Nicholas Van Bambek himself was an artist, but, as one of his friends said with regret, a rich inheritance dulled his ambition, and in the end he did not live up to expectations. However, Nicholas patronized Rembrandt, purchased from him “The Scientific Debate” and paid for posing for his portrait. Van Bambek and his friend, Secretary of the State Council, Maurits Hagens, apparently in the Hague, ordered their portraits to Rembrandt.
The friends decided: if one of them dies, his portrait must go to the survivor, and in 1641, after Bambek’s death, the picture according to the testament went to Haygens. In a portrait filled with kindness and sympathy, de Gein looks like a confident, proud man.
Soft diffused light favorably emphasizes his figure and the texture of the white collar and sleeves of the dress. Nevertheless, another patron of Rembrandt, the brother of Maurits Constantin Hagens, wrote at least eight verses in which he complained that the portrait had nothing to do with the original.
Portrait of Jacques de Gaine III by Rembrandt Harmens Van Rhine 
Retrato de Nicholas Van Bambek – Rembrandt Harmens Van Rhine 
Portrait de Nicholas Van Bambek – Rembrandt Harmenszoon Van Rijn 
Portrait de Jacques de Hein III – Rembrandt Harmenszoon Van Rijn 
Saskia van Eilenburg by Rembrandt Harmens Van Rhine 
Retrato de Jacques de Heyne III – Rembrandt Harmens Van Rhine 
Portrait of Jan Sixs by Rembrandt Harmens Van Rhine 
Fun Society (Self-Portrait with Saskia on Your Lap) by Rembrandt Harmens Van Rhine