page_title: Dirk de Graeff van Polsbroek
section_title: An Historic Lineage
hierarchical_section_title: Dirk de Graeff van Polsbroek / Biography / An Historic Lineage
context_page_description: Dirk de Graeff van Polsbroek was a successful Dutch diplomat in Japan. From July 1863, he held the post of Consul General and Political Agent in Japan. De Graeff became a Diplomat, Generalconsul and Dutch minister in Japan. He was the most important representative of the Dutch government and played a major part in the many negotiations between Japan and various Western countries. De Graeff van Polsbroek was advisor to Emperor Meiji and laid the foundation stone for a modern western diplomacy in Japan.He played also a major part in the many negotiations between various Western countries and Japan. He represented Denmark, Sweden and Norway in Japan and temporally Prussia and Switzerland.
context_section_description: De Graeff had a very long ancestral lineage, including some of the most prominent persons of the Dutch Republic, such as Andries de Graeff and Cornelis de Graeff, who in 1660 assisted with the provision of the Dutch Gift. The Dutch Gift was a collection of 28 mostly Italian Renaissance paintings and 12 classical sculptures, along with a yacht, the Mary, and furniture, which was presented by the States-General of the Netherlands in 1660 to King Charles II of England upon his restoration to the English throne.
  A major patron of the arts, Andries de Graeff's full length portrait was created by Rembrandt van Rijn in 1639.
caption: Andries de Graeff in 1639, painted by Rembrandt van Rijn
exif: {"Image Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Image ExifOffset": "38", "EXIF ColorSpace": "sRGB", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "2873", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "4665"}