Self-Portrait

Ferdinand Bol

c. 1669

oil on canvas

Rijksmuseum

A man with long, curly brown hair is depicted in a self-portrait, wearing ornate robes and a red cloak. To his right, a cherubic figure sleeps, holding a quiver of arrows. Wearing an embroidered Japanese dressing gown, Bol poses as a man of the world here. He probably painted this self-portrait on the occasion of his marriage to the wealthy widow Anna van Erckel, one of his earliest patrons. The gilded, ornate frame was specially made for the painting. Its large carved sunflowers symbolize marriage: they trail the sun just like a person follows their beloved one.