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Willem Drost (1633 - 1659) was a Netherlands|Dutch
Baroque painter and printmaker.

He was born in what was then known as the United
Provinces of the Netherlands. Although he lived
and painted at a time when Dutch artists had their
greatest impact on the development of European
art, Drost is a painter about whom very little is
known.

Around 1650, he became a student of Rembrandt,
eventually developing a close working
relationship, painting history scenes, biblical
compositions, symbolic studies of a solitary
figure, as well as portraits. As a student, his
1654 painting titled Bathsheba was inspired by
Rembrandt's painting done in the same year on the
same subject and given the same title. This was a
common practice at the time and even a few hundred
years later, other artists such as Paul
Cezanne|Paul CĂ©zanne did a painting titled
Bathsheba. Both Drost’s and Rembrandt’s
masterpieces were acquired by the Louvre in Paris.

Sometime in the mid 1650s, the young artist was
sent to Rome, where he painted with fellow
Dutchman Johannes Vermeer from Utrecht
(city)|Utrecht.  After a few years, Drost went on
to Venice to paint with the artist Johann Carl
Loth.

Willem Drost's recognized lifetime output of
artwork is very small, while Rembrandt is credited
with more than 2,000 paintings and etchings, the
majority of which are not signed. In recent years,
some paintings attributed to Rembrandt have had
their authenticity come under question. The
importance of these Rembrandt works is such that
the Foundation Rembrandt Research Project was
established in Amsterdam to review all of his
works on which there could be a question as to
whether it was that of Rembrandt or one of his
distinguished pupils. Scholars have now
reattributed a number of Rembrandt's paintings to
these associates.

Drost had evolved into one of Rembrandt's most
talented disciples, so much so that his 1654
painting titled: Portrait of a Young Woman with
her Hands Folded on a Book was one of the ones
attributed to Rembrandt for more than 300 years.
As well, when the portrait of a young man on
horseback titled The Polish Rider was discovered
in 1897 it too was attributed to Rembrandt.
Acquired by New York City's Frick Collection, The
Polish Rider is one of the Frick Museum's most
valued treasures. However, years ago, the
painting's authenticity was questioned by several
scholars, led by the renowned expert Julius Held.
Many others, including Dr. Josua Bruyn of the
Foundation Rembrandt Research Project, now believe
this great painting may also be that of Willem
Drost as may be several others.

As a result of all these investigations, more and
more scholars are looking at Willem Drost's known
works and his reputation has grown in stature to
the point that today he is being considered as one
of the greatest of the "Old Masters".

After exhaustive research, a new book by Jonathan
Bikker titled WILLEM DROST (1633-1659) A Rembrandt
Pupil in Amsterdam and Venice will be published by
Yale University Press in 2005.

Some of Willem Drost’s works: 
*1651: Ruth and Naomi on the road to Bethlehem - 
Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, England
*1652: Self Portrait of the Artist
*1653: Portrait of a Man - (Metropolitan Museum of
Art, New York City);
*1653: Portrait of a Woman -  Museum Bredius, The
Hague;
*1653:The Philosopher - National Gallery of Art,
Washington, DC;
*c.1654: Portrait of a Young Woman - The Wallace
Collection, London;
*1654: Portrait of a Young Woman with her Hands
Folded on a Book - National Gallery, London,
England;
*1654: Portrait of an Officer in a Red Beret -
David Findlay Galleries, New York City
*1654: Bathsheba -  Louvre, Paris;
*c.1655: Portrait d’homme feuilletant un livre,
Louvre, Paris;
*1655: The Unmerciful Servant - The Wallace
Collection, London, England; 
1655: "Flute Player" - Private Collection, Germany

*1655: Bust of man wearing a large-brimmed hat -
(c.1655), National Gallery of Art, Dublin,
Ireland;
*c.1656 Young Man with a Flute - Scandinavia:
Private Collection
*c.1657: Old Woman Teaching a Child - Hermitage
Museum, St. Petersburg, Russia
*c.1658: Boy with a Recorder - Galleria Palatina,
Florence, Italy;
*c.1659 L'écaillère -  Louvre, Paris;
*c.1659: Mercury and Argus: Staatliche
Kunstsammlungen – Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister,
Dresden, Germany;
*1659: St. Matthew and the Angel  - North Carolina
Museum of Art, Raleigh, North Carolina
*c.1659: Abraham Casting Out Hagar & Ishmael -
Guilford College Collection, Greensboro, North
Carolina
*c.1650: Self Portrait of the Artist as John the
Evangelist, Bader Collection, Milwaukee;

Other paintings, date and owner to be determined:
*Portrait d'une dame Ă  sa fenĂŞtre   
*Young Man, Half-Length Seated, in a Red Jacket
and Broad-Brimmed Cap 
*Saint-John the Evangelist in a Landscape 
*A Young Woman, Bust Length, Wearing Traditional
Costume 
*A soldier, buckling his belt, a helmet on a table
nearby
* Bildnis eines Geographen mit Zirkel, Winkelmass
und Globus (attributed to Willem Drost)