This portrait was painted 21 years after the death of its subject Gerard Hulft, son of a brewer and shipowner. In 1654 he departed for Batavia (now Jakarta) as a senior official in the Dutch East India Company. He died on the island of Ceylon (Sri Lanka) during the siege of Colombo in April 1656. The unfortunate Hulft is surrounded by attributes alluding to his mission: a map of north-east Africa and a plan of Colombo. Hulft himself is gesturing towards the scene in the background, possibly an impression of the siege of Colombo that lasted months. The portrait was commissioned by the family of the deceased. Michiel van Musscher based his painting on a monumental portrait of Gerard Hulft, done two years before his decease by Govert Flinck (Rijksmuseum). In the top left we see the Hulft family arms. The number ‘19’ refers to a later classification in a portrait gallery.