He worked in Paris from 1615 to 1619, and then travelled to Italy for about seven years. Van Haecht became a master in Antwerp's guild of St. Luke in 1626 and from 1628 onwards was the curator of the art collection owned by Cornelis van der Geest.
Alexander the Great Visiting the Studio of Apelles (c. 1630, Mauritshuis) is another gallery painting by van Haecht. It has significant documentary evidence as it is believed it is an idealised image of elements drawn from Rubens' collection.[2]
Gallery
Willem van Haecht's paintings of art galleries
Interior of the Salon of the Archduchess Isabella of Austria; 1621, oil on panel, 93 × 123 cm, Norton Museum of Art.
The Gallery of Cornelis van der Geest; 1628, oil on panel, 99 × 129 cm, Rubenshuis.
Alexander the Great visits the studio of Apelles; 1628–37, oil on panel, 78 × 114 cm, private collection.
Apelles painting Campaspe; c. 1630, oil on panel, 105 × 149 cm, Mauritshuis.
Collection of Cornelis de Geest with Paracelsus; 1630s, oil on panel, 73 × 104 cm, The Bute collection.
Alexander Marr, "Ingenuity and Discernment in The Cabinet of Cornelis van der Geest (1628)", Nederlands Kunsthistorisch Jaarboek, vol. 69 (2020), 106–145