Pieter Cnoll, Cornelia van Nijenrode and their Daughters

Cnoll was senior merchant of the VOC in Batavia. In this position, alongside his official duties, he could also deal privately and was able to amass immense wealth in just a short time. Cornelia was the daughter of a Company merchant and a Japanese courtesan. This portrait reveals the luxury in which they lived. Their clothing – in the latest Dutch fashion – is enriched with the costliest jewels. In the background are two of their fifty enslaved servants.