Information from the museum website, 23 February 2010
Willem Craeyvanger and Christine van der Wart founded a large family with no fewer than eight children. Here you can see all the members of this family from Arnhem together. The father, Willem, was painted first, by Paulus Lesire, in 1651. The portraits of Christine and the children followed several years later. These were painted by Gerard ter Borch and his pupil Caspar Netscher.
For centuries, almost no-one knew of the existence of these ten portraits: they had remained in the family for generations. Then, in May 2009, the paintings came up for auction. A private collection purchased all ten paintings, ensuring that after 350 years the family would remain together.
The Craeyvanger Family is on display in the Mauritshuis in Room 11