ELSEVIER, Louys Aernoutsz - b. 1618 Leiden, d. 1675 Delft

Dutch painter, son of a painter and innkeeper in Leiden. He joined the Leiden guild in 1645. In the same year he married Helena Waelpot, the daughter of a prominent printer in the university town. In 1646 he registered in the painters’ guild in Delft, he served as headman in 1669 and 1673. In 1648 the artist, who also dealt in dyes and pigments, bought a house called ‘The Blue Dog’ just beside the choir of the Oude Kerk in Delft. He was buried in the Oude Kerk in 1675.

Only four paintings by Elsevier are known: a view of the interior of a stable (1647), a landscape (1647), a landscape (1648), and a view of the interior of the Oude Kerk (1653).

Interior of the Oude Kerk, Delft, Seen through a Stone Archway

This view of the interior of the Oude Kerk is taken from the northern aisle to the east. The Mariakoor (Mary’s Choir), with the tomb of Elisabeth van Marnix Morgan (erected in 1609) is seen in the background, flanked by stained-glass windows that were blown out in the Delft explosion of the following year.

The stone archway - which bears the crest of Delft - and the pavement of the street are painted on wood with a flat surface.