The art collector Brentano is here presenting his finest pieces. His hand rests on a 15th-century Italian painting by Giovanni Bellini. The wall behind him is covered with Dutch 17th-century masterpieces. The landscape at the lower left by Adriaen van de Velde was acquired by the Rijksmuseum as early as 1822. On the right we see De Lelie, the painter of the portrait, conversing with his patron Brentano and leafing through a book of artists’ biographies.