BOL, Ferdinand

Ferdinand Bol, a former pupil of Rembrandt, painted a thinking man wearing a medallion of an ancient emperor, similarly to Rembrandt’s Aristotle.

The composition and style of this painting reveal the influence of Jacob Jordaens.

The many official commissions which Bol received for group portraits of governing bodies are evidence that he was one of the most successful artists of his day.

In his later career Bol turned to a more courtly style and a lighter tonality, the faces of his models look rather pasty, and the highlights on the red velvet he loved to paint appear to have been dusted lightly with talcum powder. In a subject picture like the Jacob’s Dream Bol captures something of the mood and tender character of Rembrandt’s art of this period; but the elegant and noble attitude of the angel, with its long limbs and aristocratic gesture, is foreign to Rembrandt.

The half-length figure of a woman toying with a string of pearls around her neck and with pearl in her hair is not a portrait in the usual sense. Pupils in Rembrandt’s studio were often encouraged to paint animated portrait-like studies, so-called tronies. These studies were often made from anonymous models. The present picture has erotic implications. The woman’s blouse is open to reveal her right breast and she meets our gaze with a smiling inviting look. The pearls can lead our thoughts to Venus, the goddess of love.

The nine-year-old Petronella was the daughter of the merchant Joost Pietersz Elias, and his first wife, Rebecca Spiegel, who was a first cousin of Bol’s wife, Elisabeth Dell.

Basket of fruit often features in sixteenth- and seventeenth-century art as allusion to fertility which explain their appearance in painting of children, as in Jacob Willemsz Delff’s portrait of a two-year-old boy. The motif of fruit suggests that the child is the product of a fruitful marriage. Flowers, like the garland in Petronella’s hair, suggest the innocence of youth.

Michiel de Ruyter (1607-1676) was one of the most famous admirals in Dutch history. He is most famous for his role in the Anglo-Dutch Wars of the 17th century. His victories in the naval battles of the Dutch War of Independence and later during the Anglo-Dutch wars assured his place not only as a national hero, but also as one of the most respected admirals in history. His greatest military achievement was the Four Days’ Battle of June 1666, which resulted in defeat for the English navy. De Ruyter was then asked to commission his own portrait in six copies, to be hung in the chambers of the regional offices of the admiralty in Amsterdam, Rotterdam, Middelburg, Harlingen, Enkhuizen and Hoorn.

The commission to execute the portraits was awarded to Ferdinand Bol. Six almost identical copies of the official portrait of the commander-in-chief of the Dutch fleet were therefore made, of which four are still known today.

In the portrait De Ruyter is shown in three-quarter length, dressed in ceremonial attire with gold buttons and a thick gold belt, holding his admiral’s baton. Around his neck he wears the chain of the Order of Saint Michael. His arm is resting on a celestial globe made by the celebrated Blaeu Company. The fleet appearing in the background of the portrait was executed by Willem van de Velde the Younger. As was common practice in the studios of the time, such traditional details in portraits of naval commanders were generally executed by artists who specialized in marine scenes.

Michiel de Ruyter (1607-1676) was one of the most famous admirals in Dutch history. He is most famous for his role in the Anglo-Dutch Wars of the 17th century. His victories in the naval battles of the Dutch War of Independence and later during the Anglo-Dutch wars assured his place not only as a national hero, but also as one of the most respected admirals in history. His greatest military achievement was the Four Days’ Battle of June 1666, which resulted in defeat for the English navy. De Ruyter was then asked to commission his own portrait in six copies, to be hung in the chambers of the regional offices of the admiralty in Amsterdam, Rotterdam, Middelburg, Harlingen, Enkhuizen and Hoorn.

The commission to execute the portraits was awarded to Ferdinand Bol. Six almost identical copies of the official portrait of the commander-in-chief of the Dutch fleet were therefore made, of which four are still known today.

In the portrait De Ruyter is shown in three-quarter length, dressed in ceremonial attire with gold buttons and a thick gold belt, holding his admiral’s baton. Around his neck he wears the chain of the Order of Saint Michael. His arm is resting on a celestial globe made by the celebrated Blaeu Company. The fleet appearing in the background of the portrait was executed by Willem van de Velde the Younger. As was common practice in the studios of the time, such traditional details in portraits of naval commanders were generally executed by artists who specialized in marine scenes.

This painting is a bust-length version by Bol of the figure of a woman in his Couple in a Landscape, now in the Court of Justice, The Hague. The sitters of the double portrait have been identified as Hendrick Trip and his first wife, Cecilia Godin.

Ferdinand Bol entered Rembrandt’s studio about 1636-37 and left Rembrandt around 1642 when he began working independently in Amsterdam where he settled for the rest of his life. His early painted portraits are very similar to the commissioned ones Rembrandt made in the late thirties and early forties and in them he successfully incorporates aspects of the transparent chiaroscuro the older master develops during these years.

In 1637, at the age of twenty, Bol left Dordrecht for Amsterdam to work in the studio of Rembrandt whose influence would dominate the artist’s work for the rest of his career. Here, Bol shows the sitter half-length, his torso and face turned toward the viewer and his right arm reaching across the foreground, holding an extravagant ostrich feather, as though it were a brush.

The presentation of the unidentified woman in this painting suggests the existence of a companion piece, a portrait of a man. Unfortunately, this painting is now lost (or unidentified). The portraits were probably produced to commemorate a betrothal, or marriage.

Bol present himself as the archetypical man of quality holding a rattan cane in his right hand as he leans nonchalantly on a statue of sleeping Cupid. Posed in a full-bottomed wig and an expensive house coat before a stately column on a base, it is a form of presentation which does not differ from the way in which Bol portrayed his rich clientele.

The canvas is still in its original limewood frame with auricular carving and festoons which Bol undoubtedly ordered himself.

The story of Venus and Adonis is taken from the tenth book of Ovid’s Metamorphoses. Venus, the goddess of love, becomes enamoured of the beautiful young huntsman, Adonis. In Bol’s painting Venus and the young Cupid try in vain to prevent Adonis from going hunting, as the goddess has had a premonition that the hunting party will have fatal consequences, and indeed the hunter is killed by a wild boar.

The story of Venus and Adonis was a favourite in the Netherlands. Rubens painted the subject several times and Bol later painted another picture of the same theme. It was probably the moral component that made the story popular: Adonis was seen as the epitome of reckless youth, whose rejection of Venus’ advice led him to his death.

The theme of this painting is noteworthy for Ferdinand Bol who is known primarily for his portraits and history painting featuring profane and mythological subject matter. While biblical scenes do occur regularly in his earlier oeuvre, they became more of an exception in his later work.