That Govaert Flinck (1615-1660) was a pupil of Rembrandt, is evident
from his _Announcement to the Shepherds_ (No. 2372) rather than from
his _Portrait of a Young Lady_ (No. 2373), a signed work of 1641.
Ferdinand Bol (1617-1680) was a pupil and imitator of the great Dutch
master, and his _Portrait of a Mathematician_ (No. 2330) is one of his
best paintings; but his _Philosopher in Meditation_ (No. 2328) compares
most unfavourably with Rembrandt’s two early pictures of the same
subject which hang opposite it.
The ineffectual productions of Jan Victoors (1620-1670) include the
_Portrait of a Young Lady_ (No. 2371), a typical example of the “niche”
portrait which became so popular, and a large _Isaac blessing Jacob_
(No. 2370), which vividly recalls his small canvas in the Dulwich
College Gallery that in less critical days passed as a Rembrandt.
G. van den Eeckhout (1621-1674) in his picture (No. 2364) shows his
dependence on Rembrandt; and Cornells Drost’s repulsive _Bathsheba_
(No. 2359A) has no claim to be regarded as a “_fort bonne peinture_,”
as a French critic has thought fit to term it.