Constantijn Huygens was a prominent diplomat, poet, composer, and artistic advisor to Frederik Hendrik, the prince of Orange and stadtholder. According to his diary, January 28, 1632, was a memorable date: "Van Dyck made my portrait on a day that a tree fell on my house." Paulus Pontius's engraving must have been made soon after, as Huygens wrote several epigrams referring to the print on March 11 of the same year.