Diego Duarte (1544 - 1628)

Born 1544 in Lisbon, Portugal

Ancestors

Descendants

Died 14 Oct 1628 at about age 84 in Antwerpen, Hertogdom Brabant, Spaanse Nederlanden

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Biography

Married Leonora (Eleonora) Rodrigues ca 1549-1632 with

M Gaspar (Rodrigues of Fernandes?) Duarte 1584-1653

M Immanuel (Emmanuël) Duarte (Abolais) 1598-1632

F Catharina Duarte 1601-

M Jeronimo Duarte

F Francisca Duarte

F Gracia Duarte †1632

The Duartes

The jewels they traded in were wanted at all European royal courts. The paintings they collected, would become the masterpieces in the collections of the museums like the National Gallery and the Prado. The concerts they gave attracted music lovers from all over Europe. Yet history, except for their home city of Antwerp, has virtually forgotten the Duartes. High time for an introduction to the Duarte family.

The Duarte’s are an artistic family, blessed with both talent and taste: in jewellery, art collecting and music. They lived for the arts; first and foremost they are gem and jewellery dealers for an elusive international clientele - which fuels their other artistic endeavours. They are great patrons of the arts and culture. They sing, play and compose music and have an extensive collection of exquisite artworks, many of which are still well know today. The Duartes are art. Art is everywhere. Gaspar Duarte lays the foundation for an exceptional collection of paintings that his son Diego II will continue to expand.

While Rubens paints his masterpieces in his workshop, around the corner, the Duarte’s nights are filled with making music. Gaspar I and his children sang and played their own work as well as music brought by befriended popular composers of the day, such as John Bull, Cipriano de Rore, Salomone Rossi, Frescobaldi and Constantijn Huygens. At their mansion, people from various religions come together and leave inspired.

The Duarte family was a Jewish-Portuguese (Sephardic) family. From 1497 Jews had a choice: convert to Catholicism or leave Portugal. The Duarte family chose the first, still, the Portuguese Inquisition continued to persecute conversos. As a result, the family decided in the second half of the 16th century to move from Portugal to Antwerp, Belgium, a relatively tolerant and prosperous city. The Duarte's seized the opportunities that the port city offered with both hands.

In Antwerp Diego (I) Duarte laid the foundations for a successful jewellery trade, but it was above all his son Gaspar (I) and his eldest son Diego (II) who took the family company to great heights. Gaspar acquired the family mansion in 1615, and extended it and made it a veritable magnet. Under father Gaspar (I), his wife Catharina, their son Diego (II) and his brother and four sisters, the Duartes’ mansion became a cultural meeting place where, for example, painting and music crossed the path of international diplomacy. Numerous foreign travellers visited the Duarte house between 1615 and 1691, from the Swedish architect Nicodemus Tessin to William III of Orange, from the royalist refugees William and Margaret Cavendish to the English composer Nicholas Lanier and from the Italian merchant Guillielmo Calandrini and the French baroness Béatrix de Cusance.

The members of the Duarte family usually regaled their visitors with a concert or perhaps a guided tour of their sizable art collection which included chefs-d’oeuvre by Brueghel, Dou, Titian, Rubens, van Dyck, Vermeer and others. The name and fame of the Duartes’ cultural and intellectual pleasures were, however, the result of, and also facilitated, their professional life, namely the trade in precious stones, pearls and jewellery. The production of jewellery and the process of creating gemstones were not only carried out by family members but also by skilled craftsmen from different backgrounds. Of course, the affluence that stemmed from the professional life of Gaspar and his children facilitated these passionate artistic leisure activities, but at the same time, the Duartes’ active cultural interests also created a neutral forum which brought people of different nationalities and diverse religious persuasions together in the home of a converso. There is no doubt that the arts served as a catalyst that facilitated professional contacts.

Diego Duarte I

Around 1570 Diego Duarte (I) (1544 -1626) came from Portugal to Antwerp. He is a part of the Portuguese Trade Nation of Antwerp which is trading spices and other goods from the Portuguese colonies, which arrive in the Harbour and are traded in Europe. Among the arriving goods are also diamonds and pearls. This allows Diego to build up a successful family business, trading in jewellery and gems, which will further be expanded during the following years by his family, Diego specializes in high-end jewellery made from diamonds and other valuable gems. The Duarte’s built their fortune on trade in jewellery, especially diamonds; a product to which Antwerp still owes part of its reputation. Diego (I) Duarte laid the foundations for a particularly lucrative business in gemstones and jewellery. His son Gaspar (I) and grandsons Gaspar (II) Diego (II) Duarte were also very successful professionally and became purveyors of fine jewellery to the courts in, among other places, England, France, the Dutch Republic and the Habsburg Empire. Their wealth enabled the Duartes to collect art and make music in their “palace” on the Meir. Their artistic taste and discernment was such that the mansion became a magnet for visitors from all over Western Europe. The arts were a catalyst for the Duartes’ business, but also constituted a universal language that permitted the family to transcend religious and geographical borders.

He is married to Leonora Rodrigues. Together they have several children including Gaspar (I), Immanuel and Francisca. When Diego dies, in 1626, he is buried in front of the high altar of magnificent art filled baroque St. James's Cathedral in his home city of Antwerp. The grave becomes the family tomb of the Duartes. His most famous neighbour there is Peter Paul Rubens who’s family’s grave chapel is also located there. The family were crypto-Jews and outwardly conformed to Roman Catholic practice in order to remain and trade in Antwerp. Around 1620 his son Immanuel, the brother of Gaspar (I), decided to move to expand the business to Amsterdam, where he could openly practice Judaism and set up shop there.

Gaspar Duarte I

After his father's death, Gaspar Duarte (1588-1653), succeeds him. Like his father, brother and many others in the family, Gaspar is also a dealer in gems and jewels to an exclusive clientele including European royalty: For example, in 1641, he supplied Prince Frederick Henry of Orange with a diamond jewel needed as a wedding present for his daughter-in-law, Princess Mary of England. He is also an art collector and dealer.

His commercial spirit brings him prosperity and power: in 1641 Gaspar becomes counsel of the Portuguese Nation in Antwerp. That same year he negotiated with the Dutch diplomat Constantijn Huygens about a jewel that William II of Orange, the son of the Stadholder of Holland, will give to his future wife Mary Henrietta Stuart, daughter of Charles I. Anthony Van Dyck will depict the jewel on the wedding portrait of William and Mary.

Constantijn Huygens, (1596 – 1687), was a Dutch golden age poet, artist and musician and composer. He was secretary to two Princes of Orange: Frederick Henry and William II. Constantijn was a gifted child and was five years old when he received his first musical education. His lute playing was in demand and he played at the Danish Court and for James I of England. He was in contact with philosopher René Descartes and Rembrandt who he discovered, and was the first one about write him - Rembrandt was 22 at the time. In his extensive correspondence, with Gasper and others, Huygens often mentions with warmth la famille musicale or la maison musicale and was the first to call their home a true Antwerp Parnassus.

It is through the correspondence between the Huygens and Duarte family members we know a lot of information about the Duartes. Huygens was known to be rather disdainful about the musical culture of his own country. He and his sons Constantijn jr. (1628-1697) and Christiaan (1629-1695) visit the Duartes often: at which time Huygens accompanied by singing or by playing the lute or other instruments. In later life, he also played the modern guitar. The Duarte and Huygens family shared an interest in music, science and literature. The families build warm friendships that would span generations.

Constantijn Huygens Jr. (1628 – 1697) was a Dutch statesman, poet and artist, mostly known for his work on scientific instruments (sometimes in conjunction with his younger brother Christiaan. He was also a chronicler of his times, recording all aspects of early-modern court life in Holland and England. Revealing his role as a connoisseur of arts, belief in magic and witchcraft, and gossip and sexuality at the court of William and Mary. He is comparable to his English contemporary, Samuel Pepys, but with an important difference: whereas Pepys mainly describes his own sexual habits, Huygens almost exclusively describes those of others.

Christiaan Huygens (1629 – 1695) was a physicist, mathematician, astronomer and inventor, who is widely regarded as one of the greatest scientists of all time and a major figure in the scientific revolution. In physics, he is chiefly known for his studies of the rings of Saturn and the discovery of its moon Titan. As an inventor, he improved the design of the telescope and invented the pendulum clock in 1656. Because he was the first to use mathematical formulae to describe the laws of physics, Huygens has been called the first theoretical physicist and the founder of mathematical physics.

Gaspar is married to Catharina Rodrigues (1584-1644). Together they have six children: Leonora (1610-1678), Diego (II) (1612-1691), Catharina (1614-1678), Gaspar (II) (1615-1685), Francisca (1619-1678) and Isabella (1620 -1685).

Gaspar shows himself to be a great fan and patron of the arts. Van Nieulandt dedicates a play to 'Gasper Duarte. Contemporaries call Gaspar's House on the Meir 'the Antwerp Parnas', referring to the mythological Mount Parnassus where the Muses lived. Those who visit the Duarte's house are immersed: Art is everywhere: Gaspar Duarte lays the foundation for an exceptional collection of paintings that his son Diego will continue to expand.

Gaspar was a musical talent, as was his sister, his wife, and all four of their children. Their family home was known for a remarkable appreciation for guests and personal musical performances by all members of their family. The Duarte’s received a superb musical education that included instruction on viol, virginals, and lute, as well as lessons in composition. A viol is a string instrument played with a bow. Small viols are held on the lap, and the larger ones, between the knees, which gave them the name of viol da gamba, meaning a leg viol. The viol was a popular instrument from the 15th to the 18th century. It’s is a gentle-sounding instrument. When the violin family became popular in the 17th century – and people started to go to concerts in large concert halls, and to operas – the viols became less important and were never used in orchestras.

The family has at least five harpsichords and virginals (a keyboard instrument of the harpsichord family, popular in Europe during the late Renaissance and early Baroque periods), as well as a claviorganum (a combination of a harpsichord and an organ). Gaspar maintains very good contacts with the Antwerp harpsichord builders Joannes Ruckers and his nephew and pupil Joannes Couchet. He even advises them on the design of their instruments (even though Couchet mainly follows the advice given).

The Ruckers family contributed immeasurably to the harpsichord's technical development, pioneering the addition of a second manual - which has become the standard (designed for convenient transposing, - playing or writing music in a way that makes it sound higher or lower - the original keyboards of Ruckers two-manual harpsichords were a fourth apart in pitch)."The quality of their instruments is such that the name of Ruckers is as important to early keyboard instruments as that of Stradivarius is to the violin. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ruckers)

There is no lack of repertoire either: around 1628, Gaspar compiles the so-called Messaus-Bull codex, a thick handwritten keyboard music by mainly the English composer John Bull. Gaspar is a good singer and plays, among other things, violin and harpsichord. His children share that musicality, and that creates possibilities. As soon as his daughters are old enough, Gaspar organizes house concerts on which he performs together with his daughters Leonora, Catharina and Francisca.

In a letter, now kept in the Royal Library of The Hague, Gaspar describes to his good friend Constantijn Huygens how such a concert he gives in the autumn of 1640 proceeds: "We sometimes organize a house concert with a small instrumental occupation, as we have shown to Miss Anna Roemers Visscher, namely with three instruments that are particularly suitable for the three girls, the spinet, the lute and the viola bastarda and I on the violin for the third dessus voice; and for the vocals: a lute and the violin together under the voice of my two daughters and sometimes two voices with a bass that I sing, with the spinet or the theorbo for the little madrigals from the book." After the concert, the poet Anna Roemers Visscher writes a poem on Gaspar's musical qualities, in which she values him higher than Orpheus and Amphion, the two greatest musicians of Classical Antiquity. Visitors to the home concert leave deeply impressed: 'I am already looking forward to playing in the house of the noble gentleman Duarte because I only experienced this in Venice in the company of Claudio Monteverdi', praises Giuliano Calandrini. And Margaret Cavendish (who lives between 1648 and 1660 with her husband William at the Rubenshuis) describes in a letter how much she enjoys their company. Baroness Béatrix de Cusance, wife of Karel IV of Lotharingen writes in a letter­: ”the precious and unparalleled Francisca makes us hear rare and extraordinary things.

Duchess Margaret Lucas Cavendish, (1623 - 1673) is a poet, philosopher, writer of romances, essayist and playwright. Cavendish published her work under her own name at a time when most women published anonymously. In her work, she deals with various subjects, including 'gender', power and good manners. She also wrote about natural philosophy, which was dominated by male researchers at the time. Her romance "The Blazing World" is one of the earliest examples of science fiction. She is singular in having published extensively in natural philosophy and early modern science. She published over a dozen original works; inclusion of her revised works brings her total number of publications to 21 in total. She is championed and criticized as a unique and groundbreaking woman writer. She rejected the Aristotelianism and mechanical philosophy of the seventeenth century, preferring a vitalist model instead. She is the first woman to attend a meeting at Royal Society of London in 1667 and she criticizes and engages with members and philosophers Thomas Hobbes, René Descartes, and Robert Boyle. She is as an advocate for animal rights and as an early opponent of animal testing. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Margaret_Cavendish,_Duchess_of_Newcastle-upon-Tyne

The Duarte music room

At the Antwerp Museum, the Snijders & Rockoxhuis, there is a music room dedicated to the Duarte family. The room has instruments and seventeenth-century paintings, including Vermeer's own Lady Seated at the Virgiona. Visitors hear a recording of the type of concerts the Duarte family would have given in the 1640s. Among the music recorded are pieces by Constantijn Huygens, Nicholas Lanier, John Bull, Girolamo Frescobaldi and, of course, Leonora Duarte. The music has also been released as a CD, dedicated to the Duarte family.” https://www.museumvleeshuis.be/nl/pagina/wie-zijn-de-duartes

Francisca Duarte I

Gaspar I’s sister, Francisca (Antwerp 1595 - Alkmaar 1646) like their brother Immanuel, moves from Antwerp to the Netherlands. She will be part of the so-called Muiderkring, a group of friends around the poet P.C. Hooft, including Constantijn Huygens and Joost van den Vondel. Francisca, who was nicknamed Antwerp nightingale, is most often mentioned in the correspondence of both Constantijn and Christiaan Huygens.

Francisca was active as a court singer at the court of the governors in the Spanish Netherlands and sang to the exiled Maria de Medici. Duarte was famous in contemporary Europe and the subject of poetic celebration by P.C. Hooft and others. She sang duets with fellow singer Maria Tesselschade and poet Roemers Visscher, accompanied by Dirk Janszoon Sweelinck on the harpsichord; son of the Amsterdam composer and organist Jan Pieterszoon Sweelinck, the Dutch composer whose work helped mark the transition between the Renaissance and Baroque periods of music.

In her repertoire were songs in French, Italian and Dutch. Francisca and her niece Leonora performed Italian madrigalets, alongside the latest airs by the Parisian composer Michel Lambert (1610-1696) who was the leading musician in the 1660s. This situation reflects the international relations par excellence. Francisca and Leonora can be seen with a certain reservation as models for the great Parisian virtuoso singers and court singers of the Sun King Louis XIV of France; Hilaire Dupuy and Anna Bergerotti who also sang these airs at his court.

The fact that Francisca and her family are asked to promote Lamberts music in Antwerp suggests the international reverberation of style, as well as the musical talent of the Duartes. The musical circle of the Duartes grew into a meeting place for the latest European styles: French court musicians Anne and Joseph de La Barre, as well as Nicholas Lanier composer and performer at the court of King Charles I, the English composer with French roots Nicholas Lanier, the vocalist Anne de la Barre frequented the house of the Duartes. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francisca_Duarte http://resources.huygens.knaw.nl/vrouwenlexicon/lemmata/data/Duarte

Francisca (II) Duarte

Francisca (II) Duarte ( 1619 - 1678 ) is the daughter of Gaspar. Besides having a beautiful singing voice, Francisca also played the harpsichord and other instruments. That Francisca (II) had an aunt with the same name an exceptional musical talent has on several occasions lead to confusion. Wrongly, several writers believed that Francisca (II) was the French nightingale who Constantine Huygens mentions in his journal. 

Leonora Duarte (1610-1678)

Leonora Duarte (1610-1678) is Gasper's oldest daughter. She is a gifted composer, like her brother Diego. Before the 20th-century female composers were very rare. The best-known from the mid-17th century is Barbara Strozzi. Another one, now being rediscovered is Leonora Duarte. Whereas the compositions of her brother Diego are all lost, seven fantasias for viol consort by her pen have been preserved. Leonora has been referred to as the first Jewish female composer in history. She was able to combine her native talent with the latest ideas in Italian and French music because of the traffic stream of visitors from all parts of Europe who frequented their house.

When you think of the great Dutch painter Johannes Vermeer you tend to think of  “Girl with a Pearl Earring,” probably his most famous painting; inspiration for the movie with the same name. One of Vermeer’s lesser-known paintings, “A Lady Seated at a Virginal.” could be the inspiration for another film, because the young lady who is the subject of the painting is reminiscent of Leonora Duarte.

It’s remarkable that any of her works have survived, since it was unusual for a woman in the mid-1600s to get her work published professionally and even more unusual if the woman was Jewish, as Duarte was, although her family had renounced their Judaism and converted to Catholicism, in name if not in practice. It’s not believed that Vermeer personally knew Leonora or her family, but he likely knew of the Duartes through his relationship with Constantijn Huygens, arguably the most influential Dutchman of his time in matters of art and culture and a regular visitor to the Duarte household in Antwerp. In fact, it’s believed that Huygens brokered the purchase of “A Lady Seated at a Virginal” to Leonora’s father, Gaspar.

So, if Leonora wasn’t the subject of Vermeer’s painting she may as well have been because it depicts the world she lived in. And yet, as a musical talent of considerable gifts, she transcended that world and has given us, as unlikely as it is, the beautiful music of a young lady at the crossroads of culture at a rich time.

As a young composer, Leonora published a set of seven abstract fantasies (one in two parts) Sinfonias for viol consort written for five viols.— the only known seventeenth-century viol music written by a woman. This music is a testament to a formidable talent for composition. Recently concerts featuring the music of Leonora Duarte have been performed at various venues including the MET, by the ensemble Sonnambula, following the release of the first complete recording of Leonora Duarte’s work (Sonnambula, Centaur Records; 2017). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonora_Duarte1

Gaspar Duarte (II)

Gaspar II Duarte (1615-1685) will is the trusted right-hand man of his brother Diego, who heads the company during its later years, until his death. He played an important role in the family business. In the spring of 1632, Diego (II) and his brother Gaspar (II) arrived in London, escorted by their father: Gasper is 16 and his brother is 4 years his senior. There targeted wealthy clientele with their exceptionally high-quality items of jewellery. They were hoping to tap into a market of new customers in England, particularly in court circles. While the father headed up the firm from the residence on the Meir in Antwerp, his two sons would manage a branch in England, like a kind of trading post. Their merchandise was purchased and sold not in Antwerp but from Antwerp, with the house on the Meir as the pivot around which the Duarte firm rotated. Antwerp itself was not an important market; the buyers were elsewhere, often concentrated around the European courts. Gasper and his brother would spend many years in Engeland which was an important market with royals who loved jewels and spend a lot on them.

The two brothers were inducted in the workings of the jewellery trade by their father from an early age. So when they arrived in London, the 20-year-old Diego and his 16-year-old brother were not completely wet behind the ears, despite being so young.

Little is known about the education of Gaspar (II) and Diego (II), but they may have been home-schooled in preparation for a life as merchants, and so rather than learning Greek and Latin, they would have studied arithmetic and bookkeeping, geography and French. English may also have been part of the language package, for, later on, they had no difficulty in switching between Dutch, French, English and of course Portuguese. And finally, there was music, which not only provided refinement, but also mathematical harmony.

Diego Duarte II

When Gaspar Duarte (I) dies, his son Diego (II), also called Jacob Duarte, (1612–1691) took over the running of the family business, assisted by his right-hand man, his brother Gaspar. They expand the network; extending from Amsterdam to Paris and from London to Goa. Diego was next to a jeweller, a composer, organist and art collector, also a banker, and became consul of Portugal in Antwerp like his father before him. Diego II and Gaspar II settled in London and were endenizened there in 1632 and 1634. Diego was court jeweller to King Charles I during the years 1632-8. However, he returned to Antwerp and eventually succeeded to his father's business. The years spent at the English court were a wonderful and formative time for Diego (II) Duarte. In the court circles, Diego meets important artists, patrons and noblemen. He had managed to make a name for himself there as a top-class jeweller and he had built up such a network that many of the acquaintances from his English period remained friends for years.

From 1642 numerous royalists fled to the Continent, including William and Margaret Cavendish, duke and duchess of Newcastle. They went to live in Rubens’ former house, just around the corner from the Duarte’s home. The Duartes became almost one of the family.

In London Diego (II) Duarte and his brother were also moving in the sovereign’s cultural circles. Anthony Van Dyck’s paintings became one of Diego’s passions and he gradually collected several of Van Dyck’s English works including portraits of the Duchess of Northumberland, the Count of Carlisle, the Duchess of Richmond, and a double portrait of Karl Ludwig, Elector Palatine and his brother Rupprecht.

Inaccurate evaluations and decisions put Charles on a direct collision course with a growing number of his people. In July 1641 Queen Henrietta Maria left for the thermal baths in Spa in a secret attempt to transport as many royal jewels to the continent as possible with a view to selling them there. In 1642 the sovereign realized that he had lost control of London and he fled the capital. On February 23rd Henrietta Maria set off for The Hague, this time with a much larger quantity of jewellery and other valuables. Diego Duarte must have realized that England was a powder keg about to explode and that the escalating situation was not safe for a (Jewish) court jeweller.

In 1642 Diego requested and received permission to leave England to visit his sick mother in Antwerp. Though he regularly left the country, with this request he seems to have wanted to indicate that he would be away for a longer period, perhaps until the situation normalized. That did not happen, and in August 1642 the bloody English Civil War broke out. Diego Duarte’s time at the English court was over. In 1649 Charles I was executed. Twelve years later, on the eve of the coronation of Charles II and the restoration of the English monarchy, Diego hoped to return to his former post, which had been granted him for life, but others had already taken his place. However, years later Diego did go on to perform services for Charles II. Diego would often take a proactive approach and look for clients but, equally, high-placed clients often contacted him, usually through a secretary or employee, with a message to say that they were looking for specific items of jewellery. Drawing on his network of suppliers, Diego knew instantly what was available, upon which he would provide a description of the jewel he had in mind.

Three commodities are featured in the letter book left by Diego: diamonds, pearls and above all finished items of jewellery. Fellow jewellers with whom Diego cooperated were based across Europe. The Amsterdam firm Athias & Levy occupied a prominent place in the trade network. In 1660 Manuel Levy Mendes do Valle (after his marriage Manuel Levy Duarte) married Constancia Duarte, one of Immanuel Duarte’s daughters. A year later, his good friend Jacob Athias married Constancia’s sister, Gracia Duarte. The firm Athias & Levy was established around 1661 and became an important player in Amsterdam’s jewellery trade.

Both diamonds and pearls were extremely expensive and came with their own challenges. Merchants dealing in pearls often needed a large stock because pearls were usually sold in groups: they had to match in terms of colour, shape and size if they were to be used, for example, for a necklace. Just as there were different quality pearls, there were also different quality diamonds and in the 17th-century colour, size and clarity also play a role in their sale. The Duartes bought cut as well as rough diamonds, and for which skilled craftsmen were on hand in Antwerp. The exact shape of the diamonds which the Duartes bought and sold is not known, but the Duartes may have gone along with demand and fashion, initially still trading in the older table diamonds but soon mainly the more modern rose-cut diamonds.

He inherits a part of the art collection of his father's death and avidly continued collecting throughout his life. Diego's brother Gaspar II was also an art collector. In many cases, the trade network with its prominent clientele was also the network through which Diego amassed his art collection. Diego II bought paintings from the collections of (among others) Charles I, Emperor Rudolf, Nicholas Lanier, Don Emanuel of Portugal, the Duke of Buckingham and the Count of Arundel. Duarte was a shrewd collector and that meant not only buying but also selling paintings. Diego Duarte bought paintings from the collections of (among others) Charles I, Emperor Rudolf, Nicholas Lanier, Don Emanuel of Portugal, the Duke of Buckingham and the Count of Arundel. He next to paying cash paid with jewellery for instance for the purchase of a painting Mary and child by Raphael.

And as King Charles’ coffers were invariably empty, the king sought other ways to pay suppliers and employees, which is how Diego Duarte managed to acquire a large piece of land together with hunting and deforestation rights for a very good price. Diego was now one of the landed aristocracy and until his death, he referred to himself as Nobleman and servant of his Majesty of Great Britain.

The house of the Duarte's in Antwerp remained a meeting place for intellectuals to enjoy art and music. Diego had a long correspondence and friendship with Constantijn Huygens, Jr. and William III of England repeatedly stayed at the house between 1674 and 1678. Diego II, set to music various poems by William Cavendish and the psalm paraphrases of Godeau, which he dedicated to Constantijn Huygens.

At the age of 73, Diego lost his last Antwerp family members, with the death of his brother Gaspar and sister Isabella. It was a huge blow, yet he continued to trade. The last letter in his ledger book dates from 1689. Perhaps Diego felt his strength was waning and he called upon his Amsterdam family for help. In the summer of 1689, his Amsterdam cousins Jacob Athias (who died the next year) and Manuel Levy Duarte arrive in Antwerp. The fact that they came to Antwerp despite having their own business in Amsterdam, means that the trade conducted from the mansion in Antwerp was too important and too closely tied up with its central position just to be transferred to Amsterdam.

Evidently, Manuel Levy could run his Amsterdam business from Antwerp, but the reverse was too complex. He immediately began keeping a ledger containing all the transactions he undertook for Diego (II). Jacob Manuel Levy had no difficulty integrating into Diego’s former network of Antwerp merchants. Diego Duarte died on August 15th 1691 and laid to rest in the family grave in St James’ Church. Neither Diego, nor his brother, nor his sisters ever married. The company was the focus of their attention. In 1678 a black death epidemic affected Antwerp and proved fatal for many citizens including his sisters Francisca and Catharina. Leonora may have died earlier. Although his cousin Manuel would remain there for 5 more years, with the death of Diego Duarte, the Antwerp story – which began when his grandfather, with the same name, and his family entered the city 120 years earlier – of the Duartes comes to a close.

Manuel Levy Duarte

Manuel Levy Duarte continued operating out of relatively turbulent Antwerp for 5 years after Diego’s death. The Church urged the city council to take a harder line with the conversos in Antwerp. The city council did consider actions but in 1692 it was decided against it, as trade; especially the diamond trade would suffer badly.

For Manuel, it was nevertheless clear that the Duartes’ Antwerp period was becoming a closed book. In 1696 he left, but not before first selling Diego Duarte’s almost entire art collection to collectors at home and abroad: He inherited some 200 paintings of Diego's collection. Most were sold between 1693 and 1696. What was not sold went to the home of Manuel Levy and Constantia Duarte in the Hague. Around this time Manuel, who played an important role at the Portuguese synagogue (the Esnoga) in Amsterdam, gifted them a magnificent and extremely valuable silver-gilt dish which he had made and is still used to this day.

Collection

Some 200 paintings of Diego's collection were inherited by his nephew Manuel Levy Duarte. This incomplete list is based on the inventory of 1682. Diego II bought paintings from the collections of (among others) Charles I, Emperor Rudolf, Nicholas Lanier, Don Emanuel of Portugal, the Duke of Buckingham and the Count of Arundel.

This incomplete list is based on the inventory of 1682.

• Jacob Adriaensz Backer, Last Judgment

• Jacopo Bassano, 1 piece

• Theodoor Boeyermans, 7 pieces

• Paris Bordone, 1 piece

• Paul Bril, a Pan and 2 other pieces

• Adriaen Brouwer, 3 pieces

• Jan Brueghel the Elder, 14 pieces

• Pieter Bruegel the Elder, a version of The Peasant Wedding, a Peasant Dance, and a Flight To Egypt

• Caravaggio, 1 piece

• Michiel Coxie, a Maria

• Jan Davidsz. de Heem, 3 pieces

• Gerrit Dou, 2 pieces

• Adam Elsheimer, 3 pieces

• Jan Fyt, 3 pieces

• Giorgione, 3 pieces

• Hans Holbein the Younger, 1 piece

• Jan Mabuse, Portrait of a Praying Man and a portrait of Henry VIII of England and his sisters as children

• Quentin Matsys, 4 pieces

• Antonis Mor, Self Portrait as the Apostle Paul and five other paintings

• Palma Vecchio, 2 pieces

• Parmigianino, 4 pieces

• Jan Porcellis or Julius Porcellis, 3 pieces

• Raphael: Holy Family with Anne (this was judged to be the most valuable painting in the 1682 inventory of Duarte's collection), Sacrifice of Elijah and Vision of Ezekiel

• Guido Reni, 1 piece

• Jusepe de Ribera, 1 piece

• Hans Rottenhammer, 4 pieces: one in collaboration with Paul Brill, two with Jan Brueghel the Elder

• Peter Paul Rubens, Opportunity (an important but lost work, known from a few copies), The Prodigal Son (now at the Royal Museum of Fine Arts, Antwerp), 4 other pieces, and two oil sketches

• Rubens and Jan Brueghel the Elder, Battle of the Amazons, now in Sanssouci

• Rubens and Frans Snyders, Silenus

• Rubens and Jan Boeckhorst, 2 paintings

• Andrea del Sarto, Anna selbdritt, two other paintings, and two sketches

• David Teniers the Younger, Peasant Kermis

• Tintoretto, 2 pieces

• Titian, a Mary Magdalen and four other works

• Jan van Dalen, 2 pieces showing a male and female pilgrim

• Anthony van Dyck, twelve paintings

• Jan van Eyck, a King of the Moors

• Lucas van Leyden, a Maria

• Frans van Mieris the Elder, The Serenade and 1 other piece

• Cornelius van Poelenburgh, 4 pieces

• Hendrik van Steenwijk II and other members of his family, 3 pieces

• Nicolaes van Verendael, 3 pieces

• Jan Vermeer, Lady Standing at a Virginal or Lady Seated at a Virginal (the other was owned at the same time by Jacob Dissius)

• Wouwerman (unsure which of the three brothers), 8 pieces

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diego_Duarte

Sources

http://www.divaantwerp.be/media/_file/e-duarte-tdp.pdf

http://www.essentialvermeer.com/music/duarte.html#.W_TDv-hKi00

https://www.museumvleeshuis.be/nl/pagina/wie-zijn-de-duartes

https://repository.uantwerpen.be/desktop/irua/core/index.phtml?language=E&euser=&session=&service=opacirua&robot=&deskservice=desktop&desktop=irua&workstation=&extra=loi=c:irua:138654

https://gw.geneanet.org/shiroikrow?lang=en&pz=eline+marielle&nz=klaassens&ocz=0&p=diego+jacob&n=duarte

https://www.geni.com/people/Diego-Duarte/6000000000286123285

https://www.genealogieonline.nl/stamboom-van-de-veer/I504919.php

https://pt.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diego_Duarte