Portretten van Dirck en Wouter Pietersz. Crabeth 1753

This is Jacob Houbraken’s engraving “Portretten van Dirck en Wouter Pietersz. Crabeth”, made sometime between 1698 and 1780. It captures the likenesses of two 16th-century brothers, Dirck and Wouter, both accomplished glass painters from Gouda. The composition layers their identities; Dirck is sketched in the background above Wouter’s formal, framed portrait. Symbols of their craft surround them: a cherubic figure, a bull, and a painter's palette hint at their artistic legacy. Houbraken, working in the Dutch Golden Age, revives the Crabeth brothers' memory, embedding them in a lineage of Dutch artistic achievement. This engraving isn't just a record of their faces; it’s a statement about cultural memory and artistic identity. The Crabeth brothers aren't merely artists, they are patriarchs of a cultural heritage carefully curated and proudly displayed. Houbraken invites us to reflect on how we construct and commemorate our cultural heroes.