Portrait of a Lady

The identity of this elegantly and richly dressed lady is not known. The fur-lined coat is fairly unusual on 17th-century portraits of citizens and is an indication that the woman must have been so wealthy that she could permit herself this almost noble status. The suggestion that the person in the portrait may be Elysabeth Dell, with whom Ferdinand Bol wed in 1653, is not convincing. The composition suggests that the painting had a companion, in the form of a portrait of a man. If the woman is Elysabeth Dell, then Bol would have painted himself as a pendant to this painting. What is strange is that all sorts of changes have been made to this portrait. It is still very obvious that the woman originally had a bunch of flowers in her hand and not a fan. Considerable changes have also been made to the contours, so that we can assume that the portrait originally looked completely different.