studio of Rembrandt or follower of Rembrandt

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

Current attribution: studio of Rembrandt
: or follower of Rembrandt
Rejected attribution: Rembrandt
This painting was always viewed as an autograph Rembrandt until doubted by Bauch in 1966. He suggested an attribution to Carel Fabritius (Bauch 1966, p. 47). Gerson also expressed doubts about the attribution stating that "an attribution to Rembrandt is probably not right" (Bredius/Gerson 1969, no. 246). However, other authors remained convined of Rembrandt's authorship of this painting (Cassill 1982, p. 258-261). In the collection catalogue of The Cleveland Museum of 1993 the painting was listed as a work by a follower of Rembrandt (Chong 1993, p. 193). Nowadays the museum regards the painting as a work from Rembrandt's studio (online collection catalogue).

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. 1655-1660 (1645 - 1660)

This painting has been dated variously to c. 1645 (Rosenberg/Valentiner 1909, p. 362); before the 1650s (Salinger 1956, p. 67, 69); start of the 1650s (Francis 1950, p. 191-193); c. 1657 (Hofstede de Groot 1907-1927, vol. 6 (1915), no. 414; Valentiner 1931, no. 130; Buffalo 1957, p. 24); late 1650s (Cassill 1982, p. 258-261). In the online collection catalogue of the museum the painting is listed as a work from c. 1655-1660.

Subject

Title Title of the art-work in Dutch: Halffiguur van een man met baard en hoed
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 a jewish student , Portrait of Spinoza
English title: Half figure of a bearded man wearing a hat
Genre: undetermined
Keywords: figure, man, half-length, body facing right, head to the left, beard, hat
: In the earlier literature this painting is often listed as a 'Portrait of a jewish student' or simply 'A jew' (New York 1914, no. 13; Bredius 1935, no. 246; Cassill 1982, p. 258-261). In 1957 Valentiner suggested that the person depicted on the painting could be Spinoza (Valentiner 1957, p. 16-19). Based on a comparison with a portrait of Spinoza in the Herzog-August Library in Wolfenbüttel Stechow states that this identification of the subject cannot be ruled out (Cassill 1982, p. 261). In the collection catalogue of 1993 the painting is listed with a more general title: 'Man with a beard' (Chong 1993, p. 193).

Collection(s)

private collection Paul Delaroff, Sint Petersburg (Rusland)
1906 - Chong 1993, p. 193
art dealer Agnew's, London
Hofstede de Groot 1907-1928, vol. 6 (1914), no. 414
art dealer Scott & Fowles, New York City
Cleveland 1958, no. 71
private collection Otto H. Kahn, New York City
presented by his children to the Metropolitan Opera Association in 1950 (Cassill 1982, p. 258)
1910 - Cassill 1982, p. 258; Chong 1993, p. 193
M. Knoedler & Co., New York City (United States)/London (England)/Paris (France)
1950
The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland (Ohio) , inv./cat.nr 1950.252
gift of the Hanna Fund
1950 -