Aert Pietersz. painted this portrait of a man, in the Netherlands, sometime in the late 16th or early 17th century. The sitter’s somber attire and carefully posed hand speak to the cultural values of the Dutch Republic, particularly its prosperous merchant class. This was a society built on trade and increasingly independent of the aristocratic norms of other European nations. Portraits were in high demand among those who wished to project an image of civic responsibility, sophistication and piety. The subject’s serious gaze and somewhat world-weary expression suggests a man of experience, someone who has weathered life’s challenges with fortitude. Of course, decoding such cues requires careful consideration of the period’s social and institutional history. Consult archives and collections and see if you can learn more about the sitter and the artist. The meaning of art is always contingent on its social and institutional context.