Note held in the hand of a man in a portrait from 1580

Second photo without a light...

Dear Anne,

Here a digital version of the whole painting. The first line seems to open with 'Dese', the second with 'zeegenn'. 

I can read: Dese brieff sy / ge..h..men <?> .... / gelijk tot ... , the rest might become clear too.

Well done Rene and Otto for having a go at transcribing this incredibly difficult text.

Thanks also for the copy of the portrait Rene. I was lucky enough to see the original in The Hague yesterday.   I took the close ups of the note using my phone, but the note is on an angle in the portrait as you can see, so it was difficult to get a good shot.

So translating the 4 words which are legible I make it: 

"This letter......equal to"

Otto where you put / was that the end of a line on the letter? 

Is there any other way to enhance the text do you think that would help decipher it?

with my grateful thanks as always.

Anne

Photoshop-generated. It seems to say: 

Dese brief sij

zoegenn eener

....

....

Attempt2

The painting of Adreain Dircksz. de Vriese stems from the collection of the Klaeuwshofje in Delft.  It is since 1979 on loan in the holidngs of Museum Prinsenhof in Delft, https://www.museumprinsenhofdelft.nl/collectie/104880 , object no. B 49-3.. The painting is by Pieter Pietersz. The RKD record for it has only a black-and-white photograph, and the information needs updating, see  https://rkd.nl/images/26359 . .

Anne, if it reads indeed gelijk this word means here probably "just as". I am trying to deform this image, too, but I have no yet advanced much. It reminds me of the Letterlokcing project, https://letterlocking.org/ , for opening and reading unopened Early Modern letters....

Additionally, it is also recorded in RKD images Lite: https://rkd.nl/imageslite/112892
Unfortunately, the literature listed there provides no clues about the inscription on the letter.
Attached is a detail from the RKD image, modified for better readability. 

Dear Rene, Otto and Alexander

Many thanks once again for all your efforts and persevering with this problem.

It really is difficult to decipher- I guess that's why no one has done it before!

Adriaen's father Dirk de Vriese was a former Burgomaster of Haarlem, his wife Cornelia Francesdr Wij was also from a wealthy family in Haarlem. Both were from Catholic families. Perhaps the message in the letter has some reference to his family?

very best wishes

Anne

Dear Anne,
I haven’t found any clear Catholic clues in the portrait itself (for a good overview of what to look for, see the section “De ‘look’ van de katholieke kerk” in Lenarduzzi’s chapter in Katholiek in de Republiek, 2019, pp. 166–171). As a result, it remains unclear whether the letter makes any reference to family ties or faith.
That said, I just learned that Iris Jocker, with support from the Vereniging Rembrandt, has recently been continuing her research at Museum Prinsenhof Delft, focusing especially on the Klaeuwshofje and the paintings and household objects that belonged to this women’s almshouse. It could be well worth getting in touch with her.

Dear Alexander

Many thanks for all your suggestions.

I've been recommended Lenarduzzi's book by the Prinsenhof museum, who also put me in touch with Iris!

We corresponded about a few points I wanted to ask her about the Schoonhoven sisters, who are the main focus of my research, (which is about 17th century women pottery owners in Delft) but of course this whole family are interesting. 

Iris is busy writing a book for the 17th century society on the Klauewshoef, due to be published next year I understand. I shall look forward to reading her book in due course.

I'm really grateful for your contributions. If you know of any further experts who could read the rest of the note that would be great as I know the Prinsenhof are just as curious to know what it says as I am :-)

With very best wishes

Anne