Portrait of Nicolaes Ruts

Portrait of Nicolaes Ruts (1573–1638) is a 1631 painting by the Dutch artist Rembrandt van Rijn.

It is one of Rembrandt's earliest commissioned pieces and helped launch his career as a portrait painter.

[1] In it, Ruts is depicted wearing a type of robe (known as a tabbaard) with a sable lining; a translucent neck ruff; and Russian ushanka hat.

[2] Nicolaes Ruts (1573–1638), the subject of the portrait, was born in Cologne and became an Amsterdam Mennonite merchant who frequently traded with the Russian colony at Arkhangelsk.

The portrait may have been commissioned by his daughter Susanna who, together with her husband, was quite a successful Amsterdam merchant.