Vening Meinesz was mayor of Amsterdam from 1891 to 1901. Jan Veth painted this portrait shortly after he left office. The background refers to the career of the former mayor. The two paintings in the background hung in the town hall. On the left is a small part of The Governors of the Leprozenhuis by Ferdinand Bol (now in the Civic Guard Gallery); on the right is The Old Town Hall by Pieter Saenredam (now in the Rijkmuseum).