Willem van Haecht

In the early seventeenth century, a new genre of painting emerged in Antwerp: the depiction of the art room or art gallery.

This painted art gallery represents the collection of Cornelis van der Geest (1555-1638), one of the most prominent art collectors in Antwerp and a friend of Peter Paul Rubens.

Willem van Haecht was born in 1593 in Antwerp. His father, Tobias Verhaecht was a prominent landscape painter and the first mentor of Peter Paul Rubens. Willem was a student of his father. Willem van Haecht worked in Paris from 1615 to 1619. Later, he traveled to Italy where he spent about seven years.

Van Haecht was appointed master in the Antwerp Guild of Saint Luke in 1626. In 1628 he became overseer of the art collection of Cornelius van der Geest, one of most prominent art collectors of Antwerp and a friend of Rubens.

Willem van Haecht died in 1637 at the age of forty-four.