Sebastiaan Leerse, Antwerp Merchant

Executed in 1804, this portrait utilizes oil paint applied to a canvas support. The work measures 132 cm in height and 100.5 cm in width. As a formal portrait, the composition focuses on the depiction of Sebastiaan Leerse, an Antwerp merchant.

The piece is classified within the genre of portraiture, adhering to the representational conventions typical of the early nineteenth century for depicting commercial figures.

Willem Bartel van der Kooi created the oil-on-canvas portrait of Sebastiaan Leerse in 1804. The work is classified as a genre portrait and serves as a reinterpretation based on an earlier composition titled Portrait of a Gentleman. The painting measures 132 cm in height and 100.5 cm in width. It is currently held in the collection of the Rijksmuseum.

Willem Bartel van der Kooi's 1804 oil painting, Sebastiaan Leerse, Antwerp Merchant, is held in the collection of the Rijksmuseum. The work is executed in oil on canvas and measures 132 cm in height by 100.5 cm in width. While the provided sources confirm the museum's possession of the portrait, they do not list a specific inventory or accession number for the piece. Furthermore, the available documentation does not record any exhibition history for this artwork.

Sebastiaan Leerse, Antwerp Merchant, painted by Willem Bartel van der Kooi in 1804, exemplifies early 19th-century Dutch portraiture and reflects the continued prominence of merchant subjects in Dutch art during the period. The work, housed in the Rijksmuseum, demonstrates compositional and stylistic lineage to van der Kooi's earlier Portrait of a Gentleman, situating it within broader discussions of Dutch portraiture's evolution and the artist's role in documenting contemporary bourgeois identity. Scholarship emphasizes its technical execution in oil on canvas and its significance as a representative example of Antwerp merchant portraiture within the larger corpus of Dutch Golden Age-inspired works.

Sebastiaan Leerse, Antwerp Merchant, painted by Willem Bartel van der Kooi in 1804, became part of the Rijksmuseum's collection and remains on display there. Its legacy is anchored in the museum's presentation of early nineteenth‑century portraiture, linking the work to broader discussions of Dutch portrait tradition and the evolution of civic identity in the Netherlands. The painting's inclusion in the Rijksmuseum's holdings underscores its continued relevance within the institution's narrative of Dutch artistic heritage.

Willem Bartel van der Kooi painted this oil portrait in 1804, presenting the Antwerp merchant Sebastiaan Leerse. The work is part of the Rijksmuseum’s collection and exemplifies early‑nineteenth‑century portraiture, with a restrained palette and careful attention to the sitter’s attire and demeanor.