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VOC Senior Merchant with his Wife and an Enslaved Servant
Also titled Een opperkoopman van de VOC met zijn vrouw en een tot slaaf gemaakte bediende
c. 1650 - c. 1655
- Medium
- canvas, oil paint (paint)
- Classification
- painting
- Dimensions
- outer size: depth 5 cm (support incl. frame)
- Museum
- Rijksmuseum
- Rights
- Public Domain Mark, as the museum states it.
- Who can see it
- Teens profiles and older: its subject is for older viewers (war, death, the Passion, drink or the like). How works are placed
About this work
The figure standing on the left is a Dutch East India Company (VOC) merchant, probably Jakob Martensen, beside his wife. Behind them is an enslaved man holding a parasol, a pajong, over their heads. This was a status symbol in Javanese culture. Batavia Castle is visible in the background. To the right, the Company fleet rides at anchor, ready to return to the Netherlands. The merchant points to the ships with his stick, indicating his involvement.
