Women with Pearls in her Hair

A young woman turns her head toward the light, a string of pearls catching the eye at her ear and in her hair, her face and collar set against a warm, shadowed ground. Ferdinand Bol (1616–1680) painted the canvas in the early 1650s, the years when he was among the most successful history painters and portraitists in Amsterdam. A pupil of Rembrandt, he never quite left his master’s rich, painterly handling behind, yet the poise and finish of this likeness are entirely his own. The work, 88 × 77 cm, is held by the Nationalmuseum, Stockholm.