Portret van Abraham Fino 1655 - 1657

Matthias van Sommer created this print of Abraham Fino of Amsterdam, a striking depiction made in 1653. This was a period when the Dutch Republic was a major economic and cultural power, deeply involved in global trade and colonial expansion. The portrait presents Fino as a figure of status, indicated by his dress. Yet the inscription below suggests a humbler, perhaps more personal, narrative. The use of both Latin and German hints at a man of some education, straddling different cultural worlds. It makes me consider how Fino navigated his identity, in a society that was becoming increasingly diverse due to its global reach. Think about what it meant to commission a portrait during this era. It was a statement of self-fashioning, but also a negotiation between public image and private identity. This piece evokes questions about how we perform our identities, and the stories we choose to tell the world, and ourselves.