early life and training jacob fransz van der merck, a prominent dutch old masters painter, was born in 1610 in 's-gravendeel, netherlands. little is known about his early life, but it is assumed that he received training in the vicinity of delft, given his enrollment in the delft guild of st luke under the name jacob fransz van sgravendeel in 1628. artistic career van der merck's artistic career is marked by his contributions to various genres, including portraits, genre scenes, and still-lifes. his work has been offered at auction multiple times, with realized prices ranging from 1,731 usd t…