Image scanned from a transparency and color-corrected by Pat Cagney.

Portrait of a Gentleman

Artist Ferdinand Bol (Dutch, 1616-1680)

Date1650

MediumOil on canvas

DimensionsOverall, Support: 47 11/16 x 36 x 13/16 in. (121.1 x 91.5 x 2.1 cm)
Overall, Frame: 55 15/16 x 44 1/2 x 5 in. (142.1 x 113 x 12.7 cm)

ClassificationsEuropean art

Credit LineGift of Walter P. Chrysler, Jr. in honor of Arthur Diamonstein

Object number85.100

Terms

Man
Portrait

Collections

European Art before 1945

On View

On view

DescriptionThis is an oil on canvas painting of a young man. It is a three-quarter length portrait. His hair is shoulder length, wavy and brown. He leans against a classical column and over his left shoulder is a golden brown tapestry pulled back to reveal a bit of landscape. His is dressed in black except for his shirt and tassels. His left arm is covered by his black cloak. His right hand holds a black hat at the bottom of the foreground. His eyes are dark, his lips pursed.

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