The demand for portraits in the Netherlands was great in the 17th century. Michiel Jansz van Mierevelt was the most productive and successful portraitist in Delft: according to a somewhat exaggerated contemporary account, the artist painted around 10,000 portraits. His fame extended beyond the city limits. Both in their twenties, Henrick Hooft and Aegje Hasselaer of Amsterdam had themselves eternalized in paint by him on the occasion of their marriage.