Margriet van Eikema Hommes is art historian and senior researcher at the Netherlands Cultural Heritage Agency.
This groundbreaking study demonstrates how the integration of material-technical research and 'traditional' art history can yield astounding results. A painstaking investigation of the canvases, grounds and paint surface of five huge paintings by Ferdinand Bol proves to be the vital basis for a thrilling quest in which the - up till now unsolvable - questions posed by this historically important, but seemingly incoherent ensemble are answered. As the author's innovative and rigorously argued method unfolds, our insights into many crucial aspects of Dutch history painting of the period are greatly enhanced.Eric Jan Sluijter is ......