Portrait of Cornelis Ploos van Amstel

The Amsterdam timber merchant Ploos van Amstel, a founding member of the Felix Meritis Society, had an impressive collection of drawings, paintings, coins and medals and sculptures. He was also a designer, draughtsman and publisher, and invented a new print-making technique for making facsimile reproductions of drawings. The screen by the window ensures that a soft, even light falls on the copper plate on which he is working.