BOL, Hans

In the 1570-1580s Hans Bol was the most prolific and inventive artist in the Netherlands with significant achievements in all branches of landscape art and in various techniques. He produced several hundred drawings - predominantly preparatory works for engravings.

In the 1570-1580s Hans Bol was the most prolific and inventive artist in the Netherlands with significant achievements in all branches of landscape art and in various techniques. He produced several hundred drawings - predominantly preparatory works for engravings.

People in the 16th century were immensely interested in classical mythology. This is indicated by the many editions and translations in that period of Ovid’s Metamorphoses. The ancient myth of Icarus was especially popular and was depicted in art on many occasions, not least by Pieter Bruegel the Elder. A story pitting youth against age and brashness against self-knowledge was an ideal theme for an era which loved to moralize.

In spite of its small size, the watercolour by Hans Bol, a Netherlandish Mannerist, is a marvellous example of the art of landscape. Subtle colour transitions, skilful perspective and effective contrasts between foreground and background, and human figures and the forces of nature, lend this miniature painting a cosmic dimension.

Hans Bol chose the Icarus theme on several occasions. It was also the subject of one of his paintings, which was described in detail and highly praised by Carel van Mander in the 17th century. Although Bol once an important and admired painter, we only know him through his small drawings and watercolours. Most of his paintings appear to have been lost. This miniature is all the more important, because it probably reproduces the painting referred to by Van Mander, which may have been his masterpiece. Consequently, Bol ought to be viewed not only as a superior miniature painter, but above all as an important artist who played a key role in the development of landscape art.

In the 1570-1580s Hans Bol was the most prolific and inventive artist in the Netherlands with significant achievements in all branches of landscape art and in various techniques. He produced several hundred drawings - predominantly preparatory works for engravings.

Hans Bol was the first artist to emulate Pieter Bruegel’s innovations in landscape art. Bruegel’s work exerted an influence on virtually Bol’s entire oeuvre, although at the same time the artist developed his own style, which distinguished his works from those of his master and other Bruegel followers. The combination of landscape and genre-like motifs lends a unique character to Bol’s work.

This extensive landscape serves as the setting for the biblical love story of Jacob and Rachel visible in the left foreground. During his journey home from Canaan, Jacob encounters a group of shepherds near a well awaiting the stone to be removed to water their flocks. It is here that Jacob will soon meet and fall in love with his future wife, Rachel, who can be seen approaching the group with her flock of sheep.

Bol treated this subject on a few occasions in 1592-93.

During his journey home from Canaan, Jacob encounters a group of shepherds near a well awaiting the stone to be removed to water their flocks. It is here that Jacob will soon meet and fall in love with his future wife, Rachel, who can be seen approaching the group with her flock of sheep.

This panoramic landscape with multiple figures shows the city of Antwerp on the horizon.

The Central part of the triptych represents The Crucifixion, it is flanked by The Adoration of the Shepherds and The Resurrection. The artist condenses the life of Christ by illustrating his birth, his infamous death and the resurrection of the Son of God. Using a convention stretching from antiquity to the end of the Middle Ages, Bol divides the three main themes into several small scenes taking place at chronologically different times, which are nevertheless essential if one is to understand the subject in question.

Hans Bol was one of the Flemish artists who introduced landscape painting in Amsterdam and Utrecht.