Portrait of Cornelis Jansz Hartigsvelt, Director of the Rotterdam Chamber of the Dutch East India Company, elected 1639

Pieter van der Werff painted this portrait of Cornelis Jansz Hartigsvelt, a director of the Dutch East India Company, in the Netherlands sometime after Hartigsvelt's 1639 election. The image is compelling because of what it doesn't show us. The dark background and somber attire conceal any overt symbols of wealth. Instead, our attention is drawn to Hartigsvelt's face, a study in shrewdness and authority, framed by the stark white ruff. What does it mean to be the face of an enterprise whose business model was based on exploitation? To understand this painting, we need to delve into the archives of the Dutch East India Company, to trace the trade routes, and to uncover the human cost of economic expansion. The historian’s role is to contextualize, to question, and to reveal the complex layers of meaning embedded in this image of 17th-century commerce and power.