Portrait of Jan Pranger and an Enslaved Servant

From 1730 to 1742 Jan Pranger was director of Fort Elmina on the Gold Coast, the headquarters of the Dutch slave trade in West Africa, and the painting sets him there, with the fortress visible through the window. When his term ended he sailed home by way of Suriname with 170 slaves from the coast of Guinea on board, as the records put it. They were left behind in Paramaribo, all except one man, who went on with him to Amsterdam as a servant. He is the figure standing behind, in a dark blue livery trimmed with yellow braid. Frans van der Mijn, still in his early twenties, painted the portrait in Amsterdam in 1742. The director fills most of the canvas in orange-red velvet and gold embroidery, gesturing toward the papers on the table. The title of the painting does not give the servant's name.