Rijksmuseum

Portrait of Theodorus Bisdom van Vliet and his Family

Date

1757

Medium

canvas, oil paint (paint)

Institution

Rijksmuseum

Theodorus Bisdom van Vliet, burgomaster of Haastrecht, had himself and his family portrayed as though they were nobility. The family owned the De Herstelling plantation in Demerary, a Dutch colony west of Suriname. The eldest son Cornelis, here at the far left, ran it. After his death, his brothers sold the plantation along with the 30 men, 26 women and 10 children who lived and worked there in slavery.

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