Editing Willem Drost (section)

==Biography==
[[File:Willem Drost The Vision of Daniel 1650.jpg|thumb|left|300px|''The Vision of Daniel'', 1650, [[Gemäldegalerie, Berlin]]]]
[[Image:Willem Drost - Batsheba met de brief van koning David.jpg|thumb|right|''[[Bathsheba with King David's Letter]]'', 1654, oil on canvas, [[Louvre]].]]
He is a mysterious figure, closely associated with [[Rembrandt]], with very few paintings clearly attributable to him.<ref>Slive, 116</ref>

He was presumably born in [[Amsterdam]], in what was then known as the [[Dutch Republic|United Provinces]] of the Netherlands, but when and where is unknown. Around 1650, according to the early art historian [[Houbraken]], 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, though their treatments are rather different; both Drost's and Rembrandt's paintings are in the [[Louvre]] in [[Paris]].

Houbraken described him as a painter of historical allegories and a pupil of Rembrandt.<ref name=Houbraken>{{in lang|nl}}<!--Middle Dutch--> [http://www.dbnl.org/tekst/houb005groo01_01/houb005groo01_01_0330.htm Willem Drost Biography] in ''De groote schouburgh der Nederlantsche konstschilders en schilderessen'' (1718) by [[Arnold Houbraken]], courtesy of the [[Digital library for Dutch literature]]</ref> Houbraken saw a ''Johannes Predicatie'' (Sermon of John) by him that was well composed and painted.<ref name=Houbraken/> He spent a long period in Rome where he became friends with [[Johann Carl Loth|Karel Lot]] and the well-to-do Utrecht painter [[Jan Vermeer van Utrecht|Joan vander Meer]], who had travelled to Italy in the company of the marine painter [[Lieve Verschuier]] in 1653 and became friends with him there.<ref name=Houbraken/>
[[File:Willem Drost - Portrait of a Young Man - Google Art Project.jpg|thumb|''Portrait of a Young Man'' (c. 1654)]]
He was in Amsterdam until 1655 and then travelled to Italy.<ref name=RKD>[https://web.archive.org/web/20160304134111/https://rkd.nl/en/explore/artists/24317 Willem Drost] in the [[RKD]]</ref> He influenced the painter [[Adolf Boy]].<ref name=RKD/>
Sometime in the mid-1650s, the young artist went to [[Rome]], where, again according to Houbraken, he collaborated with the German artist [[Johann Carl Loth]] on a lost series of the [[Four Evangelists]] in [[Venice]].<ref name="Slive, 117">Slive, 117</ref> He died in the latter city in 1659.<ref name=RKD/>

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 the attribution of all of his works. Scholars have now reattributed a number of Rembrandt's paintings to his pupils and associates.