Portrait of a Woman Dressed as a Huntress

This 1651 Portrait of a Woman Dressed as a Huntress at the Figge Art Museum depicts the sitter in the guise of Diana, goddess of the hunt—a conceit that allowed female portrait subjects to be represented with allegorical dignity and classicizing costume beyond the conventions of realistic Dutch bourgeois dress. The fantasy portrait, known as a portrait historié, served dual functions: as a formal likeness of a specific individual and as a statement of cultural aspiration identifying the sitter with classical mythology's most powerful female figure. Bol executed several such mythological portraits, demonstrating his range beyond the sober realism of standard Dutch portraiture.

The hunting costume and bow provide exotic attributes for the portrait, Bol rendering the sitter with idealized beauty while maintaining individual likeness within the Diana persona.