodvick Verelst (grandson) John Verelst (c. 1670-1734) (grandson) Michael Verelst (grandson) Adriana Verelst (granddaughter) William Verelst (1704-1752) (great grandson) Harry Verelst (colonial governor) (great great grandson)

An Italian street scene with Bamboccianti playing cards and a quack preparing concoctions
An Italian street scene with Bamboccianti playing cards and a quack preparing concoctions
Artist	Pieter Hermansz Verelst
Year	c. 1640-1668
Medium	Oil on panel
Dimensions	34.0 cm × 28.0 cm (13.4 in × 11.0 in)
Location	Private collection

Biography

Verelst was born in Dordrecht in 1616 or 1618.^[2] He married Adriana van Gesel in Dordrecht on 3 August 1638 having become engaged on 11 July 1638.^[3] Verelst had nine children with Adriana who died before September 1657.^[b] He married Elisabeth Schölts on 30 September 1657.^{[4]: p. 103} Elisabeth had two daughters. She died somewhere between 1659 (the date of birth of her second child) and 1668.

Pieter moved with some of his children to London in 1668, possibly to live with Simon, and died in England in or about November 1668.^[c]

Artistic career

Pieter Verelst was a pupil of Gerard Dou and Jacob Gerritsz Cuyp.^[5] In 1638, he became a member of the Dordrecht Guild of St. Luke.^[4] In 1643 he lived in the Hague near Jan van Goyen. Verelst produced five supraportes for Huis ten Bosch. In 1651 he went broke. In 1656, he was one of the founders of the local Confrerie Pictura.^[5] His pupils were Hermanus van Grevenbroeck, Anthony de Haen, Otto Hoynck, Hendrik Mony, Gabriel Siebrick and his sons Herman, Simon Pietersz Verelst and John (1648-1679).^[5]

He is known mostly for genre paintings of Dutch and Italian village life.^[5]

Notes

1. A full family tree is given by Peter Hancox.^{[1]: p. 191}
2. The burial of Adriana Verelst (nee van Gesel) has not been traced. It was likely to have taken place in The Hague from mid 1651 to autumn 1657.
3. Pieter Verelst's death in England is recorded in his son John's response to an attempt by Simon Verelst to sue him.^{[1]: pp 176-178} Not knowing of John's deposition, G.H. Veth found evidence of a Pieter Verelst working as a brewer in Hulst and suggested that this could be identified with the painter of the same name.^[4]