Pieter van Ruijven had belonged to the Van Ruijvens, who had built up a large collection of paintings by Vermeer, three by Emanuel de Witte, four by Simon de Vlieger and one by Jan Porcellis. He is depicted as a predatory lecher in Tracy Chevalier's historical novel "Girl with a Pearl Earring" (1999), although there is absolutely no evidence of this. The 2003 film of the book also follows this characterization. Pieter van Ruijven Pieter Claesz. van Ruijven (Delft, 1624 – Delft, August 7, 1674) is best known as Johannes Vermeer's patron for the better part of the artist's career. Van Ruijven was
Pieter Cnoll Pieter Cnoll Pieter Cnoll, also Pieter Knoll (1672), was a Dutchman who became Director General in Batavia. He married Cornelia van Nijenroode, an Indo Eurasian who was the daughter of Cornelis van Nieuwroode (also Cornelis van Nijenroode, former VOC Opperhoofden in Japan in 1623-1631) with a Japanese woman named Surishia. His family was depicted in a painting by Jacob Coeman. Cnoll and Cornelia had 10 children, only one of whom, a boy, survived to adulthood. When Cnoll died in 1672, he left full possession of his wealth to his wife Cornelia. Cornelia remarried in 1675 at the age of 46,