Portret van Mr. Jan Otto Bagelaar 1785 - 1837

This portrait of Mr. Jan Otto Bagelaar was made by Ernst Willem Jan Bagelaar, likely in the Netherlands, in the late 18th or early 19th century. The sitter's powdered wig and dark coat place him firmly within the professional or merchant classes of that era. The inscription below the portrait provides an important clue. It mentions Mr. Bagelaar being both a lawyer and a judge, suggesting his participation in the legal and social structures of his time. This image encapsulates how the institutions of law and governance were dependent on the visible status of the people who occupied them. To understand the portrait more fully, research into Dutch legal history and social hierarchies would be helpful. We might examine records of legal professionals, genealogical information about the Bagelaar family, and visual sources that illuminate the codes of dress and comportment that defined social roles in the Netherlands at that time.