Portrait of Roelof Meulenaer

Roelof Meulenaer, an Amsterdam postmaster, commissioned portraits of himself and his wife from Rembrandt’s pupil Ferdinand Bol around 1650. At this time, Bol was developing his own, more elegant style based on the work of the Flemish artist Anthony van Dyck, while continuing to avail himself of Rembrandt’s warm palette. Meulenaer’s portrait, thus, unites the best of these two exemplary models.