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Lot Essay
As noted by Blankert, 1982, loc. cit., this is probably Bol's earliest surviving work, datable to circa 1635. The spelling and format of the signature correspond with that on signed documents by Bol of 1635 and 1640. Stylistically, the picture is close to Jacob Gerritsz. Cuyp, to whom Bol is thought to have been apprenticed, as well as to artists of the Utrecht school, such as Abraham Bloemaert. The latter executed a series of paintings of old women during the 1630s, for example that, signed and dated 1632, in the Harrach collection, Austria (M.G. Roethlisberger, Abraham Bloemaert, 1993, I, no.518; II, fig.702). The influence of Utrecht is further illustrated by comparison with Moreelse's picture of Vertumnus and Pomona of circa 1630 (see the catalogue of the exhibition, God en de goden, Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam, 1980-1, no.18), in which Vertumnus is depicted making the same gesture as in the present work.
The iconography has been the subject of debate: Blankert believes the subject to be Vertumnus, and regards the picture as originally having been one of a pair, with a now lost Pomona; however Bruyn, loc. cit., rejected that view, regarding the subject as being an unidentified old woman. More recently, J. Hoogstraten, in a letter of 4 September 2001, has reconfirmed the identification as Vertumnus.
The iconography has been the subject of debate: Blankert believes the subject to be Vertumnus, and regards the picture as originally having been one of a pair, with a now lost Pomona; however Bruyn, loc. cit., rejected that view, regarding the subject as being an unidentified old woman. More recently, J. Hoogstraten, in a letter of 4 September 2001, has reconfirmed the identification as Vertumnus.