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Comment by JoeDaDude | Hacker News Reader

Translation error? I was able to locate an image of a Jan Provost painting called "Death and the Miser" [1] but none called "Death and the Merchant".

[1] https://www.wikiart.org/en/jan-provoost/death-and-the-miser

Having relatives that are accountants, I am interested in seeing more of the Dutch and English paintings of accountants described, but not named, in the article. If anyone knows any, please post.

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From the description I'm sure that is the correct painting. The title in the original language is "De Gierigaard en de Dood". A simple modern translation would be "The Greedy Man and Death", there is no reason to translate it as "merchant". Apparently there is a book devoted to the subject of accountants in the arts from 1400 to 1900: "Art & Accounting" by Basil S. Yamey.

Edit: This article contains a list of such paintings, and there is a link to the PDF which contains images. https://www.accountant.nl/magazines/accountant-2016-q2/boekh...

Rembrandt's Sampling Officials comes to mind[1] and several works by Jan de Baen[2] because he painted so many portraits. If you ever go to a Dutch Masters exhibit at a museum look for portraits titled along the lines of "Portrait of a Merchant" or "Portrait of a Banker." You'll notice they often include things like coins that are in the middle of being counted with one hand and writing instrument in the other to symbolize the accounting.

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Syndics_of_the_Drapers%27_Guil...

[2]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jan_de_Baen

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