circle of Rembrandt

circle of <a class="recordlink artists" href="/explore/artists/66219" title="Rembrandt"><span class="text">Rembrandt</span></a>

Illustration number 0001525765
Dimensions: 535x650 pixels
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Illustration number 1001212244
Dimensions: 521x650 pixels
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Illustration number 1000279520
Dimensions: 550x650 pixels
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Object information

Object category

painting

Physical connection Reference in ‘composite artworks’: artworks that are/were connected, such as alterpieces, decorative pieces incorporated in panelling, and works of art that were intended to be displayed together, such as pendants and series.

pendant

It has been suggested that this painting is de pendant to the 'Portrait of a seated woman with a handkerchief' in the Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto (RKD Images no. 35425) (Kelch/Van de Wetering 2006, no. 39; Luijten et al. 2016, p. 172-174, ill. 15).

Support/medium

canvas, oil paint

Shape/dimensions

rectangle (portrait format) 126 x 103 cm

Signature/inscription Information about the signature, dating, inscription or any other mark on the front or back of the art work

with signature and date center right: Rembrandt f 164[4?]
the last digit of the date is hardly legible and has been read as a 5 or a 4 (Bredius 1935, no. 237; Bauch 1966, no. 392). In the more recent art historical literature the last digit is considered to be a 4 (Vey/Kesting 1967, p. 87-88, no. 2527; Brown/Kelch/ Van Thiel 1991, p. 360, ill. 75a).

Current attribution: circle of Rembrandt
Rejected attribution: Rembrandt
This painting was always viewed as an autograph Rembrandt until doubted by Bauch in 1966. He suggested that Rembrandt designed the portrait and executed the face, but that the rest was painted by someone else (Bauch 1966, no. 392). Gerson removed the painting from Rembrandt's oeuvre, stating that it was made by a student, possibly Gerbrand van den Eeckhout (Bredius/Gerson 1969, no. 237). The RRP suggested the possibility of an attribution to Carel Fabritius (Corpus of Rembrandt Paintings 1982-2015, vol. 3, p. 722)

Date Exact or approximate dating of the described art work; the search parameters adopted for this art work in this database, are found in brackets.: c. 1644 (1642 - 1646)

The last digit of the date is hardly legible and has been read as a 5 or a 4 (Bredius 1935, no. 237; Bauch 1966, no. 392). In the more recent art historical literature the last digit is considered to be a 4 (Vey/Kesting 1967, p. 87-88, no. 2527; Brown/Kelch/ Van Thiel 1991, p. 360, ill. 75a).

Subject

Title Title of the art-work in Dutch: Een geleerde voor zijn schrijtafel
Other (former) title Other title(s) or name(s) which the work of art has had, or by which it is also known. This sometimes involves rejected identifications of the subject or sitter.: Portrait of Johannes Cornelisz. Sylvius , Portrait of Justus Lipsius , Portrait of a reverend
English title: A scholar at his desk
Genre: undetermined
Keywords: portrait, man's portrait, three-quarter length, body facing right, head to the right, floppy ruff, fur collar, spectacles, book, writing desk
: In the early nineteenth century this painting was considered to be a portrait of Justus Lipsius (Smith 1829-1842, vol. 7 (1836), no. 349). Based on two etchings by Rembrandt Vosmaer suggested that the painting depicted Johannes Cornelisz. Sylvius (Vosmaer 1877, p. 260-262, 536). The identification with Sylvius was followed by some, but questioned by most art historians (see for instance: Schubring 1905, p. 318; Hofstede de Groot 1907-1928, vol. 6 (1915), no. 752; Bauch 1966, no. 392; Vey/Kesting 1967, p. 87-88, no. 2527; Bredius/Gerson 1969, no. 237; Brown/Kelch/ Van Thiel 1991, p. 360, ill. 75a). In 2016 Schatborn listed this painting as a portrait of Sylvius, comparing it with a drawing in the National Gallery of Art in Washington (Luijten et al. 2016, p. 172-174, ill. 15).

Provenance

Collection(s)

Private collection
Van Lapro (Vey/Kesting 1967, p. 87-88, no. 2527)
- 1778-01-19 date of auction
private collection Louis Bernard Coclers, Leiden/Paris/Amsterdam/Luik
Vey/Kesting 1967, p. 87-88, no. 2527
- 1811-08-07 date of auction
private collection Joseph Fesch, Rome
1836 - 1845-03-17 mentioned as part of the collection of Cardinal Fesch in 1836 (Smith 1829-1842, vol. 7 (1836), no. 349); date of auction
art dealer William Buchanan, London
Vey/Kesting 1967, p. 87-88, no. 2527
- 1846-07-04 date of auction
Private collection
D. Robertson Blaine (Vey/Kesting 1967, p. 87-88, no. 2527)
- 1857-05-30 date of auction
Galerie Emile et Isaac Péreire, Paris
- 1872-03-06 date of auction
private collection Wilhelm Adolph von Carstanjen, Berlin/Cologne
1872-03-06 - bought at the Pereire auction (Vosmaer 1877, p. 260-262, 536)
Wallraf-Richartz-Museum & Fondation Corboud, Keulen , inv./cat.nr WRM 2527
1936 -
Wallraf-Richartz-Museum & Fondation Corboud, Keulen , inv./cat.nr WRM 2527
In 2001 the Wallraf-Richartz-Museum changed its name to 'Wallraf-Richartz-Museum & Fondation Corboud'.
1936 -

Auction(s)

Ploos v. A. .. Yver, Amsterdam (stad), 1778-01-19 - 1778-01-22, lotnr. 53
Contributor: Van Lapro
Name buyer : Winter (Vey/Kesting 1967, p. 87-88, no. 2527)

Lugt no. 2773: "Rembrandt. op Doek, hoog 39, br. 32 1/2 duim. In dit uitmuntend Tafereel vertoond zich een eerwaardig Oud Man, met een groote Baard, en gekleed met een Tabbert. Hy zit op een Stoel, op welker Leuning zyn Linkerhand rust, by een Tafel, waar op ter zyde van hem een Boek legt; in zyn regter hand een Pen houdende, scheint hy in zeer afgetrokken denkbeelden, wegens het geene hy wil schrijven; zynde hier van de Tekens in zyn gelaat, ongemeen fraay uitgedrukt: voor het overige is het kragtig van Koloriet, en helder gepenceelt."
Philippus van der Schley, Amsterdam (stad), Un précieux cabinet de tableaux, des plus célébres maîtres Italiens, Flamands et Hollandais, le tout rassemblé, avec beaucoup de goût et de connaisance, par monsieur L.B. Coclers, peintre, 1811-08-07, lotnr. 63
Contributor: Louis Bernard Coclers
Name buyer : Roos (Vey/Kesting 1967, p. 87-88, no. 2527)

Lugt no. 8056: "Rembrandt van Rhyn. Haut 50, large 41 pouces. Sur Toile. Le portrait de J.C. Sylvius, ministre et homme scavant, peint en 1644, il est assis dans un fauteuil près d'une table couverte d'un tapis verd une écritoire, un livre fermé sur lequel est écrit: Institution. Calvini. Un volume ouvert appuyé sur une boite duquel il tient une feuille de la main gauche; son vêtement est une toge noire fourrée de martre, sa tête est couverte d'une calotte noire et à la plume derrière l'oreille. Sa main droite est appuyée sur le bras du fauteuil tenant ses lunettes. Ce tableau est une magie de couleurs, et du pinceau le plus hardi de ce maître."; lot no 64 is a Portrait of a Woman also by Rembrandt, which is now in the Art Gallery in Toronto, and has mistakenly been considered as a pendant of the portrait of a man in Cologne (Corpus of Rembrandt paintings, vol. 3 (1986), p. 722)
, Rome, 1845-03-17 - 1845-03-24, lotnr. 191
Contributor: kardinaal Joseph Fesch
Name buyer : Harrington, 1445

according to an annotation in a copy of the sale catalogue (RKD, The Hague), Lugt no. 17682
Christie's, Londen (Engeland), 1846-07-04, lotnr. 61
Contributor: William Buchanan
Name buyer : bought in (Vey/Kesting 1967, p. 87-88, no. 2527)

Lugt no. 18259: "The portrait of Justus Lipsius; from the Collection of Cardinal Fesch; one of the most extraordinary pictures of this master, painted in 1644, the same year as his celebrated picture of the Syndics, at Amsterdam; the best period of the master."
Christie's, Londen (Engeland), 1857-05-30, lotnr. 84
Contributor: D. Robertson Blaine
Name buyer : bought in (Vey/Kesting 1967, p. 87-88, no. 2527)

Lugt no. 23657: "Portrait of Justus Lypsius, the celebrated religious author and philosopher. This fine picture formed part, and was one of the gems of the Collection of his Eminence the late Cardinal Fesch."
C. P.: Pillet Exp.: Petit, Parijs, 1872-03-06 - 1872-03-09, lotnr. 147
Contributor: Pereire
Name buyer : Wilhelm Adolph von Carstanjen, 38500

according to an annotation in a copy of the sale catalogue (RKD, The Hague), Lugt no. 32968

Exhibitions and literature

Exhibitions

Exposition rétrospective : tableaux anciens empruntés aux galeries particulières Palais des Champs-Élysées , Paris , 1866-05 - 1866-06 , cat. no. 136
Kunsthistorische Ausstellung zu Cöln [s.n.] , Keulen , 1876 - 1877 , cat. no. 62
Die Ausstellung von Gemälden älterer Meister im berliner Privatbesitz [Berlijn, 1883, overdruk 1] Akademie der Künste Berlin , Berlin , 1883-01-25 - 1883-03 , cat. no. 12
Rembrandt tentoonstelling ter plechtige herdenking van het 300-jarig bestaan der Universiteit van Amsterdam [- afb.] Rijksmuseum Amsterdam , Amsterdam (city) , 1932-06-11 - 1932-09-04 , cat. no. 17
Katalog der Ausstellung Meisterwerke aus den Kölner Museen und der Württembergischen Staatsgalerie Stuttgart [s.n.] , Tübingen , 1946 - 1947 , cat. no. 64
Rembrandt und seine Zeit : zweihundert Gemälde der Blütezeit der holländischen Barockmalerei des 17. Jahrhunderts aus deutschem, holländischem und schweizerischem Museums- und Privatbesitz Museum zu Allerheiligen , Schaffhausen (place) , 1949-04-10 - 1949-10-02 , cat. no. 131
Chefs-d'oeuvre du Musée de Cologne [Parijs, 1955] Musée de l'Orangerie , Paris , 1955-09-30 - 1956 , cat. no. 37
Rembrandt : Genie auf der Suche Gemäldegalerie (Staatliche Museen zu Berlin) , Berlin , 2006-08-04 - 2006-11-05 , cat. no. 39

Literature

Smith 1829-1842 , vol. 7 (1836), no. 349
Bürger 1864 , p. 297-299
Paris 1866 , no. 136
Vosmaer 1868 , p. 194-196, 468
Cologne 1876 , no. 62
Vosmaer 1877 , p. 260-262, 536, 575
Bode 1883 , p. 495-496, 563, no. 42
Dohme/Bode 1883 , no. 12
Bredius 1883 , p. 55
Dutuit 1885 , p. 41, no. 231
Von Wurzbach 1886 , no. 35
Michel 1893 , p. 304, 551
Von Seidlitz 1895 , p. 153, 214, under no. 280
Bode/Hofstede de Groot 1897-1905 , vol. 6 (1901), no. 290
Rosenberg 1904 , p. 143
Schubring 1905 , p. 318
Friedländer 1906A , p. 159-160
Rosenberg 1906 , p. 223, 400
Rosenberg/Valentiner 1909 , p. 339
Hofstede de Groot 1907-1928 (German edition) , vol. 6 (1915), no. 752
Amsterdam 1932A , no. 17
Bredius 1935 , no. 237
Tübingen 1946 , no. 64
Schaffhausen 1949 , no. 131
Gerson 1949 , p. 23
Grossmann 1950 , p. 11
May/Reidemeister 1955 , no. 37
Köln 1965 , p. 146, no. 2527
Kühn 1965 , p. 191, 197
Bauch 1966 , no. 392
Carrington 1967 , p. 349
Vey/Kesting 1967 , p. 87-88, no. 2527
Bredius/Gerson 1969 , no. 237
Bolten/Bolten-Rempt 1978 , no. 342
Hetzer 1984 , p. 314, 342-343, 352-353
Corpus of Rembrandt Paintings 1982-2015 , vol. 3 (1989), p. 722, under no. C 114
Hesse/Schlagenhaufer 1986 , p. 209
Corpus of Rembrandt Paintings 1982-2015 , vol. 3 (1989), p. 722
Brown/Kelch/ Van Thiel 1991 , p. 360, ill. 75a
Häslein 2004 , p. 160-161
Kelch/Van de Wetering 2006 , no. 39
Royalton-Kisch 2010 , under no. 37 , accessible online
Luijten et al. 2016 , p. 172-174, ill. 15

D.S. Meldrum, Rembrandt’s paintings, London 1923, p. 110, 195, no. 247
P. Fierens, Rembrandt, Paris 1939, ill. 36
Meisterwerke aus neun Jahrhunderten, Stuttgart 1948, p. 84-85
T. Hetzer, Rembrandt und Giotto. Aufsätze und Vorträge 2, Leipzig 1957, p. 116-117, ill. 45
E. Mai, Sonderschau der Sammlung Carstanjen, Cologne 1998, p. 37

Visual documentation

Visual documentation

Location image Location of the image in the visual documentation.

BD/Digital Collection (img.nr. 0001525765)
BD/Digital Collection (img.nr. 1001212244)
BD/Digital Collection (img.nr. 1000279520)

Project: The Rembrandt Database
RemBench

Technical documentation

The RKD manages a collection of technical documentation that has been given to us by external researchers and museums or which stems from the RKD's own research with infrared reflectography. Documentation can be accessed by appointment at the RKD. While not all technical documentation has been entered in the database at present, new data is added on a regular basis.

3 hits in RKD technical, relating to:

Technical examination type

sample

cross-section DI770_1, 1962-10 1 hits
edge of the painting (bottom edge)
alternative sample no. Kö 3

Research and restoration projects

study Rembrandt's grounds and pigments, 1962 — 1976 1 hitsinvolved_persons: Hermann Kühn
The study focused mainly on grounds, and to some extent on paint layers. Samples were taken of 75 panel and canvas paintings attributed to Rembrandt.
Prof. Dr. Hermann Kühn took the samples at the painting's institution with a stereomicroscope after which he analyzed them at the Doerner Institut in Munich.
For more information: Hermann Kühn, Untersuchungen zu den Malgründen Rembrandts, 1965, p. 189-210, in: Jahrbuch der Staatlichen Kunstsammlungen in Baden-Württemberg, vol. 2
For more information: Hermann Kühn, Untersuchungen zu den Pigmenten und Malgründen Rembrandts, durchgeführt an den Gemälden der Staatlichen Kunstsammlungen Kassel, in: Maltechnik Restauro : Internationale Zeitschrift für Farb- und Maltechniken, Restaurierung und Museumsfragen 82 (1976), p. 25-33

External links: This artwork in the database of the 'Kölner Kulturelles Erbe'

Permalink: https://rkd.nl/explore/images/233556

Creation date: 2013-03-11; Last modified date: 2021-12-08

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