PORTRAIT OF NICOLAES RUTS

TEXTURE: FRAMED OIL ON CANVAS

HISTORY: Nicolaes Ruts (1573-1638) was born in Cologne and became an Amsterdam Mennonite merchant who frequently traded with the Russian colony at Arkhangelsk. He is notable for having been the subject of a well-known portrait by Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn in 1631, at the age of 58. The painting of him was done in oil on a mahogany panel, and measures 46 x 34 in (116.8 x 87.3 cm). In it, Ruts is depicted in a sable-lined tabbaard (Dutch gown), translucent neck ruff, and Russian ushanka hat, holding an illegible note in his ungloved left hand and looking directly at the viewer, his right resting on the back of a red chair. The portrait is stored in the Frick Collection. It is one of Rembrandt's earliest commissioned pieces and helped launch his career as a portrait painter.Ruts was not a particularly successful merchant, and filed for bankruptcy shortly before he died. The portrait may have been commissioned by his daughter Susanna who together with her husband was quite successful in this line of work.