After 351 years, 17th-century Dutch portrait reveals surprising comet tattoo

The Amsterdam Museum now believes that it has the oldest depiction of a tattoo on a Dutch painting, dating to the 17th century, when tattoos were considered taboo among Protestants, the likely faith of the tattooed individual.

The 3-by-2-meter painting The Chief Commissioners of the Walloons, attributed to Wallerant Vaillant, depicts the notables who oversaw the ports of the IJ in Amsterdam. The painting has been in the museum’s possession since the 19th century and dates to around 1674, but a tattoo on the arm of one of the notables was only recently noticed—a detail overlooked for 351 years.

Judith van Gent of the Amsterdam Museum identified the man with the tattoo as Wessel Smits, a wealthy merchant, NOS reported. Archives show he married in 1644 at age 25, meaning he must have been born in 1618 or 1619. That coincides with the period when a comet was prominently visible in the sky—precisely what is depicted on his wrist.

The tattoo was discovered after the painting returned from an exhibition at Museum H’Art, also in Amsterdam. During a thorough inspection, the tattoo stood out. Because the image is part of the original paint layer, the museum is certain it is not a later addition.

“In the 19th century, this was also displayed at exhibitions, but at that time there was no interest in it,” van Gent explained, adding that the painting had long been kept in storage or hung high out of public view. “And you don’t see it in photos either; you really have to be right up close.”

At the time, comets were considered ominous omens of war and plague. But van Gent believes Smits was not superstitious. “He came from an intellectual environment. His stepfather was part of a network of various scientists, and Jacob Cats, who also wrote a pamphlet about that comet, was indirectly family.”

It remains a mystery why a devout Protestant would have a tattoo, as the Bible’s Book of Leviticus strictly forbids “any mark on the body.”

It is also unclear where and when Smits had the comet tattooed. Tattoo artist Henk Schiffmacher told NOS that the ink has turned blue and must therefore have been applied years earlier. But the circumstances of its creation—where, how, and under what conditions—remain unknown.

Inspired by the discovery, Schiffmacher plans to give five comet tattoos for free next month to applicants who submit the most compelling motivation letters.

The painting will be on display in the coming months at Huis Willet-Holthuysen on the Herengracht.