This family portrait of a rich Amsterdam family from the early 17th century is an interesting painting in terms of the\u00a0cultural history of the Netherlands with a very sad backdrop: the man with african origin indicates that the merchant has probably made his fortune with slave trading.<\/p>\n
Although slavery was illegal inside the\u00a0Netherlands\u00a0it flourished in the Dutch Empire, and helped support the economy.\u00a0By 1650 the Dutch had the pre-eminent slave trade in Europe.<\/p>\n
Willem Cornelisz Duyster\u00a0was a Dutch Golden Age painter from\u00a0Amsterdam, best known for his “guardroom scenes” showing the military life. \u00a0According to the Netherlands Institute for Art History\u00a0his name was taken from his house on the Amsterdam Koningstraat, which was called “De Duystere Werelt”, which means:\u00a0the\u00a0dim world<\/em>.<\/p>\n Unfortunately, this names proved to be some sort of foreshadowing, because\u00a0Duyster’s career was cut short when he succumbed to the\u00a0plague\u00a0in 1635.<\/p>\n Source: Wikipedia<\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" This family portrait of a rich Amsterdam family from the early 17th century is an interesting painting in terms of the\u00a0cultural history of the Netherlands with a very sad backdrop: the man with african origin indicates that the merchant has probably made his fortune with slave trading. Although slavery was illegal inside the\u00a0Netherlands\u00a0it flourished in … Continue reading Family Portrait with “Black Man”<\/span>