Bernhard von Reesen was from a well-to-do family of the Hansa city of Gdansk, Poland. He was born around 1490 and received an extensive education as was the custom of that time for men of his background. As did many other well-off business men and statesmen, at the age of thirty, von Reesen commissioned Albrecht Dürer of Nuremberg to paint his portrait in 1520/21. The painting can still be seen at the exhibit of Old Masters in Dresden, Germany.