FLINCK, Govert Teunisz.
(b. 1615, Kleve, d. 1660, Amsterdam)

Portrait of Gerard Pietersz. Hulft

1654
Oil on canvas, 130 x 103 cm
Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam

Gerard Pietersz. Hulft (1621-1656) was First Councillor and Director-general of the VOC (Dutch East India Company). The portrait within the painted frame is typical of Flinck's style in the 1650s. By then he had largely abandoned a Rembrandtesque style in favour of a brighter manner of painting inspired by Van Dyck. The still-life surrounding the portrait is unique in Flinck's portrait oeuvre.