Nicolaes Hasselaer

Nicolaes Hasselaer (1593 – 1635), was a Dutch Golden Age brewer and major of the Amsterdam schutterij, who is best known today for his portrait by Frans Hals.

He was born in Amsterdam as the son of Pieter Dirksz Hasselaer, brewer of the Witte Arent, and a founding member of the Dutch East India Company.

[1] Nicolaes became known in the 18th century for his biography by Jan Wagenaar in his history of Amsterdam, who claimed he saved a remonstrant's family from a mob in 1627, and in 1629, he saved the Dutch West India Company from a raid (the building housed the silver bounty brought back by the local hero Piet Pieterszoon Hein).

He married Geertruid van Erp on 29 December 1619 and their son Gerrit was baptized in the Nieuwe Kerk on 13 October 1620.

[5][6] The pendant portraits of Nicolaes and his bride Sara are currently in the Rijksmuseum, where they were part of a bequest in 1885 by J. S. R. van de Poll.

In the Rijksmuseum catalogue the sitter is identified as Nicolaes Hasselaer (1593-1635); but his wife, Geertruyt van Erp died in 1620, and this portrait, from its style, must have been painted later than that year.