Self-portrait

The work is an oil-on-canvas painting, with oil paint applied to a woven canvas support. Ferdinand Bol depicts himself half‑length, wearing an embroidered robe and resting his left arm on a small sculpture of a sleeping Cupid, a motif that underscores themes of love. The composition is set within an ornate, gilded frame adorned with flowers, including sunflowers, which further reinforce the amorous symbolism.

The handling of the paint follows the smooth, blended technique characteristic of Bol’s mature portraiture, though specific brushwork details are not recorded in the sources.

The painting was created in 1669 as an oil-on-canvas self-portrait by Ferdinand Bol, depicted wearing an embroidered robe and leaning on a small Cupid sculpture, likely painted to commemorate his marriage to Anna van Erckel that year. It first appears in the probate records of the artist’s unmarried son Elbert Bol, after which it was sold at auction in Amsterdam on 17 August 1818 as lot number 9 from the collection of Wreesman and purchased by Albertus Brondgeest. Brondgeest bequeathed the work to the Rijksmuseum in 1849, where it remains in the collection.

The work was exhibited in the Historische Tentoonstelling van Amsterdam in 1876, the Rijksmuseum exhibition 'Prijst de lijst' in 1984, 'Portretten van echt en trouw' at the Frans Halsmuseum in 1986, and 'De glorie van de Gouden Eeuw' in 2000.

Executed circa 1669, this oil-on-canvas work is widely interpreted by scholars as a commemorative piece marking Ferdinand Bol's second marriage to Anna van Erckel. The composition, featuring the artist in an embroidered robe leaning on a sculpture of a sleeping Cupid, utilizes iconography to signify love; the resting deity suggests the artist's satisfied romantic state, while sunflowers on the gilded frame symbolize devotion. Although the specific bequest within the estate of Bol's unmarried son, Elbert, remains unknown, the painting is likely the self-portrait recorded in those probate documents.

Its art-historical trajectory includes a documented sale in 1818 to collector Albertus Brondgeest, who later donated it to the Rijksmuseum. The work has been featured in significant surveys of Dutch Golden Age painting, including exhibitions in 1984 and 2000 focusing on seventeenth-century portraiture and glory.

Ferdinand Bol’s self‑portrait, executed in oil on canvas around 1669, presents the artist in a richly embroidered robe. He rests his weight against a small marble figure of Cupid, creating a composed yet intimate pose. The work is part of the Rijksmuseum’s collection in Amsterdam and measures roughly the size of a typical 17th‑century portrait.