Lucretia Johanna van Winter (April 15, 1785 – February 28, 1845) was a Dutch art collector. Winter was born in

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the Capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population ...

as the oldest child of the wealthy merchant Pieter van Winter who received visitors to his art gallery that he had installed at the rear of his house ''Saxenburg'',

Keizersgracht The Keizersgracht (; "Emperor's canal") is a canal in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. It is the second of the three main Amsterdam canals that together form the Grachtengordel, or canal belt, and lies between the inner Herengracht and outer Prinsengr ...

244. He had purchased the house for the astronomical sum of Dfl. 100,000 from

Jean de Neufville Jean de Neufville or John de Neufville (Amsterdam, May 25, 1729 - Cambridge, Massachusetts, in December 1796) was an Amsterdam banker who had a meeting in Aachen on September 4, 1778 with US William Lee, a diplomat. Biography Jean was the son ...

. In 1800 her mother died and in 1807 her father died, leaving the collection as it then was in the family home, the portraits of which became the property of Lucretia's brother. The rest of the paintings were to be divided between Lucretia and her younger sister Anna Louisa, who would later amass her own art collection. After her brother's marriage Lucretia bought the house

Herengracht The Herengracht () is the second of four Amsterdam canals belonging to the canal belt and lies between the Singel and the Keizersgracht. The Gouden Bocht (Golden Bend) in particular is known for its large and beautiful canal houses. History Th ...

440 in 1809.Lucretia Johanna van Winter
in

1001 Vrouwen ''1001 Vrouwen uit de Nederlandse geschiedenis'' is a compilation of 1001 biographies of famous women of the Netherlands spanning roughly 1700 years. Project The book is the result of a research project called the Digital Women's lexicon of the N ...

Her father's art gallery remained available for viewing at her parents’ home (now her brother's residence) and were to be split after the youngest sister Anna Louisa came of age. Anna Louisa took her portion of the collection when she married jonkheer Willem van Loon in 1815, but Lucretia had already made her first art purchases since 1810 with a view to forming her own art gallery and united her half of her father's collection with this modest collection of her own. She continued collecting in her own name until 1820, purchasing in total 71 paintings on her own. In 1822 at the age of 37 Lucretia married Hendrik Six van Hillegom (1790-1847) and the couple moved into his house at Herengracht 509-511. After that all art purchases were made in his name, but it is assumed that she remained an avid collector since there are no records of him making art purchases before his marriage. Among the most notable of the paintings Lucretia bought herself are Vermeer's ''

Milkmaid A milkmaid, milk maid, dairymaid, or dairywoman was a girl or woman who milked cows. She also used the milk to prepare dairy products such as cream, butter, and cheese. Many large houses employed milkmaids instead of having other staff do the wor ...

'' and ''

The Little Street ''The Little Street'' (''Het Straatje'') is a painting by the Dutch painter Johannes Vermeer, executed c. 1657-1658. It is exhibited at the Rijksmuseum of Amsterdam, and signed, below the window in the lower left-hand corner, "I V MEER". Painti ...

''. After the death of Lucretia the collection went to her husband and on his death in 1847 it fell to their sons. In 1877 the heirs of Anna Louisa sold the Van Loon-Winter collection as a block to the Paris Rothschild family, which caused a stir in the Dutch papers (it included the ''

Pendant portraits of Maerten Soolmans and Oopjen Coppit The pendant ''portraits of Marten Soolmans and Oopjen Coppit'' are a pair of full-length wedding portraits by Rembrandt. They were painted on the occasion of the marriage of Marten Soolmans and Oopjen Coppit in 1634. Formerly owned by the Rot ...

'', among others). When Lucretia's children died her grandchildren also expected to sell the collection, but a large portion was acquired by the Rijksmuseum amidst debates about the value. They accepted an offer from the heirs for Vermeer's milkmaid plus 38 other paintings for Dfl. 750.000.

References

Lucretia Johanna van Winter
in the RKD with links to paintings with her name in the provenance records * R. Priem, 'The "most excellent collection" of Lucretia Johanna van Winter: the years 1809-22, with a catalogue of the works purchased', Simiolus 25 (1997), p. 103-235 {{DEFAULTSORT:Winter, Lucretia Johanna van 1785 births 1845 deaths Art collectors from Amsterdam