© 2020 The Leiden Collection

Man with a Book
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Man with a Book
Ferdinand Bol(Dordrecht 1616 – 1680 Amsterdam)1644
oil on canvas
85.3 x 70.2 cm
signed in dark paint, lower right, alongwoodgrain of bookstand: “F Bol,” followed bywhat appears to read “Fecit”
FB-100How to cite
Yeager-Crasselt, Lara. “Man with a Book” (2017). In The Leiden Collection Catalogue, 2nd ed. Edited byArthur K. Wheelock Jr. New York, 2017–20. https://theleidencollection.com/artwork/man-with-a-book/(archived May 2020).
A PDF of every version of this entry is available in this Online Catalogue's Archive, and the Archive ismanaged by a permanent URL. New versions are added only when a substantive change to the narrativeoccurs.

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Man with a Book
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In a bare, darkened interior, an elegantly dressed man sits at a table before

Comparative Figures

an open book. Paused in his reading, he distractedly turns the cord of hiscollar between his fingers as his left hand rests on the book’s pages. Lightcatches the buttons and right sleeve of his fur trimmed tabard, a sixteenthcentury garment associated with learning and the scholarly tradition, anddelicately accents the refinements of his dress.[1] The sitter’s plush black
beret sits on soft waves of long hair and gently casts a shadow over the left
side of his slightly blushed face. Bol rendered the man’s features withcareful contrasts of light and dark, modeling his form against the deep brownbackground. The man’s considered state of intellectual contemplation, hissophisticated, historicizing costume, and the books lining the back wall[2]

situate him within the pictorial tradition of the scholar in his study.

Images of a scholar in his study were popular in the seventeenth century.

Fig 1. Rembrandt van Rijn, JanUytenbogaert, 1635, etching andburin, 22.3 x 18.3 cm, National
Gallery of Art, Washington D.C.,
1943.3.7099

Rembrandt van Rijn (1606–69), with whom Bol studied in the late 1630s andearly 1640s, treated the theme a number of times, as did Gerrit Dou(1613–75).[3] For his image, Ferdinand Bol relied on the compositional model
provided by Rembrandt in his 1635 etching of Johannes Uytenbogaert (fig 1), in which the prominent Remonstrant minister, dressed in a similar tabard
and a black skullcap and seated before a table and large opened book, has
paused from reading.[4] Dou also followed this compositional model in the
Leiden Collection’s Scholar Interrupted at His Writing (see GD-102), but hesituated the elderly scholar in a more elaborate, defined setting containing
the attributes of his profession.[5] Finally, the work’s warm brown palette andchiaroscuro, which Bol achieved by building up the composition from light todark, attests to the training he received with Rembrandt.[6]Fig 2. Ferdinand Bol, An
Astronomer, 1652, oil on canvas,
127 x 135 cm, Presented by Miss
E.A. Bennett, 1862, National
Gallery, London, NG679, ©
National Gallery, London / Art
Resource, NY

Although Bol based his composition on Rembrandt’s portrait of Johannes
Uytenbogaert, the character of his work differs considerably from its model.
The scholar in Bol’s painting is a young man, his skin untouched by the wearof time, and he sits in a study devoid of all but the most essential attributes ofthe scholar: his books. Most significantly, instead of gazing out at the viewer,
the scholar stares off to the side, allowing his thoughts to turn inward as hereflects upon the words on the page. The man’s preoccupied gesturereinforces this state of reflection and concentration. Bol’s careful depiction of
the man’s features, the pages of the book, the soft texture of the fur collar,
and the deep red of the tablecloth give added poignancy to this sensitive andoriginal contribution to the tradition of the scholarly portrait.
The elegance of the sitter’s costume, including his jeweled, trimmed beret,© 2020 The Leiden Collection

Man with a Book
Page 4 of 9or bonnet, is similar to that in Rembrandt’s Self-Portrait from 1640 in theNational Gallery, London.[7] Bol seems to have been inspired by the refined
character of Rembrandt’s dress, which he combined with elements of thetraditional academic costume. Bol’s interest in historicizing costumes is also
evident in the inventive portraits that he produced in the 1640s and 1650s,
such as the Leiden Collection’s Self-Portrait, behind a Parapet and Manwith a Fur-Trimmed Hat (see FB-107 and FB-105).[8]Bol depicted scholars on two more occasions in the late 1640s and early
1650s, in works in the Hermitage and the National Gallery, London.[9] He
maintained the basic compositional arrangement of Man with a Book, but hedepicted these latter scholars at nearly full-length and turned in the viewer’sdirection. In the National Gallery’s Astronomer (fig 2), executed in 1652, Bol
included a more expansive interior. The scholar’s table contains bothcelestial and terrestrial globes, along with large books, which are casuallypropped up against one another.[10] The astronomer pauses with his hand on
his chin, an expression of concentrated intellectual activity that recalls that ofthe scholar in Man with a Book. In each instance, Bol combined his sensitivemodeling of facial features with subtle, unconscious gestures to convey theinner life of his protagonists as they ponder the implications of ideas gained
from their scholarly activities- Lara Yeager-Crasselt, 2017

© 2020 The Leiden Collection

Man with a Book
Page 5 of 9Endnotes

1. The tabard, which had fallen out of fashion by the end of the sixteenth century, was retained
as the official dress of choice for academics—and ministers—in the seventeenth century. Seenas old-fashioned, it was frequently worn by scholars in portraits, such as the series ofengraved portraits of Leiden University professors published by Johannes Meursisus in 1609.
The beret, or bonnet, was similarly associated with the scholarly tradition. See Marieke deWinkel, “‘Eene der deftigsten dragten’: The Iconography of the Tabbaard and the Sense ofTradition in Dutch Seventeenth-Century Portraiture,” Beeld en Zelfbeeld in de NederlandseKunst 1550–1750, Nederlands Kunsthistorisch Jaarboek 46 (1995): 146–66; and Marieke deWinkel, Fashion and Fancy: Dress and Meaning in Rembrandt’s Paintings (Amsterdam,2006), 27–50.
2. See Volker Manuth, Wisdom, Knowledge, and Magic: The Image of the Scholar in
Seventeenth-Century Dutch Art (Exh. cat. Kingston, Agnes Etherington Art Centre, Queen’sUniversity) (Kingston, 1997).
3. For Rembrandt, see, for example, Portrait of a Man at a Writing Desk, 1631, oil on canvas,
104.5 x 92 cm, Hermitage, St. Petersburg; A Scholar, Seated at a Table with Books, 1634, oilon canvas, 145 x 134.9 cm, Nárondí Galerie, Prague. Joshua Bruyn et al., A Corpus ofRembrandt Paintings (The Hague, 1982–90), 2: A44, A95. For Dou, see for example, GD-102; Ronni Baer, Gerrit Dou, 1613–1675: Master Painter in the Age of Rembrandt, ed. Arthur K.
Wheelock, Jr. (Exh. cat. Washington D.C., National Gallery of Art; London, Dulwich Picture
Gallery; The Hague, Royal Cabinet of Paintings Mauritshuis) (New Haven, 2000), 70–1, no. 4.
4. Rembrandt had previously depicted Uytenbogaert in a painting of 1633, in which the minister
stands before a table and a large opened book. Portrait of Johannes Uytenbogaert, 1633, oilon canvas, Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam. In the seventeenth century, the black skullcap was
associated with ecclesiastics and scholars. See Marieke de Winkel, Fashion and Fancy:
Dress and Meaning in Rembrandt’s Paintings (Amsterdam, 2006), 40–42.
5. These attributes included writing instruments and a globe; he is also surrounded by vanitas
symbols, such as the skull and hourglass. See, for example, GD-102; Ronni Baer, Gerrit Dou,
1613–1675: Master Painter in the Age of Rembrandt, ed. Arthur K. Wheelock, Jr. (Exh. cat.
Washington D.C., National Gallery of Art; London, Dulwich Picture Gallery; The Hague, Royal
Cabinet of Paintings Mauritshuis, 2000–1) (New Haven, 2000), 70–71, no. 4.
6. Bol’s application of paint was consistently smooth throughout the canvas, except for thejewels on the beret, which have been applied with low impasto. This information comes fromthe technical notes compiled by Annette Rupprecht and Nancy Krieg.
7. See the essay for FB-107 (fig. 1) for Bol’s reliance on Rembrandt’s model. Bol made a copy
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Man with a Book
Page 6 of 9after this painting around 1640, which is now in the National Gallery of Art, Washington. The
beret worn by Bol’s scholar was inspired by the one worn by Rembrandt in the 1640 image. It
was an early sixteenth-century element of dress, and is distinguished from other berets for its
jewels and gold trim. At the same time, however, the beret (in its more modest manifestation)
was also considered an element of academic dress and retained in the seventeenth century
for academic doctors and scholars of the law, typically for ceremonial purposes. See Marieke
de Winkel, Fashion and Fancy: Dress and Meaning in Rembrandt’s Paintings (Amsterdam,2006), 36–39, 164–69.
8. Bol explored different character types during the period after he left Rembrandt’s studio,
depicting, in half-length, fashionably dressed men who often wear a black beret and a gold
chain or medallion and lean against a balustrade. Bol closely followed this format in his selfportraits, but he also expanded his approach in his portraits and the group of tronies heproduced of men in oriental costume, sometimes wearing turbans or elaborate helmets. In thepast, scholars have often regarded FB-100 as a self-portrait of Bol. Albert Blankert dismissed
this claim in his monograph on the artist, arguing that the man bears no apparent
resemblance to known images of Bol. See Albert Blankert, Ferdinand Bol (1616–1680):
Rembrandt’s Pupil (Doornspijk, 1982), 57–59, 121, nos. 60–65, 67, 72–75. Bol also adapted
the composition of FB-100 for one of his formal portraits from this same year: Portrait of aYoung Man, 1644, oil on canvas, 96.3 x 79 cm, Städelsches Museum, Frankfurt; see AlbertBlankert, Ferdinand Bol (1616–1680): Rembrandt’s Pupil (Doornspijk, 1982), no. 98.
9. Old Man with a Globe, ca. 1645, oil on canvas, 122 x 98 cm, Hermitage, St. Petersburg (seethe essay for FB-105, fig. 3); An Astronomer, 1652, oil on canvas, 127 x 135 cm, TheNational Gallery, London. See Albert Blankert, Ferdinand Bol (1616–1680): Rembrandt’sPupil (Doornspijk, 1982), 121–22, nos. 69 and 70.
10. The globes served as attributes of intellectual study, and were often depicted in scholarly
portraits, including the Leiden Collection’s Scholar Interrupted at His Writing (GD-102), aswell as Godfrey Kneller’s Scholar in His Study (GK-100).

Provenance
Miles Hammett Prance (d. 1876),[1] Branch Hill, Hampstead, London; by descent to Miles
Henry Prance; by descent to Miles Herbert Prance (sale, Lady [Clara Coltman] Vyvyan et al.,Christie’s, London, 28 June 1935, no. 103 [to Frank T. Sabin, London, for £294]).
[Frank T. Sabin, London, until at least 1936].
[Daniël Katz, Dieren] (sale, Viscount Bollingbroke et al., Christie’s, London, 10 December
1943, no. 147 [to Mendelssohn for £178]); (sale, Christie’s, London, 23 January 1953, no.
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Man with a Book
Page 7 of 9120 [to Van der Kar]).
J. de Mul, Brussels (his sale, Palais des Beaux-Arts, Brussels, 13–14 October 1953, no. 317).
[J. F. Minken, Amsterdam and London, by 1954].
Private collection, The Netherlands (sale, Sotheby’s, New York, 25 January 2007, no. 73; [toSalomon Lilian B. V., Amsterdam]).
From whom acquired by the present owner in 2007.

Provenance Notes

1. Miles Hammett Prance was a London-based attorney, as were his son and grandson. A
memoir written about Prance by his London legal association includes the following note
about his art collection: “Mr. Prance’s favorite relaxation, to which he devoted many of his
early vacations, consisted in making himself acquainted with the chief galleries of pictures inEngland and on the Continent, and, by the aid of a correct eye and a retentive memory, heacquired, for an amateur, a considerable knowledge of the works and characteristics of thegreat painters. He gratified this taste, also, by making a small but valuable collection ofpaintings of ancient masters.” See John Savill Vaizey, The Institute, London: Memoirs ofFormer Members ([London], 1895–1907), 136–38.

Exhibition History
Amsterdam, Rijksmuseum, “Oude kunst uit het besitz van den internationalen handel,” 1936,
no. 13 [lent by Frank T. Sabin, London].
Stockholm, National Museum, “Rembrandt och hans tid/Rembrandt and His Age,” 2 October
1992–6 January 1993, no. 73 [lent by a private collection].
Kyoto, Kyoto Municipal Museum of Art, “Communication: Visualizing the Human Connectionin the Age of Vermeer,” 25 June–16 October 2011; Miyagi, The Miyagi Museum of Art, 27October–12 December 2011; Tokyo, Bunkamura Museum of Art, 23 December 2011–14
March 2012, no. 5 [lent by the present owner].
Oxford, Ashmolean Museum of Art, on loan with the permanent collection, August
2015–August 2016 [lent by the present owner].
Wellesley, Davis Museum at Wellesley College, on loan with the permanent collection, 1
August 2017–1 August 2018 [lent by the present owner].

References© 2020 The Leiden Collection

Man with a Book
Page 8 of 9Rijksmuseum. Catalogus van de tentoonstelling van oude kunst uit het besitz van deninternationalen handel. Exh. cat. Amsterdam, Rijksmuseum. Amsterdam, 1936, no. 13.
Van Hall, Hermine. Portretten van Nederlandse beeldende kunstenaars. Amsterdam, 1963,30, no. 9.
Ernst Brochhagen and Brigitte Knüttel, Katalog der Alte Pinakothek, III: Holländische Malerei
des 17. Jahrhunderts (Munich, 1967), 18, under no. 609.
Blankert, Albert. Ferdinand Bol (1616–1680), Rembrandt’s Pupil. Doornspijk, 1982, 58, 121,no. 67. Originally published as Ferdinand Bol, 1616–1680: een leerling van Rembrandt. TheHague, 1976.
Görel Cavalli-Björkman, ed. Rembrandt och hans tid: Människan i Centrum / Rembrandt andHis Age: Focus on Man (Exh. cat. Stockholm, National Museum) (Stockholm, 1992), 233, no.
73.
Hirschfelder, Dagmar. Tronie und Porträt in der niederländischen Malerei des 17.
Jahrhunderts. Berlin, 2008, 282 n. 87.
Yeager-Crasselt, Lara. “Man with a Book.” In Human Connections in the Age of Vermeer.
Edited by Arthur K. Wheelock Jr. and Daniëlle H. A. C. Lokin, 46–48, no. 5. Exh. cat. Kyoto,Kyoto Municipal Museum of Art; Miyagi, The Miyagi Museum of Art; Tokyo, Bunkamura
Museum of Art. London, 2011.

Technical Summary
The support, a single piece of medium-weight, plain-weave fabric with tacking margins almost
entirely removed, has been lined. Cusping along all four edges indicates the original dimensions
have been retained. There are two red wax collection seals and a 1936 Rijksmuseum exhibition
label along the stretcher reverse but no stencils or import stamps.
A light-colored, radio-opaque ground has been thinly and evenly applied. The image has been
constructed with glazes in smoothly applied opaque layers and with areas of low impasto along
the band of jewels on the figure’s cap. Reticulation through the figure’s face is due to mediumrich application of paint by the artist.[1] Overall, the sense of depth, volume and modeling remains
strong.[2]The painting is signed in dark paint along the lower right corner, along the woodgrain of thebookstand.
No underdrawing is readily apparent in infrared images captured at 780–1000 nanometers. The
images reveal a minor compositional change to the figure’s proper right hand, which includes
shifts in position of the thumb, pointer, and upper contour of the wrist.
The painting was cleaned and restored in 2007. It is in good condition despite areas of abrasion© 2020 The Leiden CollectionPowered by TCPDF (www.tcpdf.org)

Man with a Book
Page 9 of 9through the dark drapery and background and is in an excellent state of preservation.

Technical Summary Endnotes

1. According to 2007 private conservation treatment notes.

2. Despite condition issues.

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