Michiel Jansz. van Mierevelt

"The following condition report has been provided by Henry Gentle, an independent restorer who is not an employee of Sotheby's. The oak panel has evidence of minor worm infestation. There are two repaired vertical joins which are stable. Under u-v light restoration can be seen in both faces and collars (reduction of wood grain), along the joins, the hands and the background."
"This lot is offered for sale subject to Sotheby's Conditions of Business, which are available on request and printed in Sotheby's sale catalogues. The independent reports contained in this document are provided for prospective bidders' information only and without warranty by Sotheby's or the Seller."

Tulips, and in particular tulip bulbs, were a sign of great prosperity in seventeenth-century Holland and by the 1630s bulbs were changing hands for as much as 4,500 guilders, a price equivalent to a large house. Yet, while the tulip included in this double portrait does indeed allude to the sitters' wealth, it is also a symbol of short-livedness and decay; life is born out of the bulb, flowers into the tulip, but must eventually die; the empty shells on the table beneath are a reminder that life has already departed them. In light of all this symbolism it is conceivable that this is a commemorative portrait commissioned by one of the sitters, probably the gentleman, after the death of the other.