Portret van Pieter van Bleiswijk (1724-90), raadpensionaris van Holland

Pieter van Bleiswijk (1724–1790) served as Grand Pensionary of Holland—the highest civil office in the Province of Holland and one of the most powerful political positions in the Dutch Republic—from 1772 until the establishment of the Batavian Republic in 1795. Liotard's portrait of him, now in the Rijksmuseum, was made around 1750 when van Bleiswijk was a young man still in the earlier stages of his political career. The Rijksmuseum, as the national museum of the Netherlands, preserves this portrait as part of its comprehensive documentation of Dutch historical figures. The unusual medium—cardboard—reflects Liotard's experimental approach to supports; while pastels were often made on paper or vellum, cardboard provided a firmer ground that behaved differently under the pastel stick. Liotard's Dutch-language portraits are among his most historically significant works, documenting the governing class of the Dutch Republic with the same precision he brought to European courts.

Pastel on cardboard: the firmer support changes the way pastel sits and blends compared to paper, creating a slightly different surface texture. Liotard's technique adapts smoothly to this variation, maintaining his characteristic precise-yet-soft finish.