Pieter de Hooch (1629-in or after 1684) was born in Rotterdam. He served his apprenticeship under Ludolph de Jongh in Rotterdam and later under Nicolaes Pietersz Berchem in Haarlem. In 1655, he registered with the artists guild in Delft as an independent painter. Like many artists of the time, De Hooch also had a second trade: he worked for a cloth merchant. As an artist, ...