Jacoba Bicker


Jacoba Bicker was from the Bicker family, which was one of the leading pro-state families in the Dutch Golden Age.

Biography

Jacoba Bicker was born as the daughter of Jan Bicker and his cousin Agneta de Graeff van Polsbroek, one of her sisters was Wendela Bicker, the wife of Grand pensionary Johan de Witt. She had many well-known and important relatives; Andries de Graeff and the brothers Andries and Cornelis Bicker were her uncle, and Johan and Cornelis de Witt were her cousins. The protagonists of the patriciate were closely related, and in 1663, at the age of 22, she married her other cousin Pieter de Graeff at Ilpenstein Castle. Grand pensionary De Witt was also present there and gave the wedding speech. The poets Jan Vos, Joost van den Vondel and Gerard Brandt, who were present, "sang about" this wedding.
The couple had three children:
In 1663 Jacoba Bicker was painted together with her husband Pieter by Caspar Netscher and alone by Jurriaen Ovens. Wallerant Vaillant painted her in 1674 and Emanuel de Witte together with Pieter and daughter Agneta de Graeff in 1678. When her sister Wendela died in 1668, her husband Pieter and her brother-in-law Jean Deutz were appointed guardians of their nephews and nieces and were responsible for handling the estate. In 1695 Jacoba Bicker was one of the 250 richest persons from the Dutch Golden Age and was assessed for a taxable capital of 491,811 guilders.