Equestrian Portrait of Pieter de Roovere (1602-1652)

Pieter de Roovere, Lord of Hardinxveld, is sitting high on his horse, pointing with his whip to the salmon the fisherman is showing him. In the background, his men are salmon fishing – the main source of income in the village of Hardinxveld. The sky is dark, but there is still a strip of golden sunlight to be seen on the horizon.

Cuyp, who worked in the neighbouring town of Dordrecht, chose a remarkably low vantage point here, making De Roovere tower above us and emphasising his impressive appearance.