Image scanned/or photographed from transparency and color corrected by Pat Cagney.

Portrait of a Lady Holding a Flower

Artist Ferdinand Bol (Dutch, 1616-1680)

Dateca. 1650

MediumOil on canvas

DimensionsOverall, Support: 47 7/16 x 36 7/16 x 3/4 in. (120.5 x 92.6 x 1.9 cm)
Overall, Frame: 56 1/8 x 44 3/16 x 2 9/16 in. (142.6 x 112.2 x 6.5 cm)

ClassificationsEuropean art

Credit LineMuseum purchase, acquired with funds contributed by Arthur Diamonstein in honor of Renée Gartner Diamonstein and with Museum purchase funds

Object number94.15

Terms

Woman
Flowers
Portrait

Collections

European Art before 1945

On View

On view

DescriptionThis is an oil on canvas three-quarter length portrait painting of a young lady with light gray eyes. She leans against a classical column with a golden brown tapestry behind her. The tapestry is pulled back to reveal a landscape. Her dress is black and the shirt she wears underneath the dress is white. In her right hand is a fan, possibly part of her dress. In her left hand is a red flower. A black hat fitted closely on her head is decorated with a row of pearls across the top. Her hair is curly brown and cut just above her shoulders. Her earrings are large and dangling clusters of black onyx or pearls.

Label TextFerdinand Bol Dutch (1616-1680) Portrait of a Gentleman, 1650 Oil on canvas Gift of Walter P. Chrysler, Jr., in Honor of Arthur Diamonstein 85.100 Portrait of a Lady Holding a Flower, 1650 Oil on canvas Museum Purchase Acquired with Funds Contributed in Honor of Renée Diamonstein by her Husband and with Museum Purchase Funds 94.15 Painted by the renowned Amsterdam artist and Rembrandt disciple Ferdinand Bol, these pendant images of husband and wife are handsome examples of mid-17th-century Dutch portraiture in the then fashionable Flemish style of Anthony Van Dyck. Bol's Portrait of a Gentleman has been part of the Museum's collection since 1985. The companion Portrait of a Lady, however, was acquired only in 1994, when it appeared for sale in New York. Reunited after having been separated for more than a century, Bol's paintings are the Museum's first pair of Old Master pendant portraits. The paintings may be wedding portraits - pendant images of a newly-wed husband and wife dressed, as contemporary Dutch fashion dictated, in formal Calvinist black. The red flower the woman holds appears to be a wild rose or French rose, an age-old symbol of love. While we no longer know who the sitters are, they probably belonged to Amsterdam's patrician class, that wealthy group of merchants, naval officers and city officials from whom Bol received the bulk of his portrait commissions. The prosperous, yet proper young couple reflect beautifully the concepts of emotional harmony and social decorum that were central to the 17th-century Dutch ideal of marriage. Edited By: GLY