Man at a Desk
Abraham van Strij, Dutch (active Dordrecht), 1753 - 1826
Geography:
Made in Dordrecht, Netherlands, Europe
Date:
c. 1800Medium:
Oil on panelDimensions:
25 5/16 x 21 1/4 inches (64.3 x 54 cm)Curatorial Department:
European PaintingObject Location:
Cat. 711Credit Line:
John G. Johnson Collection, 1917
Made in Dordrecht, Netherlands, Europe
Date:
c. 1800Medium:
Oil on panelDimensions:
25 5/16 x 21 1/4 inches (64.3 x 54 cm)Curatorial Department:
European PaintingObject Location:
Currently not on view
Accession Number:Cat. 711Credit Line:
John G. Johnson Collection, 1917
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book [x] erudition [x] genre [x] influence of vermeer [x] merchant [x] reading [x] realism [x]In the Netherlands, reading was a practical necessity for members of the merchant class and their wealthy heirs. The money bags lying on the floor outside the open lockbox suggest that this man may be a merchant or a banker. The large format and wide spaces between lines of text in the book he is reading indicate that he is occupied with a ledger. The grand, upright volume with elaborate clasps on the table behind him is likely his Bible. The framed picture above the Bible reproduces a painting by seventeenth-century artist Aelbert Cuyp who, like Van Strij, was from Dordrecht.