Portrait of Balthasar III Moretus
by REESBROECK, Jacob van, Oil on canvas, 121 x 100 cm
Jacob van Reesbroeck was asked by Balthasar Moretus II (1615-1674) to produce four portraits of members of the Moretus family, the owners of the Plantin Press in Antwerp.
The Plantin Press was established by Christophe Plantin (c.1520-1589). After Plantin’s death, his firm was taken over by his son-in-law, Jan Moretus. Moretus and his descendants continued to print many works of note in Officina Plantiniana, but the firm began to decline in the second half of the 17th century. Balthasar III Moretus (1646-1696) was the head of the Officina Plantiniana from 1674 to 1696. On 1 September 1692 he was ennobled by the King of Spain, receiving the title of jonkheer.