Wendela was the daughter of Amsterdam
burgomaster Jacob Dircksz de Graeff and Aaltje Loen from the
Boelens Loen family. Wendela first married Pieter van Papenbroeck in 1634; he died on April 17, 1642. After his death, she inherited a fortune of 439,000
guilders. In 1645, she married
Willem Schrijver, the son of the prominent Dutch scholar
Petrus Scriverius. When she remarried Willem Schrijver in 1645, Wendela de Graeff lived on the
Herengracht in Amsterdam. There her mother-in-law Elisabeth Jacobsdr Pancras, widow of Marten van Papenbroeck, had bought two adjacent houses and yards in 1644 for 38,000 guilders: the present numbers 210 and 212, close to burgomaster
Cornelis de Graeff, who lived in no. 216. Six children were born from both marriages: Jacobus Martinus and Aaltje van Papenbroeck (married
Gerard Bicker (I) van Swieten), Pieter (died at a young age), Anna (died at a young age), Jan and Wilhelmus Schrijver (1651-1673), married to Margaretha
Six (1653-1704). In 1655/56 Willem commissioned
Rembrandt to paint
Jacob Blessing the Sons of Joseph, which depicts his father Petrus, himself (as Joseph) with his late wife Wendela (as
Asenath) Wendela de Graeff-Schrijver died in 1652 and is buried in the
Oude Kerk in Amsterdam, in the Sint Cornelis choir, which was the family grave of the De Graeff family. After Wendela's death, Willem Schrijver and the Van Papenbroeck family fought for this inheritance. When Willem died in 1661, Wendela's brother
Andries de Graeff took over his position. Most of the fortune went but after the appeals process to the Van Papenbroeck. However, the painting from Rembrandt became the property of De Graeff. == Coat of arms ==