Portrait of Nicolaes Ruts (1573–1638) is a 1631 painting by the Dutch artistRembrandt van Rijn. It is one of Rembrandt's earliest commissioned pieces and helped launch his career as a portrait painter. The painting is housed in theFrick Collection.
The portrait is painted in oil on a mahogany panel, and measures 46 x 34 in (116.8 x 87.3 cm).[1] In it, Ruts is depicted wearing a type of robe (known as atabbaard) with a sable lining; a translucent neckruff; and Russianushanka hat. He holds a note in hisproper left hand and looks directly at the viewer; his right hand rests on the back of a red chair. The text of the note Ruts is holding in the portrait is illegible, except for the date of 1631.[2]
Nicolaes Ruts (1573–1638), the subject of the portrait, was born inCologne and became an AmsterdamMennonite merchant who frequently traded with the Russian colony atArkhangelsk. Rembrandt painted the portrait of him in 1631, when Ruts was 58 years old.[3] As a merchant, Ruts was not particularly successful, 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 a successful Amsterdam merchant.[2]
