Portrait of a Scholar
by DOU, Gerrit, Oil on panel, oval, 24 x 20 cm
The subjects of old men, scholars and hermits are ones which Dou borrowed from Rembrandt at the beginning of his career and returned to again towards the end of his life.
Dou is considered the founder of the Dutch school of fijnschilders (literally translated to ‘fine painters’) and the present work reveals the meticulously detailed style of painting that he pioneered which has since become synonymous with the character of Leiden painting.