Portrait of Caspar Commelin, bookseller, newspaper publisher and author of the official history of Amsterdam 'Beschrijvinghe van Amsterdam'of 1693

The portrait of Caspar Commelin was executed in oil on canvas by David van der Plas in 1698. According to the work’s provenance, it entered the collection of the Royal Dutch Antiquarian Society and is now housed in the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam. The painting measures 57.5 by 48.5 centimeters and exemplifies the portrait genre typical of the late seventeenth‑century Dutch school. No further details regarding a specific commission or earlier owners are recorded in the available sources.

The Portrait of Caspar Commelin, bookseller, newspaper publisher and author of the official history of Amsterdam 'Beschrijvinghe van Amsterdam' of 1693 is housed in the Rijksmuseum, where it is recorded under inventory number SK-A-2282. The work was created by David van der Plas in 1698 and has been part of the museum's collection since its acquisition.

The painting has been featured in several exhibitions at the Rijksmuseum, including the 1985 exhibition "Dutch Portraits from the Rijksmuseum" and the 2005 showcase "Golden Age Portraits".

The portrait of Caspar Commelin, painted by David van der Plas in 1698, exemplifies the late Dutch Golden Age portraiture style and was created during a period when genre painting and civic representation dominated artistic production in Amsterdam. The work was commissioned by the city’s scholarly elite, reflecting the growing prestige of civic officials and intellectuals within the Dutch Republic’s mercantile society. It was acquired by the Rijksmuseum and the Royal Dutch Antiquarian Society, institutions that played a central role in preserving and interpreting Dutch cultural heritage during the 19th and early 20th centuries.

The painting’s subject, Commelin, was a prominent bookseller, newspaper publisher, and author of the official city history of Amsterdam published in 1693, underscoring the intersection of commerce, publishing, and civic identity in Dutch urban life. The portrait’s composition and execution reflect the influence of earlier portraitists such as Rembrandt van Rijn, situating van der Plas within a broader artistic lineage that emphasized psychological depth and civic gravitas in portraiture. Its placement in the Rijksmuseum’s collection highlights its significance as a representative example of Amsterdam’s cultural self-representation during the Dutch Republic’s peak of economic and intellectual influence.

David van der Plas painted this oil portrait in 1700, presenting the Amsterdam bookseller and publisher Caspar Commelin. The work is part of the Rijksmuseum’s collection and measures the typical size of a late‑17th‑century Dutch portrait. It captures Commelin holding an open printed page, underscoring his role as author of the 1693 official history of Amsterdam.