Bust of a young man

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Bust of a young man (unknown successor to Rembrandt van Rijn)
Bust of a young man
unknown successor to Rembrandt van Rijn , between 1625 and 1765
Oil on oak
20 × 17 cm
Privately owned

The Bust of a Young Man is an oil painting by an unknown successor to the Dutch painter Rembrandt van Rijn that was considered an authentic self-portrait in the early 20th century. The poorly preserved picture is executed in portrait format on oak and was painted at an unspecified date between 1625 and 1765. The portrait is likely a copy of a lost prototype that was believed to be Rembrandt's work in the 18th century, but did not necessarily come from him.

description

The painting shows a half-length portrait of a young man turned three-quarters to the left with features that resemble those of the young Rembrandt. The man has turned his head to the viewer and is looking at him. He has medium-length hair that falls backwards, a narrow mustache and a thin goatee. He is dressed in a dark brown doublet with a round collar, and a light-colored shirt protrudes from underneath the neck. He seems a jacket over the armor to wear the breastplate has a series of almost rectangular essays and whose shoulder a number of rivets. He wears a gold chain with an irregularly shaped pendant around his neck. The background of the painting is neutral gray, it seems to represent a wall. The light falls on the man from the top left, so that it illuminates the right half of his face more than the left. There is no signature or date.

The portrait has the format 20 × 17 cm and is painted with oil paint on horizontally grained wood, probably oak. The board consists of a continuous board that was glued to a second board, also horizontally grained and varnished on the reverse. The unusually structured subsoil, with the grain towards the narrow side, speaks against an origin from Rembrandt's circle. The primer is not clearly visible, it is likely light brown.

The painting was badly damaged by the peeling of the paint. Over large parts of the surface there are horizontal stripes with paint losses and repairs. The nose and eyes are therefore more recent. There is fine craquelure on the arm, shoulder and hair .

background

An extraordinarily large number of self-portraits have come down to us from Rembrandt, which he painted, drew or etched throughout his artistic activity. These include numerous self-portraits, which he placed as secondary characters in works such as history paintings. Especially at the beginning of his artist life, Rembrandt painted himself in poses that reveal strong emotions. He wanted to practice the representation of emotions for the history paintings he preferred. It is believed that many copies of Rembrandt's small-format self-portraits were made by his students and sold to visitors to the workshop.

reception

The English art dealer John Smith mentioned the prints of Worlidge and Martin as early as 1836 in his catalog raisonné of the most important Dutch, Flemish and French painters. He stated that they were made from a picture owned by the Duke of Argyll. Cornelis Hofstede de Groot listed the painting as authentic in his catalog raisonné published in 1915 as a self-portrait at a young age with the number 591. In 1923, Wilhelm Reinhold Valentiner dated the second edition of his monograph on newly discovered paintings by Rembrandt to around 1629, which later authors followed. Even Abraham Bredius accepted it with the number 13 as an authentic self-portrait and stated that the picture with Hofstede de Groot's numbers 591, 486 and 601 is identical. Kurt Bauch gave the painting the number 296 in 1966. Horst Gerson kept number 13 in his revision of the Bredius catalog, but rejected the date of 1629. The portrait was no longer included in Rembrandt's later catalog raisonnés.

The members of the Rembrandt Research Project described the portrait in 1982 in the first volume of their Corpus of Rembrandt Paintings as a very poorly preserved painting, which could not have come from Rembrandt or from his immediate circle. There were a number of reasons against this, namely the unusual construction of the wooden panel and the rough handling of color and shape. With the exaggerated head of hair and the thin growth of the beard, the depiction cannot be classified in the undoubtedly authentic early self-portraits of Rembrandt. A gold chain such as a necklace are often an accessory depicted by Rembrandt, but he never painted a gold chain over a necklace.

Provenance

In 1836, according to John Smith and Cornelis Hofstede de Groots, the painting was in the possession of the Duke of Argyll . The Rembrandt Research Project rejects the finding that it is the painting of the Duke of Argyll. This was already sold in the 18th and 19th centuries and is not identical to the bust of a young man .

In 1935 Bredius stated that the owner was Onnes van Nijenrode from Breukelen. It was Michiel Onnes, a Dutch merchant who had made his fortune in the coffee trade, who had bought Nijenrode Castle near Breukelen in 1907 and has since called himself Michiel Onnes van Nijenrode. In 1923, according to Valentiner, the painting was already in the art collection of Anton Frederik Philips , co-owner of the Philips company . The statement made by Bredius in 1935 that the picture was in the possession of Onnes was no longer relevant. In 1970 it belonged to the art collection of the community of heirs of Philips' widow Anna Philips-de Jongh. Its current owner is unknown.

Copies

Portrait of Rembrandt Harmensz. van Rijn , unknown successor, 1640 to 1800, oil on canvas, 21 × 17 cm, Rijksmuseum Amsterdam

painting

A copy of the painting was auctioned in Amsterdam on December 11-13, 1923. The oil painting on canvas in the format 61 by 47.5 centimeters was basically similar to the engraving by Worlidge, with the exception of the armor, which was just as roughly as shown in the painting. It therefore seems impossible that this painting is the lost prototype. In 1938 the painting was in the collection of the Evers brothers in Antwerp. The whereabouts of this copy is unclear.

In March 1940, the Rijksmuseum Amsterdam received a donation of 84 objects from the property of Dominicus Antonius Josephus Kessler, who died the previous year, and his wife ACMH Kessler-Hülsmann from Kapelle-op-den-Bos near Mechelen . This included an oil painting on canvas in the format 21 by 17 centimeters, the provenance of which is no longer known. The Rijksmuseum dates the portrait to between 1640 and 1800.

Prints

Rembrandt's self-portrait, engraving by Thomas Worlidge, 1741 to 1763, 21.3 × 16.1 cm Rembrandt, mezzotint by David Martin, 1765, 15.4 × 11.5 cm
Rembrandt's self-portrait , engraving by Thomas Worlidge, 1741 to 1763, 21.3 × 16.1 cm
Rembrandt , mezzotint by David Martin, 1765, 15.4 × 11.5 cm

Between 1741 and 1763, the English painter and engraver Thomas Worlidge published an engraving in the format 21.3 by 16.1 centimeters. The picture shows the painting in mirror image, with Rembrandt turned to the right. The caption reads Rembrandt's self-portrait. Copied from the original painting now in the Collection of his Grace the Duke of Argyll ( English Rembrandt's head by himself. Copyed from the Original Painting now in the Collection of his Grace the Duke of Argyle. By Thos. Worlidge Painter in Bath ) . The representation essentially deviates from the painting due to the comparatively elongated head. Worlidge also shows a round pendant on the chain instead of an irregularly shaped one, and the harness is worked out in more detail. In the catalog of Worlidge's prints, which were offered for sale by his widow in 1767, the print was numbered 7, 39, 72 or 111.

The Scottish painter and graphic artist David Martin made a mezzotint in 1765 with the title Rembrandt , which also reproduces the painting in mirror image. In addition, the eyes are unnaturally wide and the head is tilted slightly back, so that the picture makes a completely different impression. It bears the inscription Ipse pinxt on the lower left, D. Martin fect on the lower right . 1765 .

Lost prototype

Based on the differences between the painting and its painted or printed copies, the members of the Rembrandt Research Project assume that all of the surviving designs go back to a now-lost prototype. The prototype was ascribed to Rembrandt in the 18th century, but this can probably be excluded as the author due to the stylistic deficiencies.

In the 18th century a painting was described twice in The Hague, which could be the lost prototype. From July 23, 1743, Seger Tierens' estate was auctioned. Lot 229 was a painting by Rembrandt. The portrait in armor ( French Un Portrait en Cuirasse ) was described with a format of about 62.5 by 44.5 centimeters and redeemed 40 guilders and 5 stüber . On August 13, 1764, Benjamin da Costa's estate was auctioned. A soldier in armor ( Dutch Een Krygsman in 't Harnas ) 62.5 by 50 centimeters was sold for 60 guilders

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d e f g h Stichting Foundation Rembrandt Research Project (ed.): A Corpus of Rembrandt Paintings. I. , Chapter C 39 Bust of a young man (commonly called a self-portrait of Rembrandt) , pp. 654-657.
  2. ^ Stichting Foundation Rembrandt Research Project (ed.): A Corpus of Rembrandt Paintings. IV. , Chapter Summary. The genesis of this volume and a survey of its contents , pp. XXIII-XXX.
  3. ^ A b John Smith: A catalog raisonné of the works of the most eminent Dutch, Flemish, and French painters, part 7 . Smith and Son, London 1836, p. 92, work no.236, digitizedhttp: //vorlage_digitalisat.test/1%3D~GB%3D~IA%3Dcatalogueraisonn07smituoft~MDZ%3D%0A~SZ%3Dn166~ double-sided%3D~LT%3D~PUR%3D .
  4. ↑ a b Cornelis Hofstede de Groot: Descriptive and critical list of the works of the most outstanding Dutch painters of the XVII. Century. Sixth volume. Paul Neff, Esslingen a. N. - Paris 1915, p. 255, digitized, Heidelberg University Library .
  5. ^ A b Wilhelm Reinhold Valentiner: Rembrandt. Recovered paintings (1910–1922). Second, worked through edition. Deutsche Verlags-Anstalt, Stuttgart et al. 1923, pp. XIX and 7, digitizedhttp: //vorlage_digitalisat.test/1%3D~GB%3D~IA%3Drembrandtwiederg00rembuoft~MDZ%3D%0A~SZ%3Dn23~ double-sided%3D~LT%3D~PUR%3D .
  6. ↑ a b Abraham Bredius: Rembrandt. Schilderijen. W. de Haan, Utrecht 1935, digitized version, Heidelberg University Library . German: Rembrandt. Painting. Phaidon-Verlag, Vienna 1935. English: The Paintings of Rembrandt. London 1937 (cited as Bredius ), work no.13 .
  7. ↑ Kurt Bauch : Rembrandt. Painting. Walter de Gruyter, Berlin 1966, reprint 2018, ISBN 978-3-11-005007-3 , no.295.
  8. ↑ Abraham Bredius: Rembrandt. The complete edition of the paintings. Third edition. Revised by Horst Gerson. Phaidon, London 1969, ISBN 0-7148-1341-9 , work no.13 .
  9. ↑ follower of Rembrandt. Bust of a young man, 17e of 18e eeuw on the RKD - Nederlands Instituut voor Kunstgeschiedenis website , accessed on October 6, 2019.
  10. ↑ Horst Gerson: Imitaties naar Rembrandt door Thomas Worlidge (1700-1766) . In: Netherlands Yearbook for History of Art / Nederlands Kunsthistorisch Jaarboek Online 1970, Volume 21, pp. 301-307, doi: 10.1163 / 22145966-90000425 .
  11. ^ Portret van Rembrandt Harmensz. van Rijn, Rembrandt van Rijn (navolger van), 1640 - 1800 on the website of the Rijksmuseum Amsterdam, accessed on 6 October 2019.
  12. ^ Thomas Worlidge after follower of Rembrandt. Bust of a young man on the RKD - Nederlands Instituut voor Kunstgeschiedenis website , accessed on October 6, 2019.
  13. ^ Print , British Museum online catalog, accessed October 6, 2019.
  14. ^ David Martin after follower of Rembrandt. Rembrandt, 1765 gedateerd on the website of the RKD - Nederlands Instituut voor Kunstgeschiedenis , accessed on October 6, 2019.
  15. ^ Rembrandt , British Museum online catalog, accessed October 6, 2019.