Portret van Jan Hulswit 1800 - 1822

Jean Augustin Daiwaille made this portrait of Jan Hulswit with pencil, pen and watercolor. It's held at the Rijksmuseum. Looking at this image, we are drawn into the social world of the 19th century Netherlands. The sitter's clothing and hairstyle speak of a certain social class and adherence to contemporary fashion. Daiwaille was a well-known portrait painter of his time, but also a teacher at the Rijksakademie in Amsterdam. Hulswit may have been part of Daiwaille’s social circle, or perhaps a patron who commissioned the portrait. This was a time when formal portraiture served to document and celebrate status within a community. The Rijksmuseum itself, founded in 1800, played a vital role in shaping national identity through art. To understand this work, we might look into the archives of the Rijksakademie, or consult period fashion plates to understand the sartorial codes being presented. The meaning of art shifts as society changes; history provides a lens through which we can interpret these shifts.