Portrait of Father Jan Neyen

Father Jan Neyen was an important man in the history of the Netherlands. He was the commissioner general of six provinces of the Order of Friars Minor in the Netherlands and the German Empire. In 1607, he was sent by Archduke Albert and Archduchess Isabella to The Hague, to represent the Southern Netherlands in the negotiations with the Republic. These talks eventually led, on 9 April 1609, to the Twelve Years’ Truce; a truce during the Eighty Years’ War. According to an old document that was formerly on the reverse of the painting, the portrait dates from 1607, when Neyen was about 37 years old.