The Regents of the Leper's house in Amsterdam in 1649

This 1649 group portrait of the Regents of the Leper's House in Amsterdam at the Rijksmuseum represents one of Bol's most important civic commissions—a regent portrait comparable in prestige and format to Rembrandt's own Anatomy Lesson and Night Watch. The Leper's House (Leprooshuis) was an Amsterdam civic institution housing those afflicted with leprosy and skin diseases; its governing board, the regents, commissioned portraits as records of their civic service. Bol executes the standard Dutch regent portrait format—figures around a table, each individualized, collectively asserting their authority—with the confident command that had established him as a leading Amsterdam portraitist.

The group portrait arranges the regents with formal dignity around a table, Bol's careful balancing of individual characterization with collective authority demonstrating his skill in this demanding format.