Attributed to Michiel van Mierevelt (Delft 1567-1641)

The sitter married firstly Jannetje Berckel in 1613, and secondly Corvina van Hofdijck in 1619. The present portrait would appear to have been painted when the sitter was a young man, perhaps around the time of his first marriage, a year after the artist had painted Cornelis' father, Paulus van Beresteyn, Burgermaster of Delft, in 1612 (Kasteel Keukenhof Collection, Lisse). Mierevelt later painted Cornelis again, in 1619, three-quarter-length (Private Collection). The artist also painted the sitter's mother, Volkera Knobbert, in 1632 (Kunsthistorisches, Vienna), as well as his brother, Arnold van Beresteyn (Private Collection), and his sister, Caecilia van Beresteyn, in 1640 (Rijks museum, Amsterdam).