Man with a Fur-Trimmed Hat
Ferdinand Bol(Dordrecht 1616 – 1680 Amsterdam)ca. 1646–48
oil on canvas
100 x 79.5 cm
FB-105© 2020 The Leiden Collection

Man with a Fur-Trimmed Hat
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How to cite
Yeager-Crasselt, Lara. “Man with a Fur-Trimmed Hat” (2017). In The Leiden Collection Catalogue, 2nd ed.
Edited by Arthur K. Wheelock Jr. New York, 2017–20. https://theleidencollection.com/artwork/man-with-a-furtrimmed-hat/ (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 narrative
occurs.

Although traditionally considered to be among the last in Ferdinand Bol’s

Comparative Figures

series of character studies, or tronies, executed in the 1640s and 1650s, thisthree-quarter-length, exotically dressed male figure bespeaks a formal
portrait.[1] Wearing a fur-trimmed hat and a brown jacket accented by amustard colored collar and sparkling golden highlights, the man raises hisright hand toward the beholder in a rhetorical gesture. In the other he grasps
a fur pelt, which nearly spills into the viewer’s space. Speckled black spots,
which are softly rendered across the light brown pelt, fall into folds of lightand shadow. A deep red cloak—a reoccurring element in Bol’s tronies andself-portraits—hangs down over his left shoulder so that only his thumb isvisible beneath it.[2] The sitter’s frontal, engaged pose and expectant
expression distinguish this composition among Bol’s portraits.[3]The

figure’scostumecontemporary elements.

[4]

combines

historicizing

Fig 1. Rembrandt van Rijn, Portraitof Nicolaes Ruts, 1631, oil onpanel, 116.8 x 87.3 cm, The FrickCollection, New York,1943.1.150, © The Frick CollectionandThe golden brown jacket and the white shirt

beneath it are both diagonally fastened around the man’s torso, which, asMarieke de Winkel has noted, was a style associated with sixteenth-century
oriental clothing.[5] Fur hats, although a common feature of men’s wardrobes
in the seventeenth century, were rarely depicted in portraiture.[6] Bol may
have been inspired by Rembrandt’s 1631 Portrait of Nicolaes Ruts (fig 1),
which represents the wealthy merchant in a similar fur-trimmed hat, alongwith a fur-trimmed tabbaard.[7] Bol’s spotted fur pelt—probably sable—would
have likewise been an extremely valuable item. Sable was exclusively
imported from Russia, and its representation here, combined with theFig 2. Rembrandt vanRijn, Self-Portrait at the Age of 34,© 2020 The Leiden Collection

Man with a Fur-Trimmed Hat
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unusual, oriental-style jacket, is exceptional.[8]This inventive costume departs from the type of dress typically worn by1640, oil on canvas, 102 x 80cm, National Gallery, London,
NG672, © National Gallery,London / Art Resource, NYsitters in Bol’s portraits, as well as in his tronies and self-portraits. Following
the model provided by Rembrandt in works such as his 1640 Self-Portrait at
the Age of 34 (fig 2), Bol depicted male figures wearing old-fashioned velvet
berets and elegant cloaks, as in his Portrait of a Gentleman (fig 3) andPortrait of a Man in Munich, both dated ca. 1645, and the Leiden
Collection’s Man with a Book (FB-100) and Self-Portrait, behind aParapet (FB-107).[9] Although Bol occasionally rendered figures in oriental
turbans and helmets, which similarly relied on Rembrandt’s example, there
is no indication that these works were commissioned portraits.[10] The only
other figure that Bol portrayed so prominently in fur was the scholar in his
Old Man with a Globe in the Hermitage (fig 4).[11] This work, dated to around
1650, shows the elderly man wearing a fur-trimmed hat, a spotted fur-lined
cloak, and a golden tunic that resembles the one depicted in Man with a Fur-Fig 3. Ferdinand Bol, Portrait of aGentleman, ca. 1645, oil oncanvas, 86.4 x 70.5 cm, Private
Collection / Bridgeman Images

Trimmed Hat.[12]The distinctive character of the Leiden Collection’s portrait broadly reflects
Bol’s approach to portraiture in the second half of the 1640s. The painting’sbare, brown background, the artist’s use of chiaroscuro, and the frontal poseof the sitter correspond to works such as the Portrait of a Gentleman (fig 3)
and the Munich Portrait of a Man.[13] Bol’s treatment of the composition andthe posture of the figure, specifically the commanding frontal pose andoutstretched hand, are seen in Self-Portrait in Dordrecht from 1646
and Portrait of a Gentleman (fig 3).[14] These similarities suggest that Bol
executed the Leiden Collection work during these same years, ca.
1646–48.[15] A date in the mid- to late 1640s more closely situates thepainting in the period following Bol’s training in Rembrandt’s workshop,

Fig 4. Ferdinand Bol, Old Man witha Globe, ca. 1650, oil on canvas,
122 x 98 cm, The Hermitage
Museum, St. Petersburg

reinforcing the probability that the master’s Portrait of Nicolaes Ruts (fig 1)
served as the model for this work.[16] Although the identity of Bol’s sitter is
unknown, the prominent display of fur in this portrait bolsters the argumentthat he was also involved in the fur trade.[17]- Lara Yeager-Crasselt, 2017

© 2020 The Leiden Collection

Man with a Fur-Trimmed Hat
Page 4 of 8Endnotes

1. Albert Blankert situated FB-105 among the last of Bol’s tronies executed in the mid-1650s,
following Hofstede de Groot’s dating of ca. 1655. Blankert based his tronie description on thework’s single-figure, half-length composition and the fancy, exotic costume worn by the sitter.
He noted how Bol’s modeling of the form and careful attention to the various textures inFB-105 relate to the large-scale history paintings that Bol produced in the 1650s. AlthoughBlankert argued that FB-105 exhibits an ease in handling that is not apparent in Bol’spaintings from the 1640s, it bears the strongest similarities in character and composition tothe portraits and self-portraits that Bol produced during that decade. The individuality of thesitter, the exceptional character of his dress, and his forthright pose suggest a commissionedportrait. For a discussion of the possible identity of the sitter, see below. For Blankert’s
discussion of FB-105 in the context of his tronies, see Albert Blankert, Ferdinand Bol(1616–1680): Rembrandt’s Pupil (Doornspijk, 1982), 57–59, 66–67, no. 66. Questions
surrounding Bol’s portraits and tronies have a long history in the scholarship on the artist. Fora more recent discussion of Bol’s work in this context, see Dagmar Hirschfelder, Tronie undPorträt in der niederländischen Malerei des 17. Jahrhunderts (Berlin, 2008), 136–37, 277–82.
2. The same contemporary red cloak appears in a number of Bol’s paintings, including theLeiden Collection’s Self-Portrait, behind a Parapet (FB-107); Self-Portrait, 1646, oil oncanvas, 102 x 85.5 cm, Dordrechts Museum, Dordrecht (see below, and FB-107, fig. 3); andSelf-Portrait, ca. 1669, oil on canvas, 128 x 104 cm, Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam.
3. See Albert Blankert, Ferdinand Bol (1616–1680): Rembrandt’s Pupil (Doornspijk, 1982),
56–70.
4. Bol often combined old-fashioned and contemporary dress in his tronies and self-portraits, asdiscussed in the essay for FB-107, but, to my knowledge, he did not do so in formal portraits.
5. Marieke de Winkel discusses the oriental fashion of diagonal fastening in regard toRembrandt’s Self-Portrait from 1658 in The Frick Collection, New York (oil on canvas, 133.7 x103.8 cm). Under a bright yellow pleated garment with a horizontal neckline and a brocaded
neck cloth, Rembrandt wears a diagonally fastened white garment, joining sixteenth-century
European and oriental fashions. De Winkel suggests that Rembrandt may have also looked toa portrait print of Maarten Ryckaert, published in Anthony van Dyck’s Iconographie in 1645, in
which the artist wears Polish attire—a fur-lined outer gown and a diagonally fastened kaftan
tied at the waist. It is possible that Bol was also familiar with this print when he executed
FB-105. It is worth noting that Man in a Fur-Trimmed Hat shares Rembrandt’s striking frontal
pose in this image. See Marieke de Winkel, Fashion and Fancy: Dress and Meaning in
Rembrandt’s Paintings (Amsterdam, 2006), 183–86. For Polish costume, see Irena Turnau,
History of Dress in Central and Eastern Europe from the Sixteenth to the Eighteenth Century© 2020 The Leiden Collection

Man with a Fur-Trimmed Hat
Page 5 of 8(Warsaw, 1991), particularly 71–78.
6. Fur hats were commonly cited in seventeenth-century Dutch inventories, along with the furtrimmed tabbaard. See Marieke de Winkel, Fashion and Fancy: Dress and Meaning in
Rembrandt’s Paintings (Amsterdam, 2006), 29–30.
7. For a discussion of the costume worn by Ruts, see Marieke de Winkel, Fashion and Fancy:
Dress and Meaning in Rembrandt’s Paintings (Amsterdam, 2006), 26–32. A similar fur hat
appears in a painting attributed to Rembrandt’s workshop, Man with a Fur Hat, StaatlicheMuseen, Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister, Kassel.
8. See Marieke de Winkel, Fashion and Fancy: Dress and Meaning in Rembrandt’s Paintings(Amsterdam, 2006), 28–29, 277 n 16.
9. Bol was especially influenced by Rembrandt’s 1640 Self-Portrait (oil on canvas, 102 x 80 cm,National Gallery, London), which served as a model for the younger artist on a number ofoccasions. See Bol’s Portrait of a Man, ca. 1645, oil on canvas, 87.5 x 72.5 cm, Bayerische
Staatsgemäldesammlungen, Alte Pinakothek, Munich. For Bol’s reliance on Rembrandt’sprototype, see the essays for FB-100 and FB-107.
10. Young Man with a Sword, ca. 1650, oil on canvas, 204 x 130 cm, The Dayton Art Institute,Dayton, Ohio; Man with Helmet, ca. 1655, oil on canvas, 72.5 x 62.5 cm, Muzeum Narodowe,Warsaw; Standing Oriental, ca. 1665, oil on canvas mounted on wood, 131 x 102 cm,Milwaukee Art Museum. See Albert Blankert, Ferdinand Bol (1616–1680): Rembrandt’s Pupil(Doornspijk, 1982), nos. 72, 74–75.
11. Albert Blankert, Ferdinand Bol (1616–1680): Rembrandt’s Pupil (Doornspijk, 1982), no. 69.
For the relationship of this work to the tradition of scholarly portraits, see the essay for FB-100.
12. The similarities in costume between these two paintings suggest that they may have beencreated within a few years of each other. For the dating of FB-105, see below. A fur hat also
appears on Eliezer’s knee in FB-106.
13. Similarly, see Portrait of a Man, ca. 1644, oil on canvas, 96 x 79 cm, Städelsches
Kunstinstitut, Frankfurt am Main.
14. Self-Portrait, 1646, oil on canvas, 102 x 85.5 cm, Dordrechts Museum, Dordrecht (see theessay for FB-107, fig. 3). See Albert Blankert, Ferdinand Bol (1616–1680): Rembrandt’sPupil (Doornspijk, 1982), no. 60. In FB-105, Bol opened the angle of the figure’s arm, making
the gesture more direct than in the earlier work, whereas the gesture is reversed in thePortrait of a Gentleman (fig. 2). For the significance of this gesture in self-portraiture, andparticularly in regard to the Dordrecht portrait, see Hans Joachim Raupp, Untersuchungen zu
Kunstlerbildnis und Kunstlerdarstellung in den Niederländen im 17. Jahrhundert (Hildesheim,1984), 262–64.
15. This dating is nearly ten years earlier than Albert Blankert’s dating of the mid-1650s. By the© 2020 The Leiden Collection

Man with a Fur-Trimmed Hat
Page 6 of 81650s, Bol also changed his approach to portraiture. His figures, typically dressed in morereserved contemporary costume, are situated within a definable interior space, often holding
an object or associated with a particular attribute.
16. The close similarities between Rembrandt’s and Bol’s portraits demonstrate the continuing
influence that Rembrandt had on the younger artist, even after Bol left the master’s
workshop.
17. Bol increasingly attracted an elite clientele in the late 1640s and 1650s, and it is conceivablethat a wealthy fur trader was among his patrons. The tradition of a merchant being depicted in
his wares went back to the sixteenth century, as seen in Dirck Jacobsz’s Portrait of Pompejus
Occo, 1531, oil on panel, 66.5 x 65 cm, Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam. In this work, Occo, who
was active in the Baltic as a trader, is shown wearing a fur-trimmed tabbaard of costly lynx.
See Marieke de Winkel, Fashion and Fancy: Dress and Meaning in Rembrandt’s Paintings(Amsterdam, 2006), 28–29.

Provenance
Private collection Scotland, by 1860.
[Lewis and Simmons, New York, by 1929].[1]Private collection, Forfar, Scotland, by 1938.[2]Private collection, Scotland, until 2009 [Johnny van Haeften Ltd., London, 2009].
From whom acquired by the present owner in 2009.

Provenance Notes

1. According to the RKD photo file, this provenance was recorded by Hofstede de Groot inFebruary 1929. This listing has not been otherwise confirmed.
2. The Frick Art Reference Library photo file lists the painting with a “Miss Baxter, Kincaldrum,Forfar, Scotland.” Kincaldrum House apparently fell into disrepair sometime in themid-20th century. It is not yet clear when the painting entered the Baxter collection or for how
long it was there.

Exhibition History
Boston, Museum of Fine Arts, on loan with the permanent collection, February
2014–February 2016 [lent by the present owner].
© 2020 The Leiden Collection

Man with a Fur-Trimmed Hat
Page 7 of 8Beijing, National Museum of China, “Rembrandt and His Time: Masterpieces from TheLeiden Collection,” 17 June–3 September 2017 [lent by the present owner].
Shanghai, Long Museum, West Bund, “Rembrandt, Vermeer and Hals in the Dutch Golden
Age: Masterpieces from The Leiden Collection,” 23 September 2017–25 February 2018 [lentby the present owner].
Moscow, The Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts, “The Age of Rembrandt and Vermeer:Masterpieces of The Leiden Collection,” 28 March 2018–22 July 2018 [lent by the presentowner].
St. Petersburg, The State Hermitage Museum, “The Age of Rembrandt and Vermeer:
Masterpieces of The Leiden Collection,” 5 September 2018–13 January 2019 [lent by thepresent owner].
Abu Dhabi, Louvre Abu Dhabi, “Rembrandt, Vermeer and the Dutch Golden Age.
Masterpieces from The Leiden Collection and the Musée du Louvre,” 14 February–18 May2019 [lent by the present owner].

ReferencesBlankert, Albert. Ferdinand Bol (1616–1680), Rembrandt’s Pupil. Doornspijk, 1982, 59, 121,no. 66. Originally published as Ferdinand Bol, 1616–1680: een leerling van Rembrandt. The
Hague, 1976.
Yeager-Crasselt, Lara. “Man with a Fur-Trimmed Hat.” In Rembrandt and His Time:
Masterpieces from The Leiden Collection. Edited by Lara Yeager-Crasselt, 60; 176, no. 20.
Translated by Li Ying. Exh. cat. Beijing, National Museum of China. Beijing, 2017.
Long Museum, West Bund. Rembrandt, Vermeer and Hals in the Dutch Golden Age:Masterpieces from The Leiden Collection. Exh. cat. Shanghai, Long Museum, West Bund.
Shanghai, 2017, 77.
Yeager-Crasselt, Lara. “Man with a Fur-Trimmed Hat.” In The Age of Rembrandt andVermeer: Masterpieces of The Leiden Collection. Edited by Polina Lyubimova, 70–71; 232 no.
2. Translated by Daria Babich and Daria Kuzina. Exh. cat. Moscow, The Pushkin StateMuseum of Fine Arts; St. Petersburg, The State Hermitage Museum. Moscow, 2018.
Ducos, Blaise, and Lara Yeager-Crasselt, eds. Rembrandt, Vermeer and the Dutch GoldenAge. Masterpieces from The Leiden Collection and the Musée du Louvre. Exh. cat. Abu
Dhabi, Louvre Abu Dhabi. London, 2019, 97, no. 29. [Exhibition catalogue also published inFrench and Arabic.]© 2020 The Leiden CollectionPowered by TCPDF (www.tcpdf.org)

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Technical Summary
The support is composed of two sections of medium-weight, plain-weave fabric joined with avertical seam that passes through the figure’s proper left sleeve.[1] The tacking margins have been
removed and the support has been lined. Cusping is visible along the left edge only, and the right
has a precisely cut edge, which indicates it may have been trimmed. There are no wax collection
seals, import stamps, stencils, inscriptions or labels along the lining or stretcher reverse.
A light-colored ground has been thinly and evenly applied and remains visible through the thinpassages of paint along the background, the curls of hair, and the drying cracks that have formed
along the brown drapery folds along the left side of the composition. The paint has been smoothly
applied with transparent glazes along the figure’s crimson cloak and with areas of low roundedbrushwork along the gold details of the figure’s tabbaard. The light brown fur in the foregroundhas been painted wet-into-wet with wisps of dark brown paint applied over the top.
No underdrawing is readily apparent in infrared images captured at 780–1000 nanometers. The
images reveal minor compositional changes to the fingertips and contours of the figure’s proper
right hand.
The painting is unsigned and undated.
The painting was cleaned, lined, and restored circa 2009, at which time a compound tear along
the lower left quadrant of the support was repaired. The painting remains in a good state ofpreservation.

Technical Summary Endnotes

1. There may be a horizontal seam across the narrow section of fabric (located 28 cm downfrom the upper edge, at the height of the figure’s eyes). If this is the case, the support iscomposed of three sections of medium-weight, plain-weave fabric (see X-radiograph). The
painting was examined on-site with no stereomicroscope. Magnification provided by 5X
Optivisor.

© 2020 The Leiden Collection