This is a picture of my husband’s 6x great-grandfather that I found in a book. The image has always interested me. Why was this ancestor the subject of an etching? Why so much symbolism in the picture? I would love to know more about the artist Willem van Senus.
Etching Title: Portrait of Abraham Arbou, 1815
Painting Description: Portrait of Abraham Arbou, 50 years of a coffee boy at the Kastelein Hoogstraten in the Student Society in Leiden. Servant standing with a tray holding a glass and with a game of cards in the other hand. Above the door is: Societeit. Abraham Arbou, Koffijkuisknegt born in Leijden den 1.en February 1735
