BOL, Ferdinand
(b. 1616, Dordrecht, d. 1680, Amsterdam)

Self-Portrait

c. 1669
Oil on canvas, 128 x 104 cm
Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam

Bol present himself as the archetypical man of quality holding a rattan cane in his right hand as he leans nonchalantly on a statue of sleeping Cupid. Posed in a full-bottomed wig and an expensive house coat before a stately column on a base, it is a form of presentation which does not differ from the way in which Bol portrayed his rich clientele.

The canvas is still in its original limewood frame with auricular carving and festoons which Bol undoubtedly ordered himself.