Portrait of a Wounded KNIL Soldier

In 1869 a young man signed up for the Dutch colonial army at Elmina, a former slave fortress on the coast of present-day Ghana. The Netherlands needed soldiers for the East Indies and was recruiting in West Africa. The army gave him a Dutch name, Kees Pop. His own name was never recorded, only those of his parents, Kwamena and Ekoerva. He served about 12 years and fought in the Aceh War, the long colonial war to conquer a sultanate on the northern tip of Sumatra. In 1882 he was in the Netherlands on sick leave, wounded, and the young Isaac Israëls painted him on a small board in dark, heavy strokes. A broad white sling covers most of his chest. Just above it, half hidden, are his medals, among them the Aceh Medal. Soon afterwards he sailed home to Elmina.