(Dordrecht 1616 – 1680 Amsterdam)

Ferdinand Bol

How to cite
Bakker, Piet. “Ferdinand Bol” (2020). Revised by Piet Bakker (2020). In The Leiden Collection Catalogue,2nded.

EditedbyArthurK.

WheelockJr.

NewYork,

2017–20.

https://theleidencollection.com/artists/ferdinand-bol/ (archived June 2020).
A PDF of every version of this biography 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.

Ferdinand Bol was baptized in Dordrecht on 24 June 1616. His parents were the surgeon Balthasar Bol (d.
1641) and Tanneke Fernandes.[1] We do not know from whom Bol received his first lessons in painting in hisnative city. A logical candidate is Jacob Gerritsz Cuyp (1594–1652), Dordrecht’s most esteemed and talented
painter. The long-held assumption that Bol must also have studied for a while under a Utrecht master derives
chiefly from an incorrect reading of the signature on a “Bloemaert-like” Vertumnus from around 1635, which
until recently was considered to be Bol’s first signed painting.[2] In December 1635, he signed four notarial
deeds in Dordrecht as “Ferdinandus bol, schilder” (Ferdinandus Bol, painter), indicating that he hadcompleted his training by that year.
Soon thereafter, in 1636, Bol left his hometown and set off as a master painter for Amsterdam, where heworked under Rembrandt van Rijn (1606–69), the first of the Dordrecht artists to do so.[3] Bol rapidly mastered
Rembrandt’s style and subsequently worked for a few years as a full-fledged assistant in his workshop on theNieuwe Doelenstraat. The documentary evidence for Bol’s association with Rembrandt includes anannotation on the verso of a drawing by Rembrandt that can be dated around 1636.[4] This inscription in
Rembrandt’s handwriting mentions the sale of work by “fardijnandus.” Furthermore, “Fernenandus Bol” also
witnessed a document dated 30 August 1640, in which Rembrandt empowers a Frisian lawyer to settle aninheritance matter in Leeuwarden.
Bol probably worked with Rembrandt until shortly before 1642, the year of his earliest dated paintings.[5]Around that time—possibly in 1641, when Bol’s father died—he established himself as an independent artist in
Amsterdam and embarked on a successful career as a history and portrait painter. Like his teacher, heproduced many tronies, the first of which date from 1644 (see, for example, Man with a Fur-Trimmed Hat).[6]© 2020 The Leiden Collection

Ferdinand BolPage 2 of 6

His work, especially his portraiture, was strongly indebted to Rembrandt’s style until around 1650. A tellingexample of this influence is the famous likeness of Elisabeth Bas (1571–1649), presently considered by mostscholars to be an early portrait by Bol, but previously thought to be an important work by Rembrandt.[7] Healso adopted his master’s predilection for self-portraits: there are at least six likenesses of Bol from thesecond half of the 1640s sporting a typical painter’s bonnet (see, for example, Self-Portrait, Behind a Parapet).[8]Bol’s growing reputation led to his first major commission, a portrait of the regents of the Lepers’ Asylum, in1649.[9] The palette of this group portrait strongly recalls that of Rembrandt, yet the poses of the regents
foreshadow the elegance that would increasingly mark Bol’s portraits from 1650 on. Possibly with an eye toupcoming commissions for the prestigious decorative program of the new town hall, Bol acquired citizenship ofAmsterdam in 1652.[10] A year later, he executed his first significant commission outside of Amsterdam: agroup portrait of the officers of the Gouda civic guard.[11]Bol married Lysbeth Dell (1628–60) in October 1653, at which time he was recorded as living on the Oudezijds
Voorburgwal. Through Lysbeth’s father, Elbert Dell (1595–1667), a wine merchant and auctioneer of theAdmiralty of Amsterdam, and her mother, Cornelia Spiegel (1606–46), Bol gained entry into the Amsterdam
patriciate.[12] His in-laws thus played a pivotal role in the many prestigious and lucrative commissions hereceived from various municipal boards of governors after his marriage, such as those from theburgomasters’ and aldermen’s chamber in the new town hall in the period when Lysbeth’s uncle, Hendrick
Dirckz Spiegel (1598–1667), was burgomaster.[13]Bol did not secure these commissions solely through his influential relatives; his success was also due to hisgreat talent. He was present, along with his master, Rembrandt, in the Kloveniersdoelen in 1654 at acelebration held by the Guild of Saint Luke, which inspired Jan Vos (1612–67) to write his paean to the leading
Amsterdam painters of his day, including Bol.[14] It was hardly a coincidence that virtually all of the painters
who worked on the new town hall appeared in Vos’s poem. One year later, in 1655, Bol was “head man” of
the Guild of Saint Luke and in this capacity, together with the painter-dealer David Colijns (1582–1665/66),
appraised a collection of paintings, a role he would assume on several other occasions as well.[15] In 1658, heconfessed, with Govaert Flinck (1615–60) and two other painters, to having drawn from nude female models,
which was illegal at the time.
Bol faced personal adversity in 1660 when his wife died just after giving birth to their son Balthasar (b. 1660).
Professionally, however, he remained very busy. In the first half of the 1660s, he received a number ofcommissions for group portraits of governors, as well as of individual sitters. He also landed a few importantand lucrative commissions outside of Amsterdam. The exceptionally wealthy Utrecht widow Jacoba Lampsins(1613/14–67) ordered four monumental history paintings for the salet (drawing room) of her house on theelegant Nieuwegracht.[16] He also painted a large chimneypiece, Allegory on the Municipal Government ofLeiden, for the burgomasters’ chamber of the Leiden town hall in 1664.[17]Bol had so much work in the 1660s that it is difficult to imagine he did not have some form of assistance. Howlong Frans van Ommeren served as Bol’s assistant is unknown, but a document from 1662 indicates that VanOmmeren was partly responsible for the workshop production. In his Schouburgh, Houbraken mentioned two© 2020 The Leiden Collection

Ferdinand BolPage 3 of 6other pupils of Bol: Cornelis Bisschop (1630–74) of Dordrecht, and the German painter Godfrey Kneller(1646–1723), who became the leading portraitist in England after the death of Sir Peter Lely (1618–80).
On 10 October 1669, two days after Rembrandt’s burial, Bol took a second wife, Anna van Erckel (1624–80),
the extraordinarily wealthy widow of Erasmus Scharlaken (ca. 1610–68), treasurer of the Admiralty ofAmsterdam. They were already acquainted, as Bol had portrayed her and Scharlaken as Isaac and Rebecca
in a painting from ca. 1648.[18] According to his marriage settlement, Bol owned sixty paintings, and hispossessions, partly belonging to his first wife, were valued at a hefty 14,800 guilders.[19] Anna van Erckel wasat least three times wealthier than he was; the couple was so affluent, in fact, that Bol no longer had to earn aliving. He seems to have stopped painting fairly soon after he married, and lived chiefly off his investments.
His last dated painting is from 1669.
Many of Bol’s final commissions stemmed from his good relations with the Admiralty. For instance, between
1667 and 1669, he painted a series of portraits of Admiral Michiel Adriaensz de Ruyter (1607–76), whose
popularity had reached record heights in the Dutch Republic following his heroic expedition to Chatham.[20] In
1672, Bol exchanged his house on the Oudezijds Voorburgwal for one on the Keizersgracht, between theVijzelstraat and the Reguliersgracht. The dire economic crisis after 1672 seems to have left him and his wife
unscathed. When the 200th penny levy was charged in 1674, their initial fortune seems even to haveincreased. As befitting a man of his standing, he joined the boards of several municipal institutions, and in
1675 Bol, the painter of so many regents, himself was portrayed as a member of the board of the Old
People’s Hospital in Amsterdam.[21] Anna van Erckel died in April 1680. Bol survived his wife by only a few
months and was buried in the Zuiderkerk on 24 July of that year.

- Piet Bakker, 2017; revised in 2020

© 2020 The Leiden Collection

Ferdinand Bol
Page 4 of 6Endnotes

1. Unless otherwise noted, all biographical information on Ferdinand Bol is taken from Albert
Blankert, Ferdinand Bol (1616–1680): Rembrandt’s Pupil (Doornspijk, 1982).
2. Albert Blankert, Ferdinand Bol (1616–1680): Rembrandt’s Pupil (Doornspijk, 1982), 16–17,no. 35. The attribution to Bol can no longer be sustained, as the signature on the painting
must be read as that of Ferdinandus West, who was active in The Hague between 1637 and
1683. See Erna Kok, “Zonder vrienden geen carrière: De succesvolle loopbanen van dezeventiende-eeuwse kunstenaars Govert Flinck en Ferdinandus Bol,” De Zeventiende
Eeuw 27 (2011): 310–11.
3. He would be followed by Samuel van Hoogstraten (1627–78), Jacobus Levecq(1634–75), Nicolaes Maes (1634–93), and Arent de Gelder (1645–1727), all from Dordrecht,
and perhaps also by Abraham van Dijck (1635/36–80).
4. Otto Benesch, The Drawings of Rembrandt, ed. Eva Benesch (London, 1973), 2: 106–7, no.
448.
5. Portrait of Anna Maria von Schurman, 1642 (Baltimore Museum of Art), and Portrait of an
Elderly

Woman,1642(StaatlicheMuseen,Gemäldegalerie,Berlin);

AlbertBlankert, Ferdinand Bol (1616–1680): Rembrandt’s Pupil (Doornspijk, 1982), 136–37, no.
117; 138, no. 121.
6. Albert Blankert, Ferdinand Bol (1616–1680): Rembrandt’s Pupil (Doornspijk, 1982), 2, 57–58.
7. Portrait of Elisabeth Jacobsdr Bas (1571–1649), ca. 1641 (Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam).
Werner Sumowski, Gemälde der Rembrandt-Schüler. Vol. 5, Nachträge, Ortsregister,
Ikonographisches Register, Bibliographie (Landau, 1994), 3084–85, no. 2016. However,Blankert does not support the attribution to Bol and thus includes the portrait in his catalogueofrejectedworks.

AlbertBlankert,FerdinandBol(1616–1680):

Rembrandt’sPupil (Doornspijk, 1982), 13, 57, 184, no. R200.
8. Albert Blankert, Ferdinand Bol (1616–1680): Rembrandt’s Pupil (Doornspijk, 1982), 58,118–21, nos. 60–65.
9. Four Regents of the Lepers’ Asylum, signed and dated 1649 (Amsterdam Museum). AlbertBlankert, Ferdinand Bol (1616–1680): Rembrandt’s Pupil (Doornspijk, 1982), 20, 59, 61, 67,68, 155, no. 177; Werner Sumowski, Gemälde der Rembrandt-Schüler. Vol. 1, J. A. Backer –A. van Dijck (Landau, 1983), 315, no. 179.
10. Bol purchased “poorterrecht” or citizenship, in 1652, which allowed him to live and conduct
trade in the city, and to join the guild.
11. Officers of the Gouda Militia under Colonel Govert Suijs, signed and dated 1653 (Museum© 2020 The Leiden Collection

Ferdinand Bol
Page 5 of 6Gouda). Albert Blankert, Ferdinand Bol (1616–1680): Rembrandt’s Pupil (Doornspijk, 1982),
20, 68, 156, no. 178; Werner Sumowski, Gemälde der Rembrandt-Schüler. Vol. 1, J. A.
Backer – A. van Dijck (Landau, 1983), 315, no. 180.
12. Bol’s mother-in-law was the sister of Elbert Spiegel (1600–1674), receiver-general of theAdmiralty of Amsterdam, married to Elisabeth de Vlaming van Oudshoorn (1600–1669),
whose father, Cornelis de Vlaming van Oudshoorn, served as burgomaster nine times
between 1656 and 1680. Bol portrayed the couple in 1660 (Museum Briner und Kern,Winterthur). Cornelia had another brother, Hendrick Spiegel, a merchant and a council
member between 1655 and 1665, who was elected burgomaster four times. For the Spiegel
family’s artistic patronage, see Rudolf E.O. Ekkart, “A Portrait Historié with Venus and Cupid:Ferdinand Bol and the Patronage of the Spiegel Family,” Simiolus 29 (2002): 14–41.
13. Bol worked for the Women’s House of Correction (ca. 1655), the Wine Merchants’ Guild(1659), the Lepers’ Asylum (1661), the Admiralty of Amsterdam (1661–63), and theZuiderkerk (1669). For a survey, see Albert Blankert, Kunst als regeringszaak in Amsterdam
in de 17e eeuw: Rondom schilderijen van Ferdinand Bol (Amsterdam, 1975); AlbertBlankert, Ferdinand Bol (1616–1680): Rembrandt’s Pupil (Doornspijk, 1982), 48–55. For
Bol’s commissions for the Amsterdam town hall, see Albert Blankert, Kunst als regeringszaakin Amsterdam in de 17e eeuw: Rondom schilderijen van Ferdinand Bol (Amsterdam, 1975),
11–36; Albert Blankert, Ferdinand Bol (1616–1680): Rembrandt’s Pupil (Doornspijk, 1982),
108–18.
14. See, for example, Nina Geerdink, “De man van het beeld aan het woord: Jan Vos’ ‘Zeege
der Schilderkunst’ (1654),” Nieuw Letterkundig Magazijn 28 (2010): 45–50.
15. Albert Blankert, Ferdinand Bol (1616–1680): Rembrandt’s Pupil (Doornspijk, 1982), 73. Heappraised the paintings owned by Johannes Verspreet in Amsterdam on 13 December 1656.
Together with the art dealer Gerrit Uylenburgh, he appraised the paintings of François Gyselsand Laurens Mauritsz Douci on 16 July 1666 and 18 January 1669, respectively. Albert
Blankert, Ferdinand Bol (1616–1680): Rembrandt’s Pupil (Doornspijk, 1982), 76.
16. Margriet van Eikema Hommes, Art and Allegiance in the Dutch Golden Age: The Ambitions ofa Wealthy Widow in a Painted Chamber by Ferdinand Bol (Amsterdam, 2012).
17. The painting is now known only from photographs. It was lost in the fire at the Leiden town
hall in 1929. Marike Hoogduin-Berkhout, “‘Op de geluckige regeeringe van Leiden’:Geschilderde voorstellingen in het Leidse stadhuis 1575–1700,” De Zeventiende Eeuw 22(2006): 87–92; Albert Blankert, Ferdinand Bol (1616–1680): Rembrandt’s Pupil (Doornspijk,1982), 21, 50, 75, no. 44.
18. Couple in a Landscape, ca. 1648 (Dordrechts Museum). See the entry Rebecca and Eliezer
at the Well, fig. 3, in this catalogue; Albert Blankert, Ferdinand Bol (1616–1680):
Rembrandt’s Pupil (Doornspijk, 1982), 23, 151, no. 167; Werner Sumowski, Gemälde derRembrandt-Schüler. Vol. 1, J. A. Backer – A. van Dijck (Landau, 1983), 208, no. 150. It is© 2020 The Leiden CollectionPowered by TCPDF (www.tcpdf.org)

Ferdinand Bol
Page 6 of 6

virtually certain that this portrait corresponds with the description of “des Overledens endesselfs eerste man contrefeytsel verthonende Isacq en Rebecca in een ebbe lijst door Ferd.
Bol” (the likeness of the deceased and her first husband in the guise of Isaac and Rebecca inan ebony frame by Ferd. Bol) in the estate inventory of Anna van Erckel (1681). Albert
Blankert, Ferdinand Bol (1616–1680): Rembrandt’s Pupil (Doornspijk, 1982), 84–85.
19. For a transcript of the marriage settlement, including all of the paintings, see Albert
Blankert, Ferdinand Bol (1616–1680): Rembrandt’s Pupil (Doornspijk, 1982), 76–78.
20. Bol received this commission from the Admiralty of Amsterdam on the occasion of De
Ruyter’s victory over the English in the Four Days’ Battle in 1666. The portrait of De Ruyter
was intended for the chambers of the admiralties in Amsterdam, Rotterdam, Middelburg,Harlingen, Enkhuizen, and Hoorn, and so six copies of this “state portrait” were made. At
present, copies can be found in the Scheepvaartmuseum in Amsterdam, the Mauritshuis inThe Hague, and the Westfries Museum in Hoorn. Subsequently, Bol (his workshop) received
orders for a few more versions of the “state portrait.” Albert Blankert, Ferdinand Bol(1616–1680): Rembrandt’s Pupil (Doornspijk, 1982), 23, 63, 123–28, nos. 76–87, pls. 84–95;
Werner Sumowski, Gemälde der Rembrandt-Schüler. Vol. 1, J. A. Backer – A. van Dijck(Landau, 1983), 314, no. 177.
21. Pieter van Anraedt (before 1640–78), Six Regents and the Warden of the Old Peoples’
Hospital in Amsterdam, signed and dated 1675 (Amsterdam Museum). Ferdinand Bol isseated at the far left.

Literature
Blankert, Albert. Ferdinand Bol (1616–1680): Rembrandt’s Pupil. Doornspijk, 1982.
Sumowski, Werner. Gemälde der Rembrandt-Schüler. Vol. 1, J. A. Backer – A. van Dijck.
Landau, 1983.
Sumowski, Werner. Gemälde der Rembrandt-Schüler. Vol. 5, Nachträge, Ortsregister,
Ikonographisches Register, Bibliographie. Landau, 1994.
Sumowski, Werner. Gemälde der Rembrandt-Schüler. Vol. 6, Nachträge 2, Ortsregister,
Ikonographisches Register, Bibliographie, Künstlerverzeichnis. Landau, 1994.
Hoogduin-Berkhout, Marike. “‘Op de geluckige regeeringe van Leiden’: Geschilderdevoorstellingen in het Leidse stadhuis 1575–1700.” De Zeventiende Eeuw 22 (2006): 87–92.
Geerdink, Nina. “De man van het beeld aan het woord. Jan Vos’ ‘Zeege der Schilderkunst’1654.” Nieuw Letterkundig Magazijn 28 (2010): 45–50.

© 2020 The Leiden Collection