Eighteen young Flemish and Dutch authors have taken inspiration from seventeenth-century artefacts from the Rijksmuseum. Looking at these objects, what eureka moments do they see? Gidi Pols wrote a poem inspired by the financial story behind Portrait of Rogier Le Witer, Antwerp Merchant by painter Jacob Jordaens. ‘this place tastes of potential business partners’

Jacob Jordaens, Portrait of Rogier Le Witer, Antwerp merchant, 1635 © Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam

.Monaco Dining.

It is late summer in Moneyland,
a constant 20 degrees, optimal humidity.
the depot is loveless.

I dream of you,
you, my freeport bitch, loverboy syndrome,
auction values happen to hold a special attraction.

Monaco dining, nobody savours the lobster,
this place tastes of potential business partners.
The air heavy with duplicity.
Monaco dining, because I know you know the game,
you, my freeport bitch, my amulet investment,
you knew the silky-smooth embrace of wealth.

To London for Sotheby’s.
Savile Row tweed, it’s part of the deal.
There are carpet sellers here, they’re dining
with barons. One day my descendants
will be titled too, like yours.

I consider stealing your wife, setting her alight.
A phoenix with millions from Lloyds
straight on a plane to Grand Cayman.
Champagne moment in the Financial Mile.

I know you know the game,
you, my freeport bitch, my amulet investment,
wasn’t it always all about the hunt?

So said the benefactor who liberated you
back when you slept in Noortman’s bed,
culture vultures.

But were you any different, really,
my freeport bitch, my philanthro-capitalist,
buying your prestige through charity