Dates | 1616 - 1680 |
Roles | Artist |
Nationality | Dutch |
Born | Dordrecht, The Netherlands |
Died | Amsterdam, The Netherlands |
A prosperous surgeon's son, Ferdinand Bol first studied locally in his native Dordrecht, and then became Rembrandt Harmensz. van Rijn's pupil in Amsterdam, where he settled. Bol witnessed a document concerning Rembrandt's wife Saskia's inheritance in 1640, a responsibility that suggests that by then Bol was probably no longer a student but a full-fledged assistant.
After having risen quickly through the ranks in Rembrandt's highly productive studio, Bol established himself as an independent master around 1642. He imitated Rembrandt's style so closely that some works were mistaken for Rembrandt's for centuries afterward. Although his style changed, throughout his career Bol painted the same subjects as Rembrandt: histories, portraits--often with sitters posed by a window--and exotically costumed single figures.
Around 1650 Bol's taste drifted to more "modern" trends: His