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Benesch 0301
Subject: Three Studies of an Old Woman with a Veil and a Sketch of Two Women with a Child
Verso: Sketch of a Head of a Woman, in profil perdu.*
Medium: Pen and brown (iron-gall) ink on paper prepared with brown wash; ruled framing lines in pen and brown ink. Inscribed verso, below, in graphite: “369.874. S” [the last character unclear] and on the brown backing card, lower right: “Sc”
180 x 147. Watermark: none visible; chain lines: horizontal (distance apart uncertain).
COMMENTS: The drawing may once have belonged to the album of studies of women and children recorded in Jan van de Capelle’s collection in 1680 (see under Benesch 0194).
Reading the drawing from left to right, the old woman seems to hold a coin, then to reach for her bag and finally to secure it there. The way the veil is drawn in the upper version of the figure shows that it was created last.[1] At the upper left another group is sketched, with a woman and child (seen from behind) apparently approaching a second woman, who seems to be leaning on a half- door or balustrade. More lightly sketched, this group has more in common with the style of Benesch 0194, 0226 and 0228, while the contrast in the thickness of the lines is reminiscent of Benesch 0235.
As with many iron-gall ink drawings by Rembrandt (for which see under Benesch 0157), the lines have ‘spread’ because of the acidic action on the paper. To judge from old black and white photographs (one included here), the condition has continued to deteriorate in the last century. Nevertheless, the drawing’s attribution does not appear problematic when compared with the documentary works in the same medium, such as Benesch 0161 and 0168; it also helps secure Benesch 0381 for Rembrandt.
Benesch noted the old woman’s resemblance to a Rembrandt school painting in Braunschweig, also known through an etching of 1755 by Johann Anton Riedel (see reproduction).[2]
The verso, first published in 2022, might well show again one of the female models on the upper left of the recto.[3] She could have been the nurse holding the child on the recto. Comparable figures appear in Rembrandt’s paintings, prints and drawings as a repoussoir figure at the lower left of his biblical and historical compositions, including in the documentary drawing Benesch 0168 (recto and verso) and the etching of Joseph Telling his Dreams of 1638 related to it.
Condition: the iron-gall ink has eaten into the paper (see further above); some foxing.
Summary attribution: Rembrandt.
Date: c.1638-39.
COLLECTION: D Weimar, Goethe-Nationalmuseum (inv. Schuch, I, 874/0004).
FURTHER LITERATURE/REMARKS: Schuchardt, 1848, I, p.309, no.874; Neumann, 1918, no.11, repr.; Benesch, 1935, p.23; Benesch, 2, 1954/73, no.301. repr. (c.1636; compares Benesch 0302, 0304, 0340 for style; foreshadows Benesch 0381; reminiscent of painting after Rembrandt in Braunschweig, Bode and Hofstede de Groot 689, also known from etching by Riedel [see main text above]); Scheidig, 1976, no.37; Exh. Amsterdam, 1999, pp.85-86, repr. (late 1630s; see main text above; compares Benesch 0300, 0391 and 0404); Schatborn, 2019, no.339, repr. (c.1639); Ketelsen, 2022, pp.51-52, repr figs.3 and 4 (publishing the verso [see n. * below]).
PROVENANCE: Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (but no collector’s mark).
* The verso was revealed after this entry was first posted online in 2016 (see Ketelsen, 2022). Before 14 January 2023, when this entry was updated to take the verso into account, it was noted that the drawing was “laid down but a sketch of a head seems to show through the paper.”
[1] This reverses the reading given in Exh. Amsterdam, 1999.
[2] The painting after Rembrandt in Braunschweig is repr. – also using the Riedel etching – by Bode and Hofstede de Groot, 8, p.156, no.6.
[3] As noted by Ketelsen, 2022. He compares figures seen from the same angle in Benesch 0228 and Benesch 0391.
First posted 11 November 2016. Updated to take account of the newly revealed verso 14 January 2023.
Benesch 0302
Subject: Two Studies of a Woman with a Child
Medium: Pen and brown ink, rubbed with the finger. Inscribed verso, upper left, in black chalk: “244”
176 x 119. Watermark: none; chain lines: 23-24v.
COMMENTS: The drawing, which is much faded, belongs in style with Benesch 0258-9, with looser, less rigorous penwork than one would expect from Rembrandt himself. Indeed, even in comparison with these two drawings, the forms appear slack – note the hands, which may be compared with Benesch 0261 – and the characterisations seem yet further from Rembrandt’s mark. None of the documentary drawings provides support for an attribution to Rembrandt and the sketch was probably made by a pupil, perhaps in the early-to-mid-1640s but possibly later (cf. Benesch 0408), emulating Rembrandt’s own studies of women and children, and for style, his more liquid drawings of c.1635-42 (cf. Benesch 0292, 0482 recto and 0188). These qualities are reminiscent of drawings attributed to Ferdinand Bol (cf. Benesch 0475, Sumowski 93x) although as yet I hesitate to place the drawing under his name.
Condition: much faded and also foxed.
Summary attribution: School of Rembrandt.
Date: c.1645-53?
COLLECTION: NL Amsterdam, Rijksmuseum (L. 2228; inv.RP-T-1930-52)
FURTHER LITERATURE/REMARKS: Lippmann, III, 43; Exh. The Hague, 1902, no.36; Exh. Leiden, 1903, no.13; Exh. London, 1904, no.122; Exh. Leiden, 1906, no.73; Hofstede de Groot, 1906, no.1298 (c.1635); Exh. Paris, 1908, no.411 (c.1635); Saxl, 1908, p.345 (c.1655; compares Benesch 0304); Hofstede de Groot, 1909, no.3; Exh. Amsterdam, 1913, no.72; Exh. Leiden, 1916, no.26 (c.1638); Hirschmann, 1917, p.12 (c.1638); Seidlitz, 1917, p.253 (c.1635); Stockholm, 1920, p.81 (P. Koninck, c.1635); Exh. The Hague, 1930, no.52 (c.1638); Benesch, 1935, p.23 (c.1634-35); Gerson, 1936, no.Z LXXXVII (Rembrandt); Amsterdam, 1942, no.18, repr. pl.9 (c.1636-37); Poortenaar, 1943, pp.13, 46, no.84, repr. (c.1635); Benesch, II, 1954/73, no.302, repr. (c.1636; compares Benesch 0300 and 0301; abstract sense of Benesch 0342-3 and 0415 here at a peak); Haverkamp-Begemann, 1961, p.26, under Benesch 345; Van Gelder, 1961, p.150; Slive, 1965, no.376 (c.1636-40); Munich, 1973, p.158, under no.1104; Amsterdam, 1981, under no.2, n.4 (c.1636); Amsterdam, 1985, no.91, repr. (not Rembrandt; compares Benesch 0304 [as Saxl, 1908] and Benesch 0258-9; could be a much later imitation); [Not in Schatborn, 2019].
PROVENANCE: Jonathan Richardson, jun. (L. 2170); probably his sale, London, Langford, 5 February and following days, 1772, part of lot 2 (individual drawings not described); Sir John Charles Robinson (L.1433; the mark has been largely erased); from whom purchased as by Rembrandt with seven other drawings through the dealer Agnew’s of London, by Dr Cornelis Hofstede de Groot, 1901 (Hofstede de Groot notes, Royal Library, The Hague) by whom presented to the present repository in 1906 but with usufruct; transferred in 1930.
First posted 12 November 2016.
Benesch 0303
Subject: Mother and Child Seated in a Chair, the mother in profile to right
Medium: Pen and brown ink with brown wash, probably also rubbed with the finger, on paper tinted brown; some fine but hesitant touches of pen and dark grey ink (in the child’s face), by a later hand; ruled framing lines in pen and brown ink.
117 x 127. Watermark: none visible (laid down).
COMMENTS: The current consensus appears to reject this drawing, but in the light of a comparison with Benesch 0382, I am more than a little inclined to accept it. The hatching and the penwork in general seem close in style. However, comparisons are more difficult with any of the documentary drawings, although the manner in which the brush is used resembles the wash in Benesch 0164 of 1638. That date seems plausible if the drawing is indeed genuine, as I believe it probably is.
If so, it may have featured in the album of drawings of women and children mentioned under Benesch 0194.
Condition: light foxing; later touches as noted under medium above.
Summary attribution: Rembrandt (?)
Date: c.1638?
COLLECTION: D Berlin, Staatliche Museen Berlin, Kupferstichkabinett (inv. KdZ 1138)
FURTHER LITERATURE/REMARKS: Dutuit, 1885, p.80; Freise, Lilienfeld and Wichmann, 1914, no.118 (records opinion of Hofstede de Groot that the drawing is by Rembrandt); Berlin, 1930, I, p.233, inv.1138 (c.1635; probably by Rembrandt); Benesch, 1935, p.23; Benesch, II, 1954/73, no.303, repr. (c.1636; compares Benesch 0302 and Benesch 0304); Exh. Berlin, 1956, no.56 (c.1635); Van Gelder, 1961, p.150 (perhaps depicts Rumbartus, thus 1635-36); Vogel-Köhn, 1981, no.17 (c.1635-36); The Present Catalogue, 2016; Berlin, 2018, no.142, repr. (notes later touches; states the drawing was likely owned by Jan van de Cappelle as a Rembrandt, yet a work of Rembrandt’s school, c.1646; too schematic for Rembrandt; inspired by Benesch 0482 or a similar drawing; Benesch 0410 thought by the same hand; further compares Benesch 0302, 0304 and Benesch 0425); [Not in Schatborn, 2019].
PROVENANCE: Acquired by the present repository before 1878.[1]
[1] See under Benesch 0314 for the possibility that this drawing may be a fragment of one formerly in the Valerius Röver collection, described as including “een slapend vroúwtje met een kindtje aan de borst van Dezelve”.
First posted 14 November 2016.
Benesch 0304
Subject: Two Women with a Baby
Medium: Pen and brown ink; ruled framing lines in pen and brown ink.
130 x 110. Watermark: a crowned shield (cut)
COMMENTS: Superficially the drawing might appear acceptable on the basis of Benesch 0303, but overall the attribution seems much more suspect: barely a line gets a grip on the form, the structure falls apart and the hand is generally hesitant. A comparison with the secondary sketch in the background of Benesch 0301 is instructive in this regard. The drawing may have been partly inspired by Benesch 0382 and the supplementary figure behind is the least prepossessing passage of the composition. The fragmentary sketch at the top seems unlike Rembrandt himself and the main drawing has been compared with Benesch 0258-59; [1] a closer analogy for the lower lines, where the ink is somewhat paler, would appear to be Benesch 0261, yet even here the present work seems less fluent and coherent. Overall, the style approaches the work of Ferdinand Bol more closely (cf. the kneeling Magdalene in Benesch 0537).
Condition: faded; trimmed at the top.
Summary attribution: School of Rembrandt (Ferdinand Bol??)
Date: c.1640?
COLLECTION: D Dresden, Kupferstich-Kabinett (L.1647; inv. C 1405)
FURTHER LITERATURE/REMARKS: Franke, 1865, port. V, no.18/5; Hofstede de Groot, 1890, no.77; Woerman, 1896-98, vol. VIII, p.94, no.318; Hofstede de Groot, 1906, no.264; Saxl, 1908, p.345 (compares Benesch 0302); Neumann,1918.I, no.12 and Anmerkungen p.3 (same group represented in Benesch 0301); Freise, Lilienfeld and Wichmann, 1925, p.17, no.71 (not Rembrandt); Benesch, 1935, p.23; Benesch, II, 1954/73, no.304, repr. (c.1636; refutes Neumann’s comparison with Benesch 0301); Exh. Dresden, 1960, p.11, no.14; Scheidig, 1962, p.41, repr. pl.27; Vogel-Köhn, 1974, no.43; Amsterdam, 1985, under no.91 (not Rembrandt; same hand as Benesch 0302); Exh. Dresden, 2004, no.89, repr. (School of Rembrandt; hands et al. reworked; same artist as Benesch 0302, and Benesch 0258-9); Exh. Paris, 2006, no.53, repr. (as Exh. Dresden, 2004); [Not in Schatborn, 2019].
PROVENANCE: acquired by the present repository before 1756.
[1] See Exh. Paris, 2006.
First posted 16 November 2016.
Benesch 0305
Subject: Two Orientals Standing in Discussion
Medium: Pen and brown ink with brown wash; ruled framing line in pen and brown ink.
170 x 115.
COMMENTS: Despite the presence of two dubious collectors’ marks, the drawing could well be a genuine Rembrandt school work. There are links with the style and iconography of drawings such as Benesch 0209 and it may have been made at around the same time, although in this case an attribution to Rembrandt himself is not even remotely likely (and the ink is certainly not iron-gall). The right hand figure resembles his counterpart in Benesch 0665a, and also the figure second from the left in the etching of c.1639, The Presentation in the Temple (Bartsch 49; NH 184). The left figure resmbles that in Benesch 0211. Benesch’s comparison with the style of Benesch 0412 is reasonable – see especially the broad outlines and the dots for the eyes.
Condition: generally good, some minor spotting and staining.
Summary attribution: School of Rembrandt.
Date: c.1640-45?
COLLECTION: whereabouts unknown (since 1978).
FURTHER LITERATURE/REMARKS: Exh. Frankfurt, 1926, no.360; Benesch, 2, 1954/73, no.305, repr. (c.1636; compares Benesch 0412); Exh. London, 1978, p.73, n.1 (style of Rembrandt; forged Reynolds mark); Konstam, 1978, p.32, n.3 (based on mirror image of same figure); [Not in Schatborn, 2019].
PROVENANCE: Joshua Reynolds (dubious version of L.2364); another mark, a cross (not otherwise recorded, probably also fake);[1] E. Calando (L.837 – if the mark is genuine); Robert von Hirsch, Basel; his sale, London, Sotheby’s, 20 June, 1978, lot 47, sold for £3,500.
[1] I am grateful to Peter Fuhring and through him to Donato Esposito for their opinions on the marks. The latter notes that the Reynolds mark closely copies the illustration in Phillips’ March 1798 sale of the artist’s collection (correspondence in late November 2016). It does seem odd to go to the trouble of producing the ‘fake’ stamp, only to use it once. Could it be that in fact the drawing was in Reynolds’s collection?
First posted 17 November 2016.
Benesch 0306
Subject: A Man Reclining, Apparently Ill
Verso: Head of a Man in a Wide Fur Hat [1]
Medium: Pen and (dark) brown ink, perhaps retouched with the reed pen, with some brown wash (mostly above); verso: pen and brown (iron-gall?) ink.
75 x 123.
COMMENTS: The drawing belongs in style and iconography with Benesch 0307 (qv), which reveals that the figure is recumbent in bed. The rather thin, spindly pen style is reminiscent of Benesch 0163 of c.1638 and is likely to be by the same hand. Rembrandt himself used such thin lines in the slightly earlier Christ Carrying the Cross, Benesch 0097. In Benesch 0306-7 there is a certain amount of wash, plus in the present case the area above, perhaps a trial of the brush. The verso only adds ammunition to the idea that the drawing is not by Rembrandt himself, though it resembles Benesch 0377.[1]
Condition: generally good, though trimmed from a larger sheet.
Summary attribution: School of Rembrandt/Rembrandt??
Date: c.1638-39
COLLECTION: D Berlin, Kupfersichkabinett (inv.3012a; 113-1885)
FURTHER LITERATURE/REMARKS: Amtliche Berichte, VII, 1887, col.VII; Michel, 1893, p.574; Hofstede de Groot, 1906, no.144 (early; shows Man Taking off his Shoes); Freise, Lilienfeld and Wichmann, 1914, no.136 (probably middle period); Exh. Berlin, 1930, no.283 (c.1650); Berlin, 1930, p.234, inv. 3012a (as Hofstede de Groot, 1906); Lugt, 1933, under no.1157 (compares Louvre drawing, Benesch 0307); Benesch, 1935, p.23; Benesch, II, 1954/73, no.306, repr. (c.1636; quotes Lugt on subject and on comparison with Benesch 0307; ‘the almost geometrical framing of the figure’ compared with Benesch 0302 and 0412); Exh. Berlin, 1956, no.77 (c.1630-40); Exh. Paris, 1988, under no.11 (c.1635; preliminary sketch before Benesch 0307); Berlin, 2018, no.138, repr. (Rembrandt school, c.1636-39; after the Paris version, Benesch 0307 – the hands now like claws; relates to drawings of Saskia and others in bed of c.1635-39, like Benesch 0285; verso compared with Benesch 0219 and said to be in iron-gall ink, comparing also Benesch 0377, which may be by the same hand); [Not in Schatborn, 2019].
PROVENANCE: Johann Daniel Böhm (L.1442 and 272; L.271 verso); (Károly?) Pulszky (according to Berlin inventory); (Erich?) von Rath (according to Berlin inventory); Alexander Posonyi (L.159 verso), whose collection presented by Julius Guttentag to the present repository in 1885.
[1] As noted by Bevers in Berlin, 2018, no.138.
First posted 19 November 2016.
Benesch 0307
Subject: A Man Reclining in Bed, Apparently Ill
Verso: inscriptions only.
Medium: Pen and (dark) brown ink, perhaps retouched with the reed pen, with brown wash, touched with white (under the pupils). Inscribed upper right with Bonnat’s album no.: “25”; verso, in graphite: “Rembrandt / Collection Andreossy”
76 x 142.
COMMENTS: The drawing belongs in style and iconography with Benesch 0306 (qv), for which the same remarks apply here. However, in this case the formulation of the hands resembles that of the recumbent Christ in Benesch 0100 recto, a reason why an attribution to Rembrandt himself, though unlikely, is not completely impossible for these two drawings.
Condition: some foxing and other stains, mostly near the periphery.
Summary attribution: School of Rembrandt/Rembrandt??
Date: c.1638-39
COLLECTION: F Paris, Louvre (L.1886a; inv. RF 4719; MS inventory vol.xx, p.272)
FURTHER LITERATURE/REMARKS: Michel, 1893, p.588; Hofstede de Groot, 1906, no.720; Paris, 1933, no.1157 (c.1632-34; compares Benesch 0306); Benesch, 1935, p.23; Benesch, II, 1954/73, no.307, repr. (c.1636); Exh. Bordeaux, 1959, no.103; Exh. Paris, 1988-89, no.1111, repr. (mid-1630s; compares Benesch 100); Berlin, 2018, under no.138, repr. (Rembrandt school, c.1636-39; after the Paris version, Benesch 0307 – the hands now like claws); [Not in Schatborn, 2019].
PROVENANCE: Count Antoine François Andreossy; presumably his sale, Paris, 13-16 April 1864 probably one of the two drawings in lot 351 (sold for F22); Léon Bonnat (L.1714 and with his Rembrandt album number top right: “25”), by whom acquired between 1885 and 1893 and by whom given to the present repository, 23 June 1919.
First posted 20 November 2016.
Benesch 0308
Subject: A Woman Teaching a Child to Walk with Leading Strings; half-length sketch of a man
Verso: laid down on a mat with red framing lines and pinkish wash.
Medium: Red chalk. Inscribed by Rembrandt in red chalk at upper left but largely erased: “6812 [?]/ […]d 19630[?] / goed [?] 40 [?] den [?] e [?] […]”[1]
165 x 153. Watermark: none visible; chain lines: 26h.
COMMENTS: Although in red rather than black chalk, the style seems close to Benesch 0277 and Benesch 0280a and the drawing is likely to date from c.1636-37.[2] Like them it may have belonged to the album of drawings of women and children mentioned under Benesch 0194. For the subject and technique, compare for example also Benesch 0309, and Benesch 0421-22, as Benesch suggested.
The expressions of both the woman and the child – which seems to hold a toy – are economically conveyed and the darker chalk in the former’s hands reveals that Rembrandt was concerned to record the use of leading strings accurately. The rather exotically attired man on the right is probably related to the other figures, as he seems to look at the child, perhaps with a gesture of warning.
See further under Benesch 0357, with which this drawing was formerly mounted together and in which the medium and paper seem very similar.
Condition: a little discoloured and with a few smudges of dirt.
Summary attribution: Rembrandt.
Date: c.1636-37?
COLLECTION: A Vienna, Albertina (inv.8836)
FURTHER LITERATURE/REMARKS: Schönbrunner and Meder, 859; Hofstede de Groot, 1906, no.1454 (c.1635); Benesch, 1935, p.23; Benesch, II, 1954/73, no.308, repr. fig.346/373 (c.1636; compares Benesch 0309, 0421 and 0422 as well as pen drawings Benesch 0302, 0411 and 0412; Exh. Rotterdam-Amsterdam, 1956, no.58; Exh. Stockholm, 1956, no.84; Haverkamp-Begemann, 1961, p.25; Exh. Vienna, 1969-70, no.9, repr.; Exh. Milan, 1970, no.6; Corpus, 3, 1989, p.83 (comparing genre figures in Berlin grisaille of St John the Baptist Preaching [Bredius 555; Wetering 110]); Exh. Vienna, 2004, no.44, repr. (c.1636); Exh. Milwaukee, 2005, no.22, repr. (mid-1630s); Schatborn, 2019, no.284 and pp.19, 143 and 144, repr. (c.1636; many depictions of this subject; relates to iconography of the etching with a Nude Seated and Standing, with a child learning to walk in the background, which has been interpreted as referring to practice, Bartsch 194; NH 233; women and children common in genre studies).
PROVENANCE: Prince Charles de Ligne; Herzog Albert von Sachsen-Teschen (L.174).
[1] The erased inscription, which has not been previously remarked on, has been a source of considerable frustration to the compiler! See the enhances detail of it reproduced here.
[2] Among the documentary drawings, cf. Benesch 0444 of 1635 and Benesch 0161 verso of c.1638.
First posted 25 November 2016.
Benesch 0309
Subject: A Woman Making a Small Child Stand on a Table
Medium: Black chalk; ruled framing lines in pen and brown ink.
86 x 77.
COMMENTS: The drawing is presumably a fragment from a larger sheet. A charming vignette which captures the unsteady gait of the child, it is hard to think of precedents for such studies of everyday home life. In style the drawing fits with many other red and black chalk sketches of the period around 1636 (cf., for example, Benesch 0308, 0375), although with hints of the somewhat sparser style of the 1640s. Like many of these, it may have came from the album of drawings of women and children mentioned under Benesch 0194.
Condition: generally good; a fragment – see above.
Summary attribution: Rembrandt
Date: c.1636?
COLLECTION: NL Amsterdam, Amsterdam Museum, Fodor Collection (inv. TA 18021)
FURTHER LITERATURE/REMARKS: ‘En Hollande’, Beaux-Arts, lxiv, 23 March 1934; Gemeentemusea : verslag over het jaar 1934, 1935, p.18, repr.; Exh. Amsterdam, 1935.I, no.171, repr.; Exh. Amsterdam, 1938, no.68; Benesch, II, 1954/73, no.309, repr.fig.344/374 (c.1636; in 1954 ed. wrongly as in red chalk; relates to Benesch 0308); Exh. Cologne-Bremen, 1955, no.65; Exh. Rotterdam-Amsterdam, 1956, no.61; Exh. Warsaw, 1956, no.14, repr. fig. 9; Sumowski, 1956-57, p.258, no.4; Exh. Jerusalem, 1960, no.58; Exh. Belgrade and Zagreb, 1960, no.58; Haverkamp Begemann, 1961, p.25; Sumowski, 1961, p.6; Exh. Budapest, 1962, no.58; Vogel-Köhn, 1974, pp.40 and 212-213, no.59; Amsterdam, 1981, no.6, repr. (c.1635-37, referring to Benesch 0457 dated 1637); Corpus, 3, 1989, p.83 (comparing genre figures in Berlin grisaille of St John the Baptist Preaching [Bredius 555; Wetering 110]); Exh. Kobe-Tokyo, 1993, pp.56, 182-183 and 229, no. 51, repr; Exh. Amsterdam, 2006, p.4, repr.; Amsterdam Museum, Collectie Online (http://am.adlibhosting.com/Details/collect/42426, consulted 26 November 2016); Schatborn, 2019, no.281, repr. (c.1636).
PROVENANCE: Dutch private collection (A. Welcker?; “shown to me in July 1931 by the etcher J. Poortenaar” – note by F. Lugt, RKD); A. Welcker, by whom presented to the present repository in 1934.
First posted 26 November 2016.
Benesch 0310
Subject: A Seated Old Woman with Clasped Hands, in an armchair, three-quarter length
Medium: Red chalk (in two tones)
236 x 157. chain lines: vertical (distance apart uncertain)
COMMENTS: In 1906, Hofstede de Groot wrote that “The drawing is reminiscent of Rembrandt, but seems rather to be by another hand; the colour of the chalk is somewhat bluer than usual for Rembrandt. It is presumably a French drawing of the eighteenth century” (see Literature below).
These remarks are of considerable interest – one might say that the drawing appears almost “too good to be true” – and they require refutation if the drawing is to be retained for Rembrandt. As Hofstede de Groot wrote, the chalk colour is less warm than in most of Rembrandt’s other red chalk studies and comparable in tone to a kind of sanguine sometimes employed by eighteenth-century French artists (like Hubert Robert, Greuze and Ango); also, while the scale and the composition echo Rembrandt’s studies of old men from the Leiden period, the chalk is here handled with the greater breadth of the years from around 1635-45, or even later. The whole conception of the forms is extraordinarily bold, with broad ‘zones’, one for the head, another for the torso and the third for drapery-covered legs. The combination of such definite outlines with soft parallel shading is characteristic of the above-named, and other, French eighteenth-century draughtsmen. In addition, the chair and the figure compare quite closely with a painted portrait of 1654 in the Hermitage, a work now usually assigned to Rembrandt’s school,[1] and this led Sumowski tentatively to advance an attribution to Nicolaes Maes (see Literature below). But might the drawing have inspired the pupil? Or is the drawing, in fact, from the 1650s?
Thus the drawing poses the usual two questions: 1. is it by Rembrandt? 2. when was it made?
Comparisons with the documentary drawings do not resolve these questions clearly. In red chalk, apart from the Leiden period studies of old men, especially Benesch 0037, Benesch 0040 (which has some comparably broadly handled passages below) and Benesch 0041 (note the similarly clasped hands), all of which seem less regular and smooth in their outlines and general execution, there are few analogous figure drawings.[2] The Studies of St John the Baptist (Benesch 0142a recto) despite having, on the left, some comparable pentimenti in the profile to those seen in the old woman’s left arm, are more tentative and searching. The Portrait of Cornelis Claesz. Anslo of 1640 (Benesch 0758) again seems more searching and much less fluent.
More convincing analogies were remarked on by Starcky,[3] who drew attention in particular to Benesch 0254 (for the way the detail peters out below), Benesch 0196 (for the smooth shading of the skirt, though it must be earlier) and Benesch 0376 (for the drapery); for the dress and character type he noted the similarity to the woman below the Baptist in the grisaille now in Berlin of the mid-1630s (Bredius 555; Corpus A106, vol.VI, no.110). To these comparisons may be added the hatching in the drapery to the right of Benesch 0421, a drawing in which the figures, albeit smaller, are also conceived in the same structurally broad terms. This approach is also encountered in Benesch 0357. Another characteristic Rembrandt touch is the sharp loops seen at the extreme left of the drawing, where the sitter’s drapery re-emerges from under the arm of the chair, and again at the lower right of the drawing. For the rather mechanical-looking juncture of the arm and hand at the wrist, compare Benesch 0280a and 0280e (in the former of which the modelling of the lower face is also somewhat comparable). Finally the stronger, more emphatic strokes of the chalk seen in the most important outlines, correcting and clarifying the underlying work, are a feature of many Rembrandt drawings in all media, seen in parts of Benesch 0137, where the drapery again has points of similarity, as does the use of strong outlines (in the head).
In the light of these similarities it seems prudent to date the drawing, albeit tentatively, in the later 1630s, and to accept that its exceptional fluency anticipates qualities that were embraced by French artists in the eighteenth century, including Fragonard. If in some respects the drawing ‘stands out’ in Rembrandt’s oeuvre, it can only be that, unusually, it is a ‘set piece’, a drawing made more as an end in itself than as a sketch or study towards another work of art.[4]
It has been suggested that the drawing is a portrait of the artist’s mother, but the identification is far from convincing.[5] But as noted above, the figure does resemble, especially in her attire, the model used for the woman below the Baptist in the Berlin grisaille. Her headdress also compares well with Benesch 0152 and 0154.
A somewhat harsh copy was in the collection of the late E. Blum of London.[6]
Condition: generally good; the paper off-white, veering to grey; some spots and stains, partly disguised.
Summary attribution: Rembrandt.
Date: c.1637-40?
COLLECTION: F Paris, Musée du Louvre, Collection Edmond de Rothschild (inv.193 dR; formerly 1107; MS inventory vol.I, p.6.)
FURTHER LITERATURE/REMARKS: Hofstede de Groot, 1906, no.1 (Die Zeichnung erinnert an Rembrandt, scheint aber doch von anderer Hand zu sein; die Farbe des Rötels ist etwas bläulicher als sonst bei Rembrandt. Es ist vermutlich eine französische Zeichnung aus dem achtzehnten Jahrhundert); Exh. Paris, 1937, no.89; Blum, 1939, no.6 (relates to 1654 Hermitage painting [on which see above]; Exh. Paris, 1947, no.147; Münz, 1952, p.152, repr. fig.163; Benesch, II, 1954/73, no.310, repr. (c.1636; compares Benesch 0308 and related drawings; rejects Hofstede de Groot’s doubts); Sumowski, 1956-57, p.258, repr. fig.18 (relates to 1654 Hermitage painting [on which see above]by Maes?); Sumowski, 1961, p.6; Exh. Paris, 1970, no.142; Exh. Paris, 1988-89, no.14, repr.(c.1635-37; compares Benesch 0254 and Benesch 0196, 0376, and the woman below the Baptist in the grisaille now in Berlin of the mid-1630s [Bredius 555; Corpus A106, vol.VI, no.110]; perhaps a portrait of Rembrandt’s mother); Exh. Edinburgh-London, 2001, under no.89, repr. fig.129 and under no.121, repr. fig. 147 (compares painting in Buccleuch collection, Bredius 385; Wetering 241); Exh. Leiden, 2005-6, under no.30, repr. fig.104 (c.1635-37; not directly for the Hermitage painting); Exh. Paris, 2006, no.15, repr.; Exh. Los Angeles, 2008-9, no.27.2, repr. (c.1647; compares Benesch 0590 and 0769); Robinson, 2009, pp.498-501, repr. fig.1 (mid-to-late 1640s?); Schatborn, 2019, no.369, repr. (1640-43).
PROVENANCE: Paul Sandby (L.2112 – the mark is smudged but the identification of it appears to be secure; it is typically placed right in the lower left corner as here); Emile Galichon (L.856); his sale, Paris, Hôtel Drouot, 10-14 May, 1875, lot 127, bt Duval, F900; Henri Duval, Liège; his sale, Amsterdam, Muller’s, 22-23 June, 1910, no.299, repr. (bt Danlos, f.3420); Baron Edmond de Rothschild, by whom presented to the present repository, 1935.
[1] Bredius 381. See also Exh. Dijon, 2003-4, no.3, repr.; and Exh. Leiden, 2005-6, no.30, repr..
[2] The colour of the chalk, however, is similar in Benesch 0005.
[3] See Exh. Paris, 1988-89, no.14.
[4] Benesch 0433, though in another style, also ‘stands out’ in Rembrandt’s oeuvre for similar reasons.
[5] For a discussion, see Exh Leiden, 2005, p.138.
[6] Red chalk, 187 x 152, with a fragmentary foolscap watermark and Blum’s collector’s mark (an ‘EB’ monogram with the letters back-to-back in an oval). My thanks to Peter Fuhring of the Fondation Custodia for checking whether there is more information about this mark (which there was not).
First posted 28 November 2016.
Benesch 0311
Subject: A Young Man Pulling a Rope, full-length, profile to right
Medium: Quill and reed pens and brown ink with brown wash, with white bodycolour; ruled framing lines in pen and brown ink. Inscribed in pen and brown ink, lower right: “42” [there may also have been a third digit, perhaps a ‘5’]; on the backing, a French military diary (?) and inscribed in pencil on the now removed second backing: “17,30”
292 x 180. Watermark: none visible; chain lines: 24-25v.
COMMENTS: The drawing was long associated with a painting in Darmstadt, now given to the school of Rembrandt, depicting the Flagellation of Christ (Bredius 593). It is dated but the inscription, originally read as 1668, is now thought to read 1658.[1] Although the match with the figure on the left is not a close one, it conveys a sense of the potential purpose of the youth in the drawing, posed like a garzone in an Italian Renaissance workshop. But his youthful, optimistic appearance seems geared towards a more positive raison d’être.[2]
There are two distinct campaigns of work in different styles: first came the flickering penwork, most visible in the head and upper arm, which gives a lively impression, though not one that can easily be compared with anything by Rembrandt himself. Benesch 0263 has something of the same quality, though the lines are there kept under slightly tighter control, at least in the head and hands. Benesch 0267 is also comparable and includes some work with the brush which, although emphasising some outlines, stands apart in style from what we see here.
Indeed, the wash and the lines made with the tip of the brush, which belong to the ‘second campaign’, seem to belong to a much later era, and it is therefore not surprising to find that past writers have hovered between dating the drawing to the mid-1630s, as suggested by the penwork, and the 1650s or ‘60s, as is argued by the work with the brush (and also by the supposed date Darmstadt Flagellation, mentioned above). In the use of the brush, there are technical and stylistic elements in common with Rembrandt’s drawing of Hendrickje Stoffels in the British Museum of around 1654 (Benesch 1103). But where Rembrandt conveys a sense of the weight and placement of the figure, the present artist was less successful and overall the execution appears more heavy-handed; nor do we experience the tension created by the rope in the arm, or as it winds its way around the body.
The similarities with Rembrandt’s work may be only generic, but they seem as close as any to be found among the works of Rembrandt’s followers, and a date in the 1650s seems probable. Gerbrand van den Eeckhout, whom we associate with the above-mentioned pen drawings (Benesch 0263 and 0267), was also a practised and proficient draughtsman with the brush, but his style seems rather different in character.[3] Carel Fabritius has been invoked,[4] but on the basis of the core drawings attributed to him, such as Benesch 0500 and 0506, the penwork is far removed from what we see there. Only the heavy outlining and the generosity of the wash make any connection, but in the present work the outlines are applied with the tip of the brush rather than a pen and the way the brush is manipulated is not echoed in Fabritius’ paintings. Closer is Benesch 0709, also recently associated with Fabritius and in which the outlines are applied with the brush once more, but the links between that drawing with Fabritius are also insecure, limited to the comparability of the heavy penwork with the underpaint of Fabritius’s paintings as revealed by X-radiography. So for the time being the drawing is here catalogued as anonymous but also as ‘associated with’ Carel Fabritius.
A drawing of a figure similar to the one here, but on a ship hoisting a bale on board is in Berlin.[5]
Condition: generally good; lightly foxed.
Summary attribution: School of Rembrandt (Carel Fabritius??)
Date: c.1646-54
COLLECTION: NL Amsterdam, Rijksmuseum (L. 2228; inv. RP-T-1930-34)
FURTHER LITERATURE/REMARKS: Lippmann, III, 92; Exh. Leiden, 1903, no.35; Exh. London, 1904, no.134; Valentiner, 1905, p.61 (1656-57); Exh. Leiden, 1906, no.37; Hofstede de Groot, 1906, no.1280 (c.1668; relates to Painting of Christ at the Column [Darmstadt] of that year); Valentiner, 1906, p.43, repr.; Valentiner, 1907, p.237; Exh. Paris, 1908, no.376 (1668); Exh. Amsterdam, 1913, no.30; Rembrandthuis Gids, 1913, p.12 (1668); Hofstede de Groot, 1909, no.32; Exh. Leiden, 1916, no.94 (1668); Hirschmann, 1917, p.20 (1668); Seidlitz, 1917, p.253 (1660s); Demonts, 1921, no.40 (1668); Exh. Paris, 1921, no.60; Valentiner, 1921, p.128, under no.S471 (1656); Becker, 1923, no.41 (1668); Meder, 1922, detail repr. fig.25; Berlin, 1930, p.246, under no.1963; Exh. The Hague, 1930, no.25 (c.1668); Hell, 1930, p.104 (1650-55); Exh. Amsterdam, 1932, no.325, repr. (c.1657); Freeman, 1933, no.2; Valentiner, II, 1934, no.480 (c.1655); Benesch, 1935, p.23; Exh. Chicago, 1935-36, no.43 (1668); Exh. Worcester, 1936, no.43 (1668); Amsterdam, 1942, no.38, repr. pl.23 (c.1658); Huebner, 1943, repr. p.11; Schinnerer, 1944, no.20 (c.1655); Benesch, 1947, no.77, repr. (c.1635-36); Von Alten, 1947, no.80 (1658); Exh. Basel, 1948, no.30 (1658); Van Gelder, 1949, p.207 (1668); Exh. Rome-Florence, 1951, no.92, repr. (c.1658); Porkay, 1951, pp.57-58, repr. pl.xv; Valentiner, 1951, p.347, n.7 (c.1656, not 1636 as suggested by Benesch); Benesch, 2, 1954/73, no.311, repr. (c.1636; quill pen clearly c.1636; used later for Darmstadt painting); Bibeln, 1954, pl.148; Benesch, 1955, pp.402-3 (Collected Writings, p.188); Van Gelder, 1955, p.396 (after 1650); van Regteren Altena, 1955.1, p.119 (c.1636?); Exh. Rotterdam-Amsterdam, 1956, no.232, repr. fig.56 (1656-58); Exh. Stockholm, 1956, no.170 (1658?); Müller-Hofstede, 1956, p.94 (late); Rosenberg, 1956, pp.68-69 (1658); White, 1956.1, p.324 (late); Tsojen, 1956, repr. pl.63; Sumowski, 1956-57, p.262 (c.1646); Exh. Washington-New York-Minneapolis-Boston-Cleveland-Chicago, 1958-59, no.67 (c.1645; outlines perhaps reinforced by a pupil); Exh. Brussels-Hamburg, 1961, no.58 (c.1655); Stech, 1964, no.51 (c.1655); Slive, 1965, no.430 (c.1655-58); Musper, 1968, p.230; Wallace, 1968, repr. p.50; Bredius-Gerson, 1969, under no.593 (not 1636); Exh. Amsterdam, 1969, no.77 (c.1645); Hamann-Sumowski, 1969, pp.374 and 386, repr. fig.255 (c.1640); Haak, 1974, no.44 (c.1645); Bernhard, 1976, p.178 (c.1636); Bailey, 1978, p.215, repr. (c.1645); Sumowski, 1979 etc., under no.1581xx; Amsterdam, 1985, no.29, repr. (1640s; for a Raising of the Cross?/Flagellation of Christ?; compares Benesch 0518a and 0519 and a drawing in Berlin, 1930, p.246, no.1963 [see n.5 below]); Exh. Groningen, 2005, no.65 (circle of Rembrandt); Exh. Amsterdam, 2006, p.30, repr. pl.26 (attributed to Fabritius, c.1641-43); Exh. Los Angeles, 2008-9, under nos.21.1-2, repr. fig.21b (Carel Fabritius); Exh. Amsterdam, 2014, no.19, repr. (Fabritius; compares Benesch 0412, 0506, 0709 and Amsterdam, 1985 nos. 61-65); [Not in Exh. The Hague-Schwerin, 2004-5]; [Not in Schatborn, 2006.I.]; [Not in Schatborn, 2019].
PROVENANCE: Freiherr Max von Heyl zu Herrnsheim (1844-1925), Darmstadt (L. 2879); his sale, Stuttgart, Gutekunst, 25 May 1903 and following days, lot 254, bt Büchle, DM 1210, for Cornelis Hofstede de Groot (his notes in Koninklijk Bibliotheek, The Hague), by whom donated to the present repository in 1906, with usufruct; transferred 14 April 1930.
[1] Bredius 593; Benesch suggested that the painting might be the work of Barend Fabritius and Gerson thought the signature and date were not original.
[2] Schatborn, in Amsterdam, 1985, no.29, additionally suggests the Raising of the Cross as a possibility.
[3] Compare Sumowski 782x-797x.
[4] See, for example, Exh. Los Angeles, 2008-9, under no.21.1-2.
[5] As noted by Bock and Rosenberg in Berlin, 1930, p.246, no.1963, who describe it as a forgery, but with mention of the present drawing (and the Darmstadt painting). See: https://id.smb.museum/object/2339050 .
First posted 6 December 2016.
Benesch 0312
Subject: Man in a Plumed Hat and Rich Costume, three-quarter-length
Verso: Blank, see inscriptions
Medium: Pen and brown ink with brown wash, touched with later grey wash; ruled framing lines in pen and dark brown ink. Inscribed in pen and brown ink, lower right: “422” (Dyce inventory number); verso, top left in graphite: “6/8”
167 x 113. Watermark: hard to decipher (see illustration) perhaps a fragment of a Strasburg lily with letters “WR” (comparable to Heawood 1769 – Schieland 1616);[1] chain lines: 27h.
COMMENTS: Stylistically the drawing belongs with works such as Benesch 0296 and 0298 by Gerbrand van den Eeckhout, rather than with Rembrandt’s own drawings of this kind, as exemplified, for example, by Benesch 0295.[2] The greater detail and effort expended here has somewhat reduced the verve with which Benesch 0298 is executed – exacerbated by the later rework in grey wash – and in this the drawing resembles (e.g. in the hem of the garment and the plumage of the hat) Benesch 0318. The harsh formulation of the left hand, which resembles a scroll or even a book, is only truly paralleled in Rembrandt’s work by the child’s feet in Benesch 0313![3] Compare also the drawing, formerly attributed to Rembrandt (though not in Benesch), of a Woman in a Rich Costume, now in the Ulmer Museum.[4]
Whether the man is an actor or not is open to debate. The drawing was generally believed to belong with Rembrandt’s depictions of figures from Joost van den Vondel’s tragedy, “Gijsbrecht van Amstel”, although this has been questioned (see under Benesch 0120).[5] It may be that the figure is simply decked out in mid-sixteenth-century clothes from Rembrandt’s own wardrobe of vintage clothing.
Condition: some foxing, more severe on the verso than the recto.
Summary attribution: Gerbrand van den Eeckhout?
Date: c.1636-40.
COLLECTION: GB London, Victoria and Albert Museum (L.1957; L.153b; inv. Dyce.422).
FURTHER LITERATURE/REMARKS: Reid, 1874, p.64, no.422 (Jan Lievens; formerly ascribed to Rembrandt); Hofstede de Groot, 1906, no.970 (Rembrandt but noting the Lievens attribution of the time); Exh. London, 1921, no.102, repr. pl.xx; Borenius, 1921, p.229 (not improbably by Rembrandt himself); Valentiner, II, 1934, no.721, repr.; Benesch, 1935, p.23; Benesch, 1947, no.69, repr.; Benesch, II, 1954/73, no.312, repr. (c.1635-36; compares Benesch 0316-21); Volskaya, 1961, pp.54-60 (represents Gijsbrecht); Reynolds (ed.), 1964, p.24; Van der Waal, 1969, p.147; Sumowski, Gem., IV, p.1877, under no.12; Berlin, 2006, p.197, n.54 (attributed to Eeckhout); London, 2014, no.55, repr. (attributed to Eeckhout; compares Benesch 0318 and figure’s left hand to Benesch 0171; via Berlin, 2006, follows Bevers, 2010, recording the latter’s opinion in a conversation of 3 March 2010 that the drawing is by van den Eeckhout);[6] [Not in Schatborn, 2019].
PROVENANCE: Rev. Alexander Dyce (1798-1869), by whom bequeathed to the present repository.
[1] As suggested in London, 2014, no.55, but the “WR” initials often feature in watermarks with a Strasburg bend or lily.
[2] The notes I made when I first studied the drawing carefully in 1984 describe it as an ‘Eeckhout-esque Rembrandt’. It is noteworthy that when the drawing was first published in 1874 by G.W. Reid, he felt it necessary to reject the old attribution to Rembrandt, proposing Jan Lievens as its author.
[3] In London, 2014, the hand is compared with Benesch 0171.
[4] Repr. Bevers, 2010, p.64, fig.36, as by Gerbrand van den Eeckhout.
[5] De Winkel, 2006, pp.244-46, who believes the clothes are not typical for stage props of the period.
[6] In an email to the compiler of 3 February 2004, Peter Schatborn stated that he thought the drawing was by Rembrandt, “the only Rembrandt of this group”.
First posted 28 December 2016.
Benesch 0313
Subject: A Woman with a Child Descending a Staircase
Medium: Pen and brown ink and brown wash; traces of a ruled framing line in pen and brown ink.
Inscribed at lower right corner, in an old hand, in brown ink, with a paraphe – see under Benesch 0113.
187 x 132. Watermark: none.
COMMENTS: This highly-regarded drawing was long thought to represent Saskia with one of her and Rembrandt’s children. But the child looks to be too old for any of Rembrandt’s children of the 1630s, who all died within weeks of their births, while the style of the drawing belongs so clearly to the mid-1630s that it cannot represent Titus, who was born in 1641. Various plausible but speculative alternative identifications have been suggested, including the children of Saskia’s sister, Hiskia, or those of Saskia’s cousin, Hendrick Uylenburgh.[1] The woman looks almost too young to be the mother.
The date is confirmed by analogies with several drawings. Among the documentary drawings, the lilt of the drapery resembles the figure at the lower right of Benesch 0141 but in its breadth, also in the wash, it compares better with the yet bolder Benesch 0092 of 1635 and Benesch 0095 probably of a year or two later. Its analogies with the work of Gerbrand van den Eeckhout, as seen in Benesch 0113, which seems notably less spirited and confident, and in Benesch 0316 – the drawing chosen for comparison by by Benesch – show how closely the pupil could emulate his teacher. The heavier lines in the cap, and the underlying lines describing the back of the head, suggest that the cap was an afterthought.
For the paraphe at lower right, see under Benesch 0113. The drawing may have come from the album of drawings of the life of women with children discussed under Benesch 0194.
Condition: generally very good ; some slight discolouration especially near the extreme edges and the fragmentary framing lines suggest a minor amount of trimming.
Summary attribution: Rembrandt.
Date: c.1635-37.
COLLECTION: USA New York, The Pierpont Morgan Library (inv.I, 191)
FURTHER LITERATURE/REMARKS: Fairfax Murray, 1905-12, I, no.191, repr.; Bode and Valentiner, 1906, p.83, repr. (c.1635-36); Graul, 1906, no.14; Bode and Valentiner, 1907, repr. pl.I; Exh. Paris, 1908, no.400; Bruel, 1908, pp.422 and 455, repr.; Schmidt-Degener, 1908, p.101; Exh. New York, 1918, no.24; Graul, 1924, no.14; Hind, 1932, p.36, repr. pl.xiv; Valentiner, II, 1934, no.675, repr. (c.1636); Benesch, 1935, p.22; Exh. Buffalo, 1935, no.48, repr.; Exh. Chicago, 1935-36, no.26, repr.; Exh. Worcester, 1936, no.25, repr.; Exh. New York, 1939, no.106; Benesch, 1947, no.79, repr.; Tietze, 1947, no.64, repr.; Exh. Worcester, 1948, no.50; Exh. New York, 1950, no.30; Exh. Philadelphia, 1950-51, no.52; Sachs, 1951, p.71, repr. pl.45; Rousseau, 1952, p.89, repr.; Exh. New York, 1952; Goldscheider, 1953, p.158; Benesch, I, 1954/73, under no.117 and II, no.313, repr. (c.1636; perhaps Rumbartus; compares Benesch 0316); Rosenberg, 1956, p.128, repr. fig.18; Drost, 1957, no.179; Exh. New York, 1957, no.95; Rosenberg, 1959.I, p.76, repr. fig.140; Van Gelder, 1959, no.60 (perhaps later than c.1636 as Rumbartus younger when he died); Benesch, 1960, no.21, repr.; Roger-Marz, 1960, p.152, repr.; Exh. New York-Cambridge, 1960, no.23, repr. pl.19 (c.1636; not Rumbartus); Van Gelder, 1961, p.150; Scheidig, 1962, pp.41 and 77, repr. pl.29; Schuler, 1962, p.148, repr.; Great Drawings, 1962-79, II, no.575, repr.; Eisler, 1963, repr. pl.72; Lambourne, 1963, repr. pl.34; Robb and Garrison, 1963, p.543, repr. fig.465; Hale, 1964, pp.252-3, repr.; Brion, 1965, repr. fig.51; Capers and Maddox, 1965, p.261, repr. fig.10-8; Wallace, 1968, repr. pl.53; Bonnier, 1969, p.13, repr.; Exh. Amsterdam, 1969, no.44, repr.; Sumowski, 1969,p.34 repr. fig.5; Vogel-Köhn, 1974, no.38, repr.; Haak, 1974, repr. pl.18; Bernhard, 1976, II, p.187; Clark, 1978, p.76, repr. fig.73; Leymarie et al., 1979, p.xvii, repr.; Exh. Paris-Antwerp-London-New York, 1979–80, no.68, repr.; Exh. New York, 1981, no.74, repr.; Baudiquey, 1984, p.100, repr.; Guillaud, 1986, p.233, repr. fig.282; Sutton, 1986, p.201, repr. fig.289; Exh. Berlin-Amsterdam, 1991-92.I, no.9, repr. and under no.10; Fusconi et al., 1992, p.234, repr. fig.270; Genet, 1995, pp.21, repr. (detail) and 89, repr.; Giltaij, 1995, p.96 (comparing and contrasting Benesch 0113); Exh. Amsterdam, 1996-97, p.97, repr. fig.21.2; Hebborn, 1997, repr. pl.20; Exh. Hamburg-Bremen, 2000-2001, under no.2, repr. fig.b; Exh. Edinburgh-London, 2001, no.53, repr.(c.1635-36; not from life but recalled; exh. in Edinburgh only); Rosand, 2002, p.236, repr. fig.226 (characteristic use of a vertical ‘co-ordinate’); Exh. New York, 2006, no.43; New York, 2006, no.211 and under no.177, repr. (not Saskia or Rumbartus; compares Benesch 0113; paraphe might denote van de Cappelle’s album); Slive, 2009, p.86, repr. fig.7.9 (c.1635); Schatborn, 2019, no.291, repr. (c.1637).
PROVENANCE: probably John Bouverie (but without his mark – see L.325) and the following descendants; his sister, Anne Bouverie; her husband, John Hervey; his son, Christopher Hervey; his aunt, Elizabeth Bouverie; bequeathed by her to Charles Middleton, later 1st Baron Barham; his son-in-law, Sir Gerald Noel Noel, 2nd Baron Barham; his son, Sir Charles Noel, 3rd Baron Barham and later 1st Earl of Gainsborough; his descendants’ sale, London, Christie’s, 2 June 1902, lot 102 (with another drawing), bt Fairfax Murray, 30gns; Charles Fairfax Murray (1849-1919), London and Florence; from whom purchased through Galerie Alexandre Imbert, Rome, in 1909 by Pierpont Morgan (1837-1913), New York (no mark; see Lugt 1509); his son, J. P. Morgan, Jr. (1867-1943), New York.[2]
[1] Exh. Berlin-Amsterdam, 1991-92.I, no.9; Exh. Edinburgh-London, 2001, no.53; New York, 2006, no.211.
[2] The provenance before Fairfax Murray was revealed in New York, 2006, no.211.
First posted 31 December 2016.
Benesch 0313a
Subject: Bust Portrait of a Child, to front.
Verso: Head of a Sleeping Woman
Medium: Pen and brown ink.
Inscribed
91 x 71.
COMMENTS: The delightful portrait on the recto is drawn with a fine nib and in considerable detail. The character of the penwork is more mincing, almost like needlework, than Rembrandt’s when he draws comparable works in the late 1630s or later – cf. Benesch 0440; Benesch A10 – the period to which this seems to belong.[1] Compare also Rembrandt’s own drawings executed with a fine nib, such as Benesch 0360 and Benesch 0687.
It may be that the draughtsman, surely one of his own pupils, drew inspiration from Rembrandt’s etchings of c.1634-38, in which he employed fine lines and ‘dots’ in a manner that seems to be emulated here – cf., for example, the Portrait of Saskia with a String of Pearls in her Hair of c.1634 (Bartsch 347; NH 136), the Studies of the Head of Saskia and Others of 1636 (Bartsch 365; NH 157), Three Women’s Heads, one Sleeping, of 1637 (Bartsch 368; NH 161), and the Small Jewish Bride – Saskia as St Catherine, of 1638 (Bartsch 342; NH 169). In Barstch 365/NH157 especially, we also encounter the same detailed treatment of the eyes and the fine, near vertical parallel hatching on the chest. Among Rembrandt’s drawings, the ‘small dots’ technique appears to such an extent only in drawings that are among his earliest, such as the documentary study of Two Studies of the Head of an Old Man, of c.1626 (not in Benesch; J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles, inv.83.GA.264) or the Self-Portrait, of c.1628-29 in the Rijksmuseum (Benesch 0054).
Furthermore, the drawing of the thumb and two fingers on the child’s shoulder do not resemble Rembrandt’s own depictions of hands; neither does the hatching either side of the neck reflect his own chararcteristic practice. The subsidiary study below is difficult to ‘read’, whether as the arm of the child or an independent sketch, perhaps a head supported by an arm.
The verso must have been begun in a comparable style to the recto – the fine lines of the underdrawing are still visible in places. A broader-nibbed pen was then used to correct and define the forms more firmly, but in their unvaried harshness (especially around the chin and cheeks; the vertical zigzag shading below; the profile of the far arm) the drawing seems distant from Rembrandt himself. A number of drawings survive that appear to be pupils’ derivations from Rembrandt’s studies of Saskia in bed and this must be yet another.
Condition: a fragment, with some stains and surface dirt, otherwise good.
Summary attribution: School of Rembrandt.
Date: c.1640?
COLLECTION: NL Amsterdam, Museum het Rembrandthuis.
FURTHER LITERATURE/REMARKS: Benesch, II, 1954/73, no.313a, repr. (c.1636; Rumbartus? and on verso, Saskia?); Van Eeghen, 1956, pp.144-46; Benesch, 1960, under no.21; Amsterdam, 1972, no.XI, repr. (Rembrandt?; differs greatly from Benesch 0440; verso may very well depict Saskia); Amsterdam, 1991, no.10, repr. (unknown pupil of Rembrandt); [Not in Schatborn, 2019].
PROVENANCE: ‘Dr. Young’ (according to Benesch, this name was inscribed on the old mount in an early nineteenth-century hand); P.& D. Colnaghi & Co, London (their exhibition, Old Master Drawings, London, April, 1950, no.26, repr. pls. V and VI), from which purchased by the present repository in 1950.
[1] The contrast with Benesch 0440 was pointed out in Amsterdam, 1972, no.XI.
First posted 2 January 2017.
Benesch 0314
Subject: A Woman in Dutch National Costume, half-length turned and looking to right, wearing a dress with fur trim and linen cap
Verso: See Inscriptions
Medium: Pen and brown ink with slightly greyish brown wash and some probably later brown wash (in the mouth, the nearer cheek, near the eyes and probably indicating the background window); framing lines in pen and black ink (in brown ink down the left side only). Inscribed verso, centre, in graphite: “798” and lower left: “300”; in pen and black ink, lower left: “9/7”; in red ink: “N2924”; in pen and brown ink below, in Esdaile’s hand: “Rembrandt 1835 WE”
130 x 78. Watermark: none; chain lines: 28h.
COMMENTS: To judge from the description in the Röver inventory (given under Provenance, qv), this drawing could be a fragment of a sheet that originally also showed a sleeping woman with a small child at her breast.
The figure has been variously described as seated or standing behind a table, and in north or south (Zeeland) Dutch national costume. In fact the costume is from Waterland, an area around 20 miles north (and slightly east) of Amsterdam and including Monnickendam.[1] In a second study in Haarlem (Benesch 0315), what appears to be the same figure is seen from behind wearing the same costume and adopting a comparable pose, again standing near a table.[2] Although on other occasions (see, for example, Benesch 0710) such a repetition has led to the retention of only one version as an authentic work by Rembrandt, the other as by a pupil in the same room, in the present instance both drawings seem to be autograph – in style they cannot be separated, although the impression made by the British Museum drawing (Benesch 0314) is slightly undermined by what appear to be later touches in the face (especially be the eyes and mouth), rework that also extends to the window indicated in the upper background. Otherwise the handling of the pen is everywhere similar, with simple thin outlines in most parts, though with heavier touches under the figure’s right arm, the same treatment of the fur and the ruff of the collar, the same horizontal pleats and shading in the arms and the same sensitive toning with brown wash.The sparing treatment of the face in Benesch 0314 is comparable to Benesch 0286, which suggests that the date could be slightly earlier than 1638, the date I have hitherto preferred.
The model is described on the verso of the Haarlem drawing as ‘De minne moer van Titus, soon van Rembra […]’ (‘the wet-nurse of Titus, Rembrandt’s son’) in a seventeenth- or eighteenth-century inscription. Titus van Rijn, the artist’s son, was baptised on 22 September, 1641.[3] It has often been suggested that the model was therefore Geertje Dircx, but there are two objections to this idea: first, she is specifically recorded as Titus’s ‘dry’ nurse in a document of October, 1649;[4] secondly, the style of both the Haarlem and the present drawing, as already noted, suggests an earlier date, c.1636-38, several years before Geertje Dircx is known to have had any contact with Rembrandt. One might possibly also argue that the model also looks rather too old. For the style, comparison may be made between them and two documentary drawings of this period: the ‘Studies of a Woman reading and an Oriental’ in the Kramarsky collection, New York (Benesch 0168 of c.1638), which although executed in iron-gall ink resembles them in the rendering of detail and in the application of the wash; and the study in Leiden for the 1638 etching of Adam and Eve (Benesch 0164), in which the group on the right is realised in a similar shorthand to the seated figure in the Haarlem drawing (Benesch 0315). Whether or not the inscription on the latter is reliable, the name of the model remains uncertain.
Condition: generally good; probably trimmed (see also the description in the Röver inventory) and retouched (see above); slightly faded; small repair upper left edge and repaired tear upper right edge; small restored patch under the figure’s right breast.
Summary attribution: Rembrandt
Date: c.1636-38
COLLECTION: GB London, British Museum (inv.1895,0915.1270)
FURTHER LITERATURE/REMARKS: Vosmaer, 1868/77, p.517/601 (see note 5); Robinson, 1869/76, no.779/798 (said to be nurse of Titus); Exh. London, 1878-9, no.324; London, 1895, no.378a (same model as Benesch 0263a); Exh. London, 1899, no.A25 (related drawing in Haarlem); Lippmann, IV, no.89a; Kleinmann, II, no.57; Valentiner, 1905, pp.37-8 and p.40, repr. pl.II, fig.2 (c.1643-4; of Geertje Dircx); Hofstede de Groot, 1906, no.899 (relates to Haarlem drawing); Baldwin Brown, 1907, p.78 (Geertje Dircx); Wurzbach, 1910, p.418 (‘Woman at a Table’); London, 1915, no.52; Exh. London, 1929, p.239, under no.636, and 1929.I, p.214; Hind, 1932, p.15 (traditionally identified as Geertje Dircx); Valentiner, II, 1934, no.705, repr. (c.1642, Geertje Dircx, but she was not Titus’ wet-nurse); Benesch, 1935, p.24 (c.1636; Frisian costume); Exh. London, 1938, no.52 (c.1635-40); Hamann, 1948, pp.87-8, repr. fig.63 (c.1642; Geertje Dircx, of whom portraits are rare); Benesch, II, 1954/73, no.314, repr. fig.353/380 (c.1636; Zeeland costume); Exh. Rotterdam-Amsterdam, 1956, p.94, under no.105 (early 1640s or c.1636; N. Holland costume though a Cats illustration shows it worn in Leiden – information from Prof. Dr Fr. W. S. van Thienen); Rosenberg, 1956, p.69 (early 1640s; probably Geertje Dircx); Haverkamp-Begemann, 1961, p.25 (beginning of 1640s; could be Geertje Dircx; costume N. Holland according to Prof. van Thienen); Muller, 1965, repr. p.39 (Geertje?); Slive, 1965, II, no.538 (c.1642; not Geertje Dircx, as she was not Titus’ wet-nurse); Haak, 1969/68, p.141, repr. fig.216 (c.1636?; not Geertje Dircx as Benesch’s date too early; perhaps Rumbartus’ nursemaid); Exh. Amsterdam, 1969, p.146 under no.51 (perhaps c.1638 and therefore not Geertje Dircx; the inscription on the Haarlem drawing eighteenth century); Exh. London, 1970, p.25, under no.24; Bernhard, 1976, II, repr. p.171; Konstam, 1977, p.97, repr. p.103, repr. fig.49 (see n.2 below); Tümpel, 1977, p.98 (c.1643; Geertje Dircx?); Exh. Haarlem, 1978, p.13, under no.70 (1642-5; of Geertje Dircx; N. Holland costume); Konstam, 1978, p.28, repr. fig.10 (see n.2 below); Borssum Buisman, 1984, repr. p.6 (c.1642, of Geertje; refutes Konstam, 1978); Tümpel, 1986, repr. p.262 (as Tümpel, 1977); Exh. Berlin-Amsterdam-London, 1991-2, p.350 (costume compared with ‘Young Woman at an open Half-Door’ in Chicago, Br.367, now attributed to van Hoogstraten, see further n.2 below); Exh. London, 1992, no.20, repr. (c.1638; costume from Waterland; not necessarily of Geertje Dircx); Schatborn, 1994, p.21 (ex-Röver – perhaps the Haarlem drawing originally the same sheet; when cut, framing-lines redrawn; remnants of Röver no. visible); Haarlem, 1997, pp.300-301, under no.327 (ex-Röver; early 1640s and of Geertje Dircx); Roscam Abbing, 2006, p.28 (as Exh. London, 1992); Exh. Edinburgh-London, 2001, no.80, repr. (compares Louvre drawing of Anslo, Benesch 759, and suggests date c.1640); Schwartz, 2006, p.101, repr. fig.181 (supporting Konstam, 1977); De Winkel, 2006, p.81 (c.1640; Waterland dress; Geertje Dircx); Slive, 2009, pp.70-71, repr. fig.6.8 (early 1640s); London, 2010 (online), no.16, repr. (c.1638; probably not Geertje Dircx); Schatborn, 2019, no.295, repr. (c.1637).
PROVENANCE: perhaps Valerius Röver (L.2984; Portfolio 9, no.7: ‘Een Boerin en een slapend vroúwtje met een kindtje aan de borst van Dezelve’. [i.e. Rembrandt; the present drawing, now a fragment, is described on folio 26 of the manuscript mentioned under Benesch 0758 in the note pertaining to the Inscription]); perhaps Röver’s widow, C. van Dussen, who sold his drawings to the dealer H. de Leth; perhaps J. Goll van Franckenstein (L.2987; not identifiable in his sale, 1833); Thomas Lawrence (L.2445); William Esdaile (L.2617; see under Benesch 0286); presumably his sale, London, Christie’s, 17 June, 1840, perhaps lot 23: ‘Bust of an old Woman, bistre’, bt Woodburn with one other, £1-9-0); Mendes de Leon, sale, Amsterdam, 20 November, 1843, Kunstboek G, no.4, bt Brondgeest, f.50; Gijsbert Verstolk van Soelen; his sale, Amsterdam, de Vries, Brondgeest and Roos, 22 March, 1847, perhaps lot 28: ‘Une femme à mi-corps assise. Beau dessin à la plume, et lavé en partie’, bt A. Roos, f.285; Gerard Leembruggen; his sale, Amsterdam, 5 March, 1866, lot 469, ‘La nourrice du fils de Rembrandt. . .’, bt Robinson for Malcolm, f.200;[5] John Malcolm of Poltalloch; purchased with his collection, 1895.
[1] According to Simon Honig Jansz. of the Nederlands Openlucht Museum, Arnhem (see Exh. Berlin-Amsterdam-London, 1991-2, p.352) and confirmed by De Winkel, 2006 (see Literature).
[2] Without denying the similarity of the pose in the two drawings, the ingenious theory that a mirror was used and the figure drawn twice from a single vantage-point, proposed by Konstam, 1977/78, p.92/28, seems to go too far and is contradicted by the position of the table in the present sheet (which, if it were a reflection, should be on the spectator’s left), of the sitter’s right hand and left arm (the hand of which would p[robably be visible; only the cloth is in the correct hand), by the position of the artist seen beyond the table in the Haarlem sheet and of the shadow behind the figure in the British Museum’s drawing. Objections have already been raised by Borssum Buisman, 1984. The dress is not necessarily the same one (or if it is, then probably not worn at the same sitting) because in the British Museum drawing the collar seems to be wider and the fur travels over the outer edge of the shoulders rather than the inner part; the cap also seems to be lower. When the two drawings were exhibited together (in Exh. Edinburgh-London, 2001, nos.80 and 81), the Haarlem drawing looked browner overall in the paper, while the ink looked somewhat warmer and less dark (sadly the illustration of Benesch 0314 came out much too warm, so that in the catalogue they look more similar).
[3] Strauss and van der Meulen, 1979, p.209, no.1641/4. The inscription on the Haarlem sheet, usually described as seventeenth century, is assigned to the eighteenth in Exh. Amsterdam, 1969, p.146, under no.51.
[4] Strauss and van der Meulen, 1979, pp.270-73, no.1649/6: ‘… zij t soontge van den voorn: Rembrandt genaemt van Rhijn jonger sijnde hadde droogh gemint…’.
[5] The price was f.200 to Lord Hertford, according to Vosmaer, 1868/77, p.517/601. The annotated copy of Robinson, 1876, in the British Museum (Department of Prints and Drawings) states that the drawing was acquired at the Leembruggen sale for Malcolm at a cost of £19-1-4.
First posted 9 January 2017.
Benesch 0315
Subject: A Woman Wearing Dutch National Costume, seen from behind
Verso: see Inscriptions
Medium: Pen and brown ink with brown wash; ruled framing lines in pen and brown ink (mostly trimmed away), with traces of a gold line along top edge.
Inscribed lower left in pen and brown ink with Esdaile’s collector’s mark: “ WE” (L.2617) and on verso, lower right, in red chalk: “de minnemoer / van Titus soon / van Rembrand”, and lower left, in pen and brown ink, in the hand of J.Pz. Zomer: “keer om” [turn over].
222 x 154. Chain lines: 28-29h.
COMMENTS: See under Benesch 0314 for the main discussion. As there stated, there are objections to identifying the model as Geertje Dircx, who was the dry-nurse of Titus rather than the ‘wet-nurse’ (“minnemoer”) mentioned in the inscription on the verso. The drawing was traditionally often dated in the 1640s in order to accommodate the idea that Geertje Dircx was the model, as she was unlikely to have entered Rembrandt’s household until after Titus’ birth in 1641, and perhaps not until after Saskia’s death in 1642. This idea still has its appeal – and its hold – on the imaginations of the drawing’s cataloguers, but as argued under Benesch 0314, stylistically the drawing appears to be rather earlier and the identification, therefore, falls aside.[1]
The posed model by the table is here joined by a second figure beyond, probably another artist sketching the figure, wearing a flat cap, looking back (seated not far from the position from which Benesch 0314 was drawn). Thus it appears that a life-drawing class has been assembled, although one which left no further traces than these two drawings. The delineation of the torso and arms of the woman in both drawings is more detailed than in most of Rembrandt’s pen sketches and this is instructive when assessing other works in which he scrutinised his model in depth. At the same time, the loose indications of part of an archway in pen and with the tip of the brush in the present drawing reveal Rembrandt at his most cursory.
Two copies of the drawing are known.[2]
Condition: generally good; a small repaired hole upper right; some general staining and discolouration of the sheet and perhaps some fading of the ink (see remarks under Benesch 0314, end of n.2).
Summary attribution: Rembrandt.
Date: c.1636-38
COLLECTION: NL Haarlem, Teyler Museum (inv.O* 51, formerly O* 76 a [added]).
FURTHER LITERATURE/REMARKS: Exh. London, 1835, no.68; Vosmaer, 1868, p.511; Vosmaer, 1877, p.596; Havard, 1879-81, I, repr.; Bredius and De Roever, 1995, p.95; Michel, 1893, p.592 and pop.387 and 389, repr.; Von Seidlitz, 1894, p.121 (1640s); Haarlem, 1904, p.107; Valentiner, 1905, pp.36-37 and 40, repr. fig.1 (c.1643); Hofstede de Groot, 1906, no.1327 (c.1635); Lippmann, IV, no.166; Kleinmann, I, pl.24; London, 1915, under no.52; Exh. Paris, 1921, no.46; Buisman, 1924, pl.14; Exh. London, 1929, no.636 (Commemorative Catalogue, 1930, p.213, repr.); Exh. Amsterdam, 1932, no.266 (c.1642); Valentiner, II, 1934, p.704 (c.1642); Hind, 1932, p.15; Benesch, 1935, p.24 (c.1636); van Gelder, 1946, p.18 (c.1642); Rosenberg, 1948, 14; Hamann, 1948, p.89 (c.1642); Exh. Haarlem, 1951, no.170; Benesch, II, 1954/73, no.315, repr. fig.367/383 (c.1636; Zeeland costume; compares Benesch 0313 and Benesch 0327); Exh. Rotterdam-Amsterdam, 1956, no.105, repr. (c.1641-44); Frerichs, 1956, p.72, repr.; Rosenberg, 1956.I, p.69 (early 1640s); Roger-Marx, 1960, p.244, no.86, repr. (c.1642-45); Haverkamp Begemann, 1961, p.25 (early 1640s); Moskowitz, 1962, no.576 (c.1635); Eisler, 1964, p.102, repr. pl.71; Rosenberg, 1964, p.26, repr. fig.25; White, 1964 pp.82-83, repr (c.1645); Slive, 1965, I, no.176 (c.1642); Brion, 1965, pp.22 and 25, repr. fig.17; Descarques, 1965, p.188; Vis, 1965, pp.84-85; Rosenberg, 1966, pp.24 and 26, repr. fig.25; Erpel, 1967, p.227, no.135; Gerson, 1968, p.480, repr. fig.b; Haak, 1968, p.141, repr.; Wijnman, 1968, p.103; Exh. Amsterdam, 1969, no.51, repr.; Exh. London, 1970, no.24, repr.; Konstam, 1977, p.97, repr. fig.50 (mirror image of Benesch 0314); Chaet, 1978, p.61, repr. fig.56; Exh. Haarlem, 1978, no.70, repr.; Konstam, 1978, pp.28-30, repr. fig.9; Van Borssum Buisman, 1984, pp.5-7, repr. (c.1642); White, 1984, pp.126-27, repr. fig.105 (c.1645); Exh. Amsterdam, 1984-85, no.13, repr.; Tümpel, 1986, p.261, repr.; Exh. Berlin-Amsterdam, 1991-92, p.352 (costume from Waterland); Exh. London, 1992, under no.20, repr. fig.20a (c.1638; not Geertje Dircx); Schatborn, 1994, p.21 (following Röver inventory, believes could have been part of same sheet as Benesch 0314); Haarlem, 1997, no.327, repr. pl.xxi (c.1640s; shows Geertje Dircx; compares Benesch 0688 and Benesch 0759); Royalton-Kisch, 1998.II, p.689 (c.1638); Exh. Edinburgh-London, 2001, no.81, repr.; Schwartz, 2006, p.101, repr. fig.180 (Zeeland costume; supporting Konstam, 1977); Slive, 2009, pp.71-73, repr. fig.6.9 (early 1640s); London, 2010 (online), under no.16 (c.1638; probably not Geertje Dircx); Schatborn, 2019, no.293 and p.143, repr. (c.1637; carefully composed study sheet made for future reference).
PROVENANCE: J. Pz. Zomer (1641-1724); Jonathan Richardson, sen. (L.2183); probably his sale, London, Cock, 22 January, 1747; Benjamin West (L.419); his sale, London, Christie’s, 10 June, 1820, lot 54, “One, his own child’s nurse”, bt Woodburn, £21; Thomas Dimsdale; bt with his collection by Samuel Woodburn in 1823; Thomas Lawrence; his collection acquired by Woodburn and the Rembrandt’s all purchased by William Esdaile (L.2617); his sale, London, Christie’s, 17 June, 1840, lot 85, bt Lee, £13; Mendes de Leon; his sale, Amsterdam, 20 November, 1843, G3, bt Brondgeest, f.132; J.G. Baron Verstolk van Soelen; his sale, Amsterdam, 22 March, 1847, lot B 27, bt Roos, f.326; Gerard Leembruggen Jz.; his sale, Amsterdam, 5 March, 1866, lot 468, bt Van der Vlugt, f.420, for the present repository.
[1] If it is presumed that the drawing was made in the present Rembrandthuis, which Rembrandt acquired in 1639, the height of the room suggests that the class must have take place on the ground floor.
[2] One in Paris, Fondation Custodia (Exh. Amsterdam, 1984-85, no.134, repr.; another sold London, Sotheby’s, 15 December, 1937, lot 16A.
First posted 11 January 2017.
Benesch 0316
Subject: A Young Woman in an Elaborate Costume, full-length, walking to left
Verso: Blank.
Medium: Pen and brown ink with brown wash, heightened with white; ruled framing lines in pen and black ink. Inscribed lower right in graphite: “Rembrand” and on verso, lower left, in pen and brown ink: “Rembrant”
184 x 139. Watermark: the top of a shield, with three circles in the curved upper rim as commonly seen in watermarks with a Strasburg Lily.
COMMENTS: This elaborately costumed woman with a Phrygian hat resembles Rembrandt’s own studies of figures from the theatre (see under Benesch 0120).[1] Yet in style she could have stepped out of Benesch 0147, which makes an attribution to Gerbrand van den Eeckhout highly likely. Rebecca’s costume in that drawing is also similar, though viewed from behind. Compare also the penwork in Benesch 0294 and Benesch 0204a. Also characteristic of Van den Eeckout is the ‘tramline’ nose (see Benesch 0108, though this is not unknown in Rembrandt) and the simple division of the oval of the face – as all the old drawing manuals show – with a line across for the eyebrows bisected by another delineating the nose. Finally, the soft brushwork for the features in the right background (a child varying the woman’s train near a balustrade?) is another passage typical of Van den Eeckhout. It is instructive to compare the drawing of a Seated Old Man, to right, of c.1638-39 now in the Lugt Collection (Not in Benesch): executed in the same technique, Rembrandt’s style seems less jagged, drawn with less haste (though perhaps similar speed) and the tip of the brush is more decisively descriptive.
The closest Rembrandt drawing to the present work is perhaps Benesch 0313 but there are significant differences in the variety of touch, in the hatching, the overall sense of structure and the use of wash, whether within the figure – where in Benesch 0316 it seems merely to fill in the outlines – or in the background. Further costume studies of this type have been justifiably attributed to Van den Eeckhout, including Benesch 0122, 0123, 0312, 0318 and 0319.
Condition: Good.
Summary attribution: Gerbrand van den Eeckhout?
Date: c.1638-40.
COLLECTION: D Berlin, Staatliche Museen Berlin, Kupferstichkabinett (inv. KdZ.3115; formerly 168-1885).
FURTHER LITERATURE/REMARKS: Berlin, 1930, p.236, inv. 3115 (c.1635; some doubt expressed; compares Benesch 0317 and 0318); Lugt, 1931, pp.59-60; Benesch, 1935, p.23; Benesch, II, 1954/73, no.316, repr. (c.1636; compares Benesch 0313); Exh. Berlin, 1956, no.53 (c.1635); Sumowski, 1956/57, p.258 (later than 1639-40); Haverkamp-Begemann, 1961, p.25; Van de Waal, 1969, p.147; Exh. Paris-Antwerp-London-New York, 1979–80, under no.70 (compares Benesch 0318); Bernhard, 1976, p.181 (c.1636); Exh. Edinburgh-London, 2001, under no.66; Bevers, 2005, p.482 (Van den Eeckhout); Berlin, 2006, p.197, repr. p.196 (Van den Eeckhout, c.1635-40; compares Benesch 0122, Benesch 0123, Benesch 0312 and Benesch 0318); Exh. Amsterdam-Paris, 2007, pp.120-21/124-25 (Eeckhout); Giltaij, 2007, n.p. (more probably Rembrandt than Eeckhout); Exh. Los Angeles, 2009-10, no.16.2, repr. (Van den Eeckhout, c.1638); Bevers, 2010, pp.61-63, repr. fig.34 (Eeckhout; even and consistent pen-lines and flatter modelling than Rembrandt relate to other drawings now ascribed to this artist); The Present Catalogue online, 2017 (probably Eeckhout, c.1638-40); Berlin, 2018, no.61, repr. (Eeckhout, c.1638); [Not in Schatborn, 2019]; Sluijter and Sluijter-Seiffert, 2020, p.294 (unaware of the present catalogue; not Van den Eeckhout).
PROVENANCE: Hebig (according to the Berlin inventory); Barthold Suermondt, Aachen (according to the Berlin inventory); Alexander Emil Posonyi (cf. Lugt 2040); whose collection presented by Julius Guttentag to the present repository in 1885.
{1] For the Phrygian hat, see De Winkel, 2006, pp.267-69.
First posted 2 April 2017.
Benesch 0316a
Subject: Woman Wearing a Veil with a Cap with a Heron’s Feather
Medium: Etching after a lost drawing presumably in pen and brown ink. Inscribed lower left: “Rt:” (compare Laurentz’s etching after Benesch 0273a)
90 x 78.
COMMENTS: Benesch considered that this etching, by Johann Daniel Laurentz (1729-1810), copied a lost drawing by Rembrandt, relating it to Benesch 0316-18. The original drawing resurfaced in 2018 and might be by Gerbrand van den Eeckhout. That it was Laurentz’s model is clear, as the etcher tried to imitate the later touches of wash on the cheek and nose in the drawing. The graphite underdrawing (hard to discern but visible to the right of the head) is of a type commonly found on copies after Rembrandt, which could also be the case here.
Summary attribution: etching by Johann Daniel Laurentz after Gerbrand van den Eeckhout?? possibly after Rembrandt??
Date: c.1638-40.
FURTHER LITERATURE/REMARKS: Benesch, II, 1954/73, no.316a (vide supra); [Not in Schatborn, 2019].
[1] Koller, 23 March 2018, lot 3429, repr.; 81 x 70mm; pen and brown ink over graphite, with touches of later wash in the nose and cheek.
First posted 7 April 2017.
Benesch 0317
Subject: Young Woman in Rich Costume with an Oriental Headdress, full-length, turned to right
Medium: Pen and brown ink, touched with brown wash lower right and also with white bodycolour.
139 x 95.
COMMENTS: The drawing has been taken to represent an actress (or an actor in a female role) which, while possible, is not necessarily the case as the costume could have originated in Rembrandt’s collection of exotica (see also under Benesch 0316).[1] If the figure is an actor, it remains uncertain whether she is Badeloch, from Joost van den Vondel’s play Gijsbrecht van Aemstel, as has been suggested (see Literature below).
In style the penwork closely resembles that of Benesch 0316, now generally ascribed to Gerbrand van den Eeckhout: the sense of haste alongside boldness; the rather jagged outlines, the less fully grasped drapery around the feet; the somewhat even, undifferentiated thickness of the outlines; the delineation of the hands, etc.. Yet there are also links with Benesch 0129, particularly in the zigzag hatching and the wash, although the structure of the figure in Benesch 0317 seems more secure and nearer Van den Eeckhout’s work.[2]
Rembrandt’s style at this period (cf. the documentary drawing, Benesch 0292, or Benesch 0293 recto and verso, a figure study by Rembrandt at his most zestful) is in most of these respects wholly distinct.
Condition: Some stains in corners and at top but generally good.
Summary attribution: Gerbrand van den Eeckhout?
Date: c.1638-40.
COLLECTION: D Berlin, Staatliche Museen Berlin (inv.2685)
FURTHER LITERATURE/REMARKS: Amtliche Berichte, 1886,p.vii; Michel, 1893, p.573; Von Seidlitz, 1900, p.488; Hofstede de Groot, 1906, no.130 (c.1634); Lippmann, II, 38B; Saxl, 1908, p.338 (perhaps same woman as in Schoolmaster etching, Bartsch 128; NH 191); Freise, Lilienfeld and Wichmann, 1914, no.117 (De Gelder?); Lilienfeld, 1918-19, p.134 (De Gelder) Benesch, 1923, p.2 (school work, later 1630s; perhaps same hand as Benesch 0293); Van Dyke, 1927, p.82, repr. pl.xviii.71 (De Gelder); Berlin, 1930, p.233, inv.2685 (uncertain if by Rembrandt); Lugt, 1931, p.59 (compares Benesch 0316); Benesch, 1935, p.23; Benesch, II, 1954/73, no.317, repr. (c.1636; follows Lugt, 1931); Exh. Berlin, 1956, no.54 (c.1635); Sumowski, 1956/57, p.258 (after 1639/40); Van Regteren Altena, 1957, pp.135-37 (represents Badeloch, wife of Gijsbrecht van Amstel in Vondel’s play, according to H. van de Waal’s researches); Haverkamp-Begemann, 1961, p.25; V. Volskaya, 1961, pp.54-60 (Badeloch); Slive, 1965, no.261 (c.1636-38); Fuchs, 1968, p.37, repr. fig.61 (c.1636-38; possibly represents Badeloch); Van de Waal, 1969, pp.146-47 and 149, n.22, repr. (represents Badeloch); Exh. Paris-Antwerp-London-New York, 1979–80, no.69 (compares Benesch 0318); Sumowski, Drawings, 1979 etc., II, under no.784 (not De Gelder); Corpus, 1, 1982, p.121 (headdress similar to woman singing in Amsterdam painting of a Musical Allegory, [Bredius 632; Wetering 11]); Von Moltke, 1994, pp.36 and 74, under no.29, and p.79, under no.41 (drawing was used by De Gelder for his painting of Esther); De Winkel in Exh. Dordrecht-Cologne, 1998–99, p.92 (not De Gelder but influenced him); Berlin, 2006, p.196 (by Van den Eeckhout); New York, 2006, under no.214 (compares Benesch 0318 in Morgan Library); Exh. Los Angeles, 2009-10, p.118 and n.5 (not Rembrandt); Bevers, 2010, p.60 and n.66 (part of a group of costume drawings some of which are no longer regarded as by Rembrandt); The Present Catalogue online, 2017 (probably Van den Eeckhout; compares Benesch 0316); Berlin, 2018, no.107, repr. (attributed to Jan Victors, c.1638; based on graphic precedents rather than on life; compares figure of Lot in Benesch 0129, also attributed to Victors by Bevers; and drawing of Hamann Begging Ahasuerus for Mercy in a private collection, Sumowski 2330xx as attributed to Victors); [Not in Schatborn, 2019].
PROVENANCE: John Thane (L.1544); William Esdaile (L.2617); Alexander Emil Posonyi (L.159; cf. Lugt 2040), from whose collection presented by Julius Guttentag to the present repository in 1885.
[1] Corpus, 1, 1982, points out the similarity of the headdress of the woman singing in the early painting in Amsterdam of a Musical Allegory (Bredius 632; Wetering 11).
[2] Bevers, in Berlin, 2018, no.107, argues that the drawing was not made from life, but I am not convinced that this is the case – the lively characterisation and individuality of the face alone would argue otherwise.
First posted 7 April 2017.
Benesch 0318
Subject: A Female Actor in Elaborate Costume, in the Role of Badeloch (?), full-length, profile to left
Medium: Pen and brown ink with brown wash, heightened with white, with later additions in grey ink (in the veil to left of the face, below the raised hand and in the floor to left and right); ruled framing lines in pen and brown ink.
Inscribed by Jan van Rijmsdijk, lower right, in pen and brown ink: “Rymsdyk’s [crossed out] Museum” (L.2167) and on the old mount, centre, in pen and brown ink: “Rembrandt / disciple of Lastman” and below this: “Rembrandt’s manner of Etching was as remarkable as his Painting. There are about 80 / Prints which he published 4 or 5 times by retouching the Plates=”; at left, in another hand, in pen and brown ink: “Born near Leyden 1606” and at right: “Dies at Amsterdam in 167[?]” [last digit cut away]; on the verso of the mount, upper centre, inscribed by Rijmsdijk in pen and brown ink: ”BXIX’ / Rymsdyk. [crossed out]”; below this: “Rembrandt’s manner / of Etching, was as remarkable as his Painting, / there are about Four score of his Prints, / which He Publish’t 4 or 5 times; by Retouching / the Plates overagain. Born 1606. Died 1669[or “1668”?]. /Aet 62”[1], and at lower right, in another hand, in graphite: “£ S D / 3.3.0” (the £ S D above the relevant numbers – i.e. £3-3s-0d or three guineas).
229 x 140. Watermark: none.
COMMENTS: The drawing belongs to the group of figure studies that have been associated with actors performing in Joost van den Vondel’s play, Gijsbrecht van Aemstel (see under Benesch 0120 and Literature below). However, the connection with the play is far from certain, as there is insufficient action in the image to connect with its narrative. (The character would have been played by a man, which is perhaps not impossible in the case of the present drawing.) Benesch 0319 and a drawing formerly in the Strölin collection and now in the Ulmer Museum show the same or similar costumes.[2]
The style seems close to Benesch 0122, although here the figure is isolated and wash has been added. Yet, for example, in the details of the patterned drapery, as well as in the hands and the too-short arms, the two drawings have much in common, as also in the lack of certainty in the area around the feet. There are links with Benesch 0312 as well as with the style of the above-mentioned Benesch 0319 and, especially in the wash, with the drawing of a Woman in a Rich Costume, now in the Ulmer Museum.[2] All these works have been ascribed to Gerbrand van den Eeckhout, although there seems to my eye to be some doubt, here expressed by a question mark, not least because of the stylistic deviation from drawings such as Benesch 0316, with its generally more vigorous, bolder approach to outline.
It is instructive to compare – and especially to contrast – the style of Benesch 0217 and 0217a, which could have inspired Benesch 0318 to some degree; but the style seems quite distinct, especially in the outlines, proportions and lack of “fuss” over details.
A copy after the drawing was made by Andreas van Rijmsdijk (d.1786), the son of the collector who owned the drawing, Jan van Rijmsdijk.[3] Interestingly, it includes the later additions in grey ink in the original, which must therefore be earlier in date.
Condition: good.
Summary attribution: Gerbrand van den Eeckhout?
Date: c.1638-40
COLLECTION: USA, New York, Morgan Library (inv.I, 177)
FURTHER LITERATURE/REMARKS: Fairfax Murray, 1905-12, I, no.177, repr.; Exh. Paris, 1908, no.410, repr. (“The Jewish Bride”); Exh. New York, 1918, no.26; Berlin, 1930, I, pp.233 and 236, under nos.2685 and 3115; Valentiner, 1932, p.211, repr. fig.4 (drawing formed the basis for figure of Salome in C. Fabritius’s painting of the Beheading of the Baptist); Benesch, 1935, p.23; Amsterdam, 1942, under no.12; Benesch, 2, 1954/73, no.318, repr. fig.358/384 (c.1636; compares Benesch 0313 and 0316; sees Valentiner, 1932 connection with C. Fabritius but feels that the latter was inspired by Rembrandt’s drawings); van de Waal, 1956, p.204; Regteren Altena, 1957, pp.135-37 (Badeloch, suggested by van de Waal); Exh. New York-Cambridge, 1960, no.32, repr. (c.1638; compares Benesch 0122 and the gown in the etching, La Preciosa, Bartsch 120, NH 205; awkward arms; quotes letter of 14 Nov. 1959 from H. van de Waal stating that there was no irrefutable connection with Badeloch in the play Gijsbrecht van Aemstel); Haverkamp-Begemann, 1961, p.25, under nos.316-21; Volskaya, 1961, p.59, repr. (Badeloch); Slive, 1965, under no.261; Exh. Minneapolis, 1965-66, n.p.; van de Waal, 1969, pp.146-47, repr. fig.4 (reprinted Van de Waal and Fuchs, 1974, p.76, repr. fig.4); Held, 1972, p.10, repr. fig.4 (as Exh. New York-Cambridge, 1960, compares gown in the etching, La Preciosa, Bartsch 120, NH 205); Bernhard, 1976, II, p.193, repr.; Sumowski, 1979 etc., III, 1980, under no.555x; Exhibition, Paris-Antwerp-London-New York, 1979–80, (ex. catalogue); Dudok van Heel, 1980, p.3, repr. fig.4; Schatborn, 1981.I, p.27, repr. fig.26; Exh. Paris, 1993, under no.52; Gordenker, 1995, p.25, repr. fig.1; Exh. New York, 1996 (no catalogue); Exh. Edinburgh-London, 2001, no.66, repr. and under no.67 (c.1636); Exh. Dresden, 2004, under nos 104 and 107 (attribution to Rembrandt questioned by Schatborn); Tonkovich, 2005, pp.155-71; New York, 2006, no.214, repr. (compares Benesch 0122; notes copy in Lugt Collection); Bevers, 2010, p.63, repr. fig.37 (Gerbrand van den Eeckhout); [Not in Schatborn, 2019].
PROVENANCE: Jan van Rijmsdijk (c.1730-1788/9; L.2167); William Tighe (according to Fairfax Murray); Charles Fairfax Murray, from whom purchased in 1909 through Galerie Alexandre Imbert, Rome, by Pierpont Morgan; his son, J. Pierpont Morgan Jr., by whom presented to the present repository, 1924.
[1] For examples of an “8” resembling a “9” on its side, as here, see, for example, the drawings by Jean de La Chambre the Younger published by Royalton-Kisch, 1998.I. In the eighteenth century, there was a common belief that Rembrandt had died in a year other than 1669. Roger de Piles thought he died in 1668, while Houbraken believed the date to be 1674.
[2] Repr. Bevers, 2010, p.54, fig. 36.
[3] Fondation Custodia, Paris, inv.8548, as pointed out in New York, 2006, no.214.
First posted 11 April 2017.
Benesch 0319
Subject: A Woman in a Rich Costume, seen from behind, full-length
Medium: Pen and brown ink, touched with white, with some later retouching in black ink (in the index and little finger of the left hand and in the thumb on the right); ruled framing line in pen and brown ink.
194 x 155. Watermark: coat-of-arms with the letters WR
COMMENTS: See the notes to Benesch 0318, which appears to be by the same hand and belong to the same ‘series’ of drawings. It is also worth comparing Benesch 0321, which again shows a figure from behind in a comparably rich costume; but the style there is more economical, whether in the use of the pen or the brush.
Like Benesch 0318, the identification of the figure as an actor in a play is uncertain although probable (see also under Benesch 0120). If so, it remains uncertain whether she is Badeloch, from Vondel’s play Gijsbrecht van Aemstel, as has been suggested (see Literature below).
The minor retouchings noted under Medium above have not generally been remarked before; there is also a pentimento in the left hand, which had a thumb, subsequently erased.
Condition: a tear near right edge; some stains and minor discolouration.
Summary attribution: Gerbrand van den Eeckhout?
Date: c.1638-40
COLLECTION: D Dresden, Kupferstich-Kabinett (L.1647; inv. C 1980-494)
FURTHER LITERATURE/REMARKS: Heucher, 1738, p.116 (Bureau XV); Valentiner, 1932, p.200, repr. fig.3 (workshop; relates to figure Beheading of Baptist, Rijksmuseum, then often attributed to C. Fabritius); Gerson, 1936, no.Z LXXXVI (not by P. Koninck, to whom originally attributed in Dresden collection); Benesch, II, 1954/73, no.319, repr. fig. 361/389 (Rembrandt, c.1636; compares Benesch 0318 and the pose to Benesch 0321); Sumowski, 1956-57, p.258; Exh. Dresden, 1960, no.15; Haverkamp-Begemann, 1961, p.25 (male, not female actor); Albach, 1979, p.22, repr. fig.22; Van de Waal, Van de Waal, 1969, p.147, repr. (represents Badeloch [as reported by VRA on basis Waal’s research [Kunstchronik, 1957, pp.135-37]); V. Volskaya, in Isskustvo, 4, 1961, pp.54-60 (Badeloch); Sumowski, 1979 etc., IV, p.1877, under no.12 (not Fabritius [see Valentiner, 1932 above]);[1] Exh. Edinburgh-London, 2001, no.67, repr. (c.1636-37); Exh. Dresden, 2004, no.107, repr. (c.1638; ); Bevers, 2005, p.481 (Flinck?); Exh. Paris, 2006, no.70, repr. (Rembrandt?; second half of the 1630s); Bevers, 2010, p.63, repr. fig.35 (Eeckhout); [Not in Schatborn, 2019].
PROVENANCE: Gottfried Wagner (d.1725), Leipzig; from whose collection acquired by the present repository in 1728.
[1] In an old annotation on the mount (which I saw in 1992), Sumowski suggested an attribution to Fabritius.
First posted 21 April 2017.
Benesch 0320
Subject: A Weeping Woman in Rich Attire, full-length, profile to left
Verso: collectors’ marks only.
Medium: Pen and brown ink with brown wash; ruled framing line in pen and brown ink.
188 x 132. Watermark: uncertain, but with letters “WR”
COMMENTS: The costume is similar to that in Benesch 0316 and the drawing seems to belong to the same group. In style, too, there are analogies in the bold wash and the zigzag hatching in the sleeve to the drawings of actors now thought to be by Gerbrand van den Eeckhout (see Benesch 0316-19 and under Benesch 120). However, the wash here tends sometimes to flatten rather than enhance the underlying forms. When in the Koenigs collection the drawing was ascribed to Nicolaes Maes and first attributed to Rembrandt by Benesch. Govert Flinck has also been suggested as its author, not unreasonably.[1]
The drawings may depict an actor in a female role, but it remains uncertain whether she is Badeloch, from Vondel’s play Gijsbrecht van Aemstel, as has been suggested (see Literature below). The gesture with the kerchief resembles the woman in Rembrandt’s – perhaps later – painting of Christ and the Woman Taken in Adultery, of 1644, now in the National Gallery, London.[2]
Condition: generally good; some foxing or spotting upper right.
Summary attribution: Gerbrand van den Eeckhout?
Date: c.1638-40
COLLECTION: NL Rotterdam, Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen (inv. R 53)
FURTHER LITERATURE/REMARKS: Exh. Dordrecht, 1934, no.11; Benesch, 1947, p.22, under no.69; Benesch, II, 1954/73, no.320, repr. fig.364/390 (c.1636; headdress of ostrich and heron feathers; compares Benesch 0316-17); Sumowski, 1956-57, p.258 (associated by Bredius with the Woman Taken in Adultery painting in London, Bredius 566; Corpus, V, 3; Corpus, VI, 196); Van Gelder, 1957, p.119; Haverkamp-Begemann, 1961, pp.25-26 (male actor in female role); Sumowski, 1961, p.4, under no.122; Volskaya, 1961, pp.54-60, repr. p.59 (represents Badeloch); Rotterdam, 1969, p.23, repr. fig.16; Van de Waal, 1969, pp.145-49, repr. fig.6 (represents Badeloch [as reported by VRA on basis Waal’s research in Kunstchronik, 1957, pp.135-37]); Haverkamp-Begemann, 1971, p.98; Exh. Paris, 1974, no.76, repr. fig.21; Exh. Leningrad-Moscow-Kiev, 1974, no.85, repr.; Van de Waal, 1974, pp.74 and 76, repr. fig.6; Bernard, 1976, p.192; Rotterdam, 1988, no.77, repr. (Flinck, comparing Copenhagen Soldier, Sumowski 953x); Exh. Bremen, 2000, p.116, n.4, repr. fig b;Exh. Rotterdam, 2005-2006, no.60, repr.; Exh. Istanbul, 2006, no.60, repr.; Exh. Cleves, 2015, no.??. [Not in Schatborn, 2019].
PROVENANCE: Earl of Dalhousie (L.717a, with letters “JG”, L.1460d); P. & D. Colnaghi; Paul Cassirer; acquired in 1923 by Franz Koenigs (L.1023a); D.G. van Beuningen, by whom given to the present repository in 1940.
[1] By Giltaij in Rotterdam, 1988, no.77.
[2] As noted by Sumowski, 1956-57, p.258, who thought the drawing might be Rembrandt’s study for the figure (for the painting, see Bredius 566; Corpus, V, 3; Corpus, VI, 196).
First posted 23 April 2017.
Benesch 0321
Subject: An Actor or Woman in Rich Costume, full-length, moving away to right in profil perdu
Medium: Pen and brown ink with brown wash on paper prepared pinkish pale brown; ruled framing line in pen and dark brown ink.
205 x 140. Chain lines vertical.
COMMENTS: The drawing has long been associated with the many drawings of actors and with Joost van den Vondel’s play, Gijsbrecht van Aemstel (see under Benesch 0120 and Literature below) but considerable uncertainty remains about the identification. The costume differs from the others that are likewise often thought to represent the character of Badeloch (see Benesch 0317, 0318, 0319 and 0320).
Yet the attribution to Rembrandt seems more convincing than in the other cases. Among the documentary drawings, there are links with the iron-gall ink drawings of c.1638-38 (cf. Benesch 0157, 0161 recto, and 0423 recto and verso), as well as with the study for the 1638 etching of Adam and Eve, especially in the handling of the wash (Benesch 0164). Compare also, for example, Benesch 0239, Benesch 0250, Benesch 0296 and Benesch 0314-15, which similarly combine clarity and subtlety of penmanship with lively yet delicate brushwork.
Condition: Mediocre, with overall fading and discolouration of both the ink and the paper; small repaired tears top left and centre left edge; small nicks down right edge; an original horizontal paper crease across the bottom.
Summary attribution: Rembrandt
Date: c.1638?
COLLECTION: D Leipzig, Museum der bildenden Künste (L.1669; inv. NI. 470)
FURTHER LITERATURE/REMARKS: Leipzig, 1913, no.118; Voss, 1913-14, p.223; Benesch, II, 1954/73, no.321, repr. (c.1636; connects with etching of Death Appearing to a Young Couple); Volskaya, 1961, pp.54-60 (represents Badeloch); Scheidig, 1962, p.46, fig.46; Exh. Budapest, 1969, no.112; Van de Waal, 1969, pp.145-49, repr. fig.6 (represents Badeloch [as reported by Van Regteren Altena on basis Waal’s research in Kunstchronik, 1957, pp.135-37]; but actor appears to be male, as expected, while other ‘Badeloch’ drawings appear to show a female; agrees with Benesch’s placement of the drawing with his second group of actor drawings, Benesch 0316-22); Albach, 1979, pp.2-32, repr. fig.18; Exh. Kiev, 1979, pp.42, 47, repr. p.43; Exh. Yokohama-Sapporo-Hiroshima, 1985-6, no.106, repr. p.134; Leipzig, 1987, p.114, repr. p.119; Leipzig, 1990, no.43 (entry by Karl-Heinz Mehnert; c.1638-40; follows Benesch and the ‘Badeloch’ theory); Exh. Los Angeles, 2009-10, no.16.1, repr. (c.1638; not related to Vondel’s play [as de Winkel, 2006, pp.244-46]); Bevers, 2010, p.61, repr. fig.33 (the last of the drawings perhaps related to Vondel’s Gijsbrecht van Aemstel that is still considered to be by Rembrandt); Schatborn, 2019, no.253, repr. (c.1636).
First posted 4 February 2018.
Benesch 0322
Subject: Half-Length Study of a Woman or Actor in a Plumed Hat, turned to left
Medium: Pen and brown ink.
Inscribed verso in pen and brown ink: “PL” (in ligature) and in a 20th-century hand in graphite: “780 […] some paper […]”
94 x 52.
COMMENTS: The drawing has been grouped among the sketches that appear to be based on actors (see under Benesch 0120) and was compared by Benesch with Benesch 0316 and 0318. Yet the facial characterisation here is far more incisive, convincing and securely drawn, comparable to Benesch 0273 in this regard, and appears to suggest a male actor in female garb.[1]
However, apart from the face, the drawing has many points in common with figure drawings that include drapery by Govert Flinck, such as Benesch 0069, 0119 and 0124. In the clothes, the line seems unusually even-tempered for Rembrandt as also somewhat hesitant or confused in the rendition of the details, not least the hands. For this reason the attribution to Flinck should be preferred to that to Rembrandt. But as noted elsewhere, the master and his pupils almost certainly drew such figures together and at the same time, and on this occasion the pupil succeeded in emulating his master more closely than usual.
Condition: presumably trimmed from a larger sheet; some surface discolouration.
Summary attribution: Govert Flinck?
Date: c.1638
COLLECTION: CH, Geneva, Private Collection (Jean Bonna)
FURTHER LITERATURE/REMARKS: Robinson, 1869, no.780; Gathorne-Hardy, 1902, no.98; Hofstede de Groot, 1906, no.981 (1635-40); Benesch, II, 1956/73, no.322, repr. (c,1636; groups with drawings of actors; style closest to Benesch 0316 and Benesch 0318); Van de Waal, 1969, p.147, repr. fig.8; Exh. London-Oxford, , 1971-2, no.45; Exh. Geneva, 2006; De Winkel, 2006, p.245; Exh. Paris, 2008, no.27; Strasser, 2013, no.44, repr. (c.1638-40; compares face to that of young Tobias in Benesch 0547; the figure in every sense masculine; tempting to retain the drawing for Rembrandt himself); [Not in Schatborn, 2019].
PROVENANCE: J.C. Robinson (L.1433, almost completely erased); John Malcolm of Poltalloch; The Hon. Alfred Erskine Gathorne Hardy; The Hon. Robert Gathorne-Hardy; his sale, Amsterdam, Sotheby Mak van Waay, 21 March, 1977, lot 77; British Rail Pension Fund; with Richard Day, London.
[1] See Strasser, 2013, no.44, who believes the costume is also male. However, compare Benesch 0316a, not least for the plumed cap.
First posted 5 February 2018.
Benesch 0323
Subject: A Woman Kneeling on a Step, turned to right
Medium: Pen and brown ink with brown wash, corrected with white; ruled framing lines in pen and brown ink.
103 x 90.
COMMENTS: Although described as a school work in Frédéric Reiset’s later nineteenth-century inventory of drawings in the Louvre (1869-1900), the sketch found favour as a Rembrandt with Frits Lugt (Paris, 1933), followed by Benesch.[1] The latter rightly compared the kneeling figure in Benesch 0121, and the style accords with many works now ascribed like that drawing more reasonably to Govert Flinck, and placed at the end of his apprenticeship with Rembrandt in c.1636. The somewhat loose modelling and the even pressure of the pen seem wholly characteristic of Flinck. The kneeling woman was probably intended for a biblical illustration from the Old Testament.
The drawing was originally mounted together with four other drawings when it entered the Louvre in 1796 (inventory numbers 22962A-D, which include Benesch 0268, 0269, 0333 and what is clearly a school work, Paris, 1933, no.1324).
Condition: generally good.
Summary attribution: Govert Flinck?
Date: c.1636?
COLLECTION: F Paris, Musée du Louvre (L.1955; inv.22962, formerly NIII8637 and MA8157)
FURTHER LITERATURE/REMARKS: Paris, 1933, no.1173 (attributed to Rembrandt; c.1635); Benesch, 1935, p.22; Benesch, II, 1954/73, no.323, repr. (c.1636, follows Lugt for the attribution, which has “much probability”; compares the kneeling figure in Benesch 0121; states that the base or step is a later addition); [Not in Schatborn, 2019].
PROVENANCE: Jonathan Richardson, sen. (L.2184, barely visible); Charles-Paul-Jean-Baptiste Bourgevin Vialart, comte de Saint-Morys; seized by the Revolutionary Government, 1793; entered the Louvre in 1796. [2]
[1] Benesch suggested that the lower section – the “base”, as he called it – was added by a later hand, but this does not appear to be the case.
[2] In the MS Inventaire du Musée Napoleon (the following from the Louvre website, 5 February 2018): Dessins. Vol.6, p.1039, chap. : Ecole hollandaise, Carton 83. (…) Numéro: 8157. Nom du maître: Idem [[ Rembrandt /&. Numéro d’ordre dans l’oeuvre du maître: 21. Désignation des sujets: Sur le même carton cinq dessins: l’un à la plume et lavé, représente une femme agenoux ; les autres sont faits à la plume, et représentent des têtes. Dimensions: H. 10,5 x L. 9,5 cm [[la femme agenoux]] ; H. 7 x L. 11,5 cm [[le plus grand des autres]]. Origine: Idem & Collection nouvelle /&. Emplacement actuel: Idem & Calcographie du Musée Napoléon /&. Observations: Idem & [Remis au Musée pour être relié] [[à l’encre]] ]]. Signe de recollement: [Vu] [[au crayon]] [Vu] [[au crayon]] [Vu] [[au crayon]] [Vu] [[au crayon]] [Vu] [[au crayon]] [[trait oblique / au crayon / sur le n° d’ordre]]. Cote: 1DD38
First posted 6 February 2018.
Benesch 0324
Subject: A Man Seated on a Step, wearing a flat cap
Verso: blank (apart from Inscriptions, qv)
Medium: Pen and brown ink with brown wash and corrections in white bodycolour (the paper now appearing pinkish-brown overall on the recto only); ruled framing lines in pen and greyish-brown ink.
Inscribed verso in graphite at top: “Hellegers=¼ 020=” and in Esdaile’s hand in pen and brown ink: “1835 WE”
147 x 138. Watermark: Strasburg lily in a crowned shield, the letters “WR” below; chain lines: 26h (c.16 laid lines per cm)
COMMENTS: Long regarded as a fine Rembrandt drawing of the 1630s, with time various reasons have emerged for revising this opinion. Iconographically, the drawing is related to those associated with the actor, Willem Barthelsz. Ruyter (see under Benesch 0120). See also the similar figures in Benesch 0264 and Benesch 0299. A considerable number of them are now assigned with some confidence to Gerbrand van den Eeckhout, including Benesch 0122, the first of the comparisons made by Benesch to support the attribution to Rembrandt of the present sheet. Benesch 0299 is comparable in style, as also Benesch 0312. The use of the wash, always one of van den Eeckhout’s fortes, including the man’s shadow, is comparable to Benesch 0267.
The distinction from Rembrandt’s own style is clear from the less firm or fluent, more interrupted outlines, as well as from the treatment of the drapery, as may be seen by comparing, for example, Benesch 0293 recto, Benesch 0315, Benesch 0321, Benesch 0405 and Benesch 0407. The documentary drawings by Rembrandt undermine the attribution to him still further.
Condition: Somewhat discoloured.
Summary attribution: Gerbrand van den Eeckhout?[1]
Date: c.1638.
COLLECTION: USA New York, Metropolitan Museum of Art (inv. 29.100.935).
FURTHER LITERATURE/REMARKS: Michel, 1893, p.457; Lippmann, 1, no.148b; Valentiner, 1930-31, p.140, repr. fig.5; Benesch, 1935, p.24; Ivins, 1942, repr. pl.31; Ivins, 1942.I, p.13, repr.; New York, 1943, no.8, repr.; Benesch, 1947, no.72, repr.; New York, 1952, pp.72 and 222, cat. no. 66, repr.; Benesch, 2, 1954/73, no.324, repr. (c.1636; compares Benesch 0120, 0339 and 0340; and foliage to Benesch 0463-64); Exh. New York-Cambridge, 1960, no.25, repr. pl.21 (c.1636-38; compares light contrasts and portal to etching of Dismissal of Hagar, Bartsch 30; NH 166; resembles the man in Benesch 0120, an actor, and seated young man in the Hundred Guilder Print; also compares Benesch 0299); New York, 1964, no.87, repr.; Slive, 1965, no.154, repr.; Van de Waal, 1969, p.146, n.11 (same sitter as Benesch 0120); Exh. New York, 1985 (no cat.); Mules, 1985, p. 19, repr.; Exh. New York, 1995-96, no.68 (“Rembrandt?”, 1635-40; relates to actor, Ruyters, and to Benesch 0120; Royalton-Kisch suggested [letter 17 March 1995] the mouth similar to Benesch 0292 Jewish Bride of 1635; some qualities reminiscent of Bol); Exh. New York, 2006 (no cat.); [Not in Schatborn, 2019]; Gnann, 2021, p.24 (as Benesch, 1955, compares foliage to Benesch 0463-64).
PROVENANCE: Joshua Reynolds (L.2364); Thomas Lawrence (L.2445); S. Woodburn; William Esdaile; his sale, London, Christie’s, 17 June, 1840, lot 13c (£3 5s to Geddes); Andrew Geddes; Francis Seymour Haden (L.227 on former backing); his sale, London, Sotheby’s, 15-19 June, 1891, lot 584 (£29 to Durand-Ruel); Galerie Durand-Ruel; Mr and Mrs H.O. Havemeyer; bequeathed by the latter (Louisine W. Havemeyer) to the present repository, 1929.
[1] My annotated copy of Benesch shows that I first doubted this drawing as a Rembrandt in 1987.
First posted 27 February 2018.
Benesch 0325
Subject: A Woman Seated, to right, wearing an exotic costume
Medium: Pen and brown (iron-gall) ink with brown wash, heightened with white, on paper prepared with pale brown wash.
200 x 162.
COMMENTS: The exotic garb worn by the woman portrayed has led to the drawing’s association with the etching, the Great Jewish Bride of 1635 (Bartsch 340; NH 154). It may be that the iconography of Esther was again intended here, but the use of iron-gall ink places the drawing later, c.1638-39 (see under Benesch 0157), the period to which the drawings of actors belong (see under Benesch 120), hence the date c.1638-39 suggested here. Many of the latter have now been assigned to Rembrandt’s pupils of the 1630s and a similar assessment of quality has been made of the present drawing.[1]
The iron-gall ink connects the drawing with some of the documentary drawings of the period c.1638-39 (see under Benesch 0157). Iron-gall ink and white heightening are here combined as in Benesch 0168 and 0442, yet the style here is wilder and the effect less coherent. The even tempo, pressure and width of the lines in pen, which are thinner, scratchier and less variegated than is usual for Rembrandt, is also troubling. Of the non-documentary drawings, one might compare Benesch 0158 in the Louvre, but the relative lack of discipline, restraint and overall structure in the Berlin drawing is unsettling. The Louvre drawing is closest in its use of thick, white heightening in the hanging section of the turban with its scratchy ornamentation; the wash in the lower right corner also compares well with that seen in and below the knees in Benesch 0325. There are also analogies with the Portrait of Titia van Uylenburgh of 1639 (Benesch 0441), which in the hair, shoulders, chest and the ruff or shawl occasionally exhibit similarly scratchy and hesitant lines and zigzags. The degree to which the background of Benesch 0325 is almost fully blocked in with wash, though unusual, fully succeeds in conveying a sense of impenetrable depth. There are comparisons to be had in this respect with Benesch 0406 and 0423 recto.
Are these similarities and qualities sufficient to retain the drawing under Rembrandt’s name? The penwork does seem too timid and scratchy for Rembrandt, while the wash and white heightening have stronger links with the master’s own work. Perhaps a somewhat mechanical drawing by a pupil, possibly a copy, was here reworked extensively by Rembrandt himself with the brush in brown wash and white bodycolour. Of his pupils, the name of Gerbrand van den Eeckhout has been invoked, and his interest in rich costumes during the 1630s makes the idea plausible, though stylistic comparisons that convince are lacking.[2]
Condition: Good apart from acidic effects of iron-gall ink, tending to flatten the image.
Summary attribution: School of Rembrandt [Gerbrand van den Eeckhout??], reworked by Rembrandt?
Date: c.1638-39.
COLLECTION: D Berlin, Staatliche Museen Berlin (inv.1558)
FURTHER LITERATURE/REMARKS: Amtliche Berichte, 1888, col.xliv (probably a study for the Great Jewish Bride etching, Bartsch 340; NH 154); Exh. Berlin, 1881, no.13 (as Amtliche Berichte); Lippmann, I, 7; Michel, 1893, p.573; Seidlitz, 1894, p.121 (1640s) Bode and Valentiner, 1906, p.70, repr. (c.1635; related to etching, Great Jewish Bride, Bartsch 340; NH 154); Hofstede de Groot, 1906, no.129 (c.1635; as Bode and Valentiner, 1906); Freise, Lilienfeld and Wichmann, 1914, no.116a (as HdG); Benesch, 1925, p.121 (c.1636); Berlin, 1930, p.233, Inv.1558 (as Bode and Valentiner, 1906); Exh. Berlin, 1930, no.238 (as Berlin, 1930); Lugt, 1931, p.59; Von Alte n, 1947, no.24 (early 1640s; model Geertje Dircx?); Benesch, 1947, no.76 (c.1636; not for the etching Bartsch 340; NH154); Benesch, II, 1954/73, no.325, repr. (c.1636; as Benesch, 1947); Exh. Berlin, 1956, no.55 (as Berlin, 1930); Slive, 1965, no.7 (c.1635); Exh. Berlin, 1968, no.4 (c.1635-36; motif relates to etching Bartsch 340; NH 154) Bernhard, 1976, p.180 (c.1636); Sumowski, 1979 etc., I, under no.96; (not in Berlin 2006); The Present Catalogue, 2018 (as School of Rembrandt, c.1638-39); Berlin, 2018, no.62, repr. (Van den Eeckhout, c.1638-39; compares Benesch 0171, a late work by Van den Eeckhout in Warsaw [Sumowski 649] and other Eeckhout drawings including later wash drawings); The Present Catalogue online, updated 2018 (‘School of Rembrandt [Gerbrand van den Eeckhout??] reworked by Rembrandt’, c.1638-39); [Not in Schatborn, 2019].
PROVENANCE: Thomas Dimsdale (L.2426); J.C. Robinson (L.1433) from whom acquired by the present repository in 1880.
[1] The drawing was omitted from Berlin, 2006 and included in Berlin, 2018, no.62 as by Gerbrand van den Eeckhout.
[2] The stylistic evidence for an attribution to Van den Eeckhout is assembled by Bevers in Berlin, 2018, no.62
First posted 2 March 2018; revised to the present attribution from ‘School of Rembrandt’ soon after re-examining the original, 26 November 2018.
Benesch 0326
Subject: A Bearded Man, half-length, in exotic costume
Verso: laid down.
Medium: Pen and brown (iron-gall) ink on paper prepared pale brown; ruled framing lines in pen and brown ink.
Inscribed by a later (18th-19th century) hand on the old blue card mat in pen and brown ink: “Rembrandt”
85 x 89. Watermark: none. Chain lines apparently horizontal.
COMMENTS: The figure was described by Benesch as a “Priest (?)” and his Sarastro-like appearance and costume might well link the drawing with the many other sketches by Rembrandt and his pupils of theatrical types (see under Benesch 0120); and the character appears to be caught in mid-declamation.
Most of these drawings are now ascribed to Rembrandt pupils, including Govert Flinck and Gerbrand van den Eeckhout, and in the present case the former seems marginally more probable than the latter. Despite the fact that in 1983 I already rejected the drawing (MS notes), the connections in style with documentary Rembrandt drawings in the same (or a comparable) medium, including especially Benesch 0161 and Benesch 0168, argue in favour of retaining the attribution to Rembrandt himself. Perhaps closer still is the Sketch for Joseph Interpreting the Dreams of the Butler and Baker, now in the J. Paul Getty Museum (inv. 95.GA.18; Not in Benesch), and there are stylistic links with Benesch 0245. As an iron-gall ink drawing, a date c.1637-39 is probable, but the likely association with the theatre makes a date c.1638 acceptable.
However – and arguing against an attribution to either Rembrandt or his pupils – the ink appears more ‘sticky’ or resinous than is usually the case. And this same ink appears to have been used not only for the framing lines, which partly extend onto the surrounding blue, card mat, but also for the inscription on the mat. These characteristics point to a later imitation, and I believe this is primarily what made me hesitant when I first studied the drawing in 1983. But for the reasons described above, I cannot wholly discount the possibility that the drawing is indeed by Rembrandt, in which case the framing-lines and inscription, which are clearly later, must have been made in a deceptively similar ink.
Condition: generally good.
Summary attribution: Rembrandt??
Date: c.1638
COLLECTION: D Hannover, Landesmuseum (Kestner Museum inv.N.205)
FURTHER LITERATURE/REMARKS: Benesch, 1935, p.23; Benesch, II, 1954/73 no.326, repr. (c.1636; compares Benesch 0325); Hannover, 1960, p.53, no.98, repr. pl.30; [Not in Schatborn, 2019].
PROVENANCE: H. Lempertz, sen., Cologne (L.1337 verso); August Nitzschner (1856-1929) bequest to Kestner-Museum, Hannover, in 1929; transferred to the present repository in 1979.[1]
[1] I am grateful to Antje-Fee Köllermann of the Landesmuseum for help with the provenance of the drawing (email correspondence, March 2018).
First posted 3 March 2018.
Benesch 0327
Subject: Three Studies of a Bearded Man on Crutches and a Woman, the man wearing a high cap and long cloak, at left holding his hand out to the woman giving alms
Medium: Pen and brown ink; ruled framing lines in pen and brown ink.
Verso: see Inscriptions.
Inscribed with a mark or number (resembles ‘ō’) in pen and brown ink, lower left, probably cut from a longer number such as 200 or 210 – cf. Benesch 0688, also in the British Museum; Cracherode’s initials (see Provenance below) [lower right]* verso, in graphite: ‘43’ [in a circle].
- * The ‘ō’ seems to be in the same ink as the framing lines. The ink of the drawing is a little warmer in tone, while the ink of Cracherode’s mark is different again – rather thin and more liquid.
152 x 185. Watermark: none; chain lines: 28/29v.
COMMENTS: This well-known drawing may belong to the beginning of Rembrandt’s Amsterdam period, c.1632-5, a time when the chronology of his pen and ink sketches is difficult to reconstruct as no securely datable example is preserved before c.1634. In favour of such a date is its stylistic proximity to several etchings of this period, including the ‘Blind Fiddler’ of 1631 (Bartsch 138, NH 77).[1] To a lesser extent the drawing is comparable to the silver-point ‘Portrait of Saskia’ in Berlin of 1633 (Benesch 0427), which exhibits a similarly dense hatching for the shadows. This, and the exceptional degree of detail in the head and hat of the nearest figure, are not paralleled in Rembrandt’s later work, although the style of his drawings in the period c.1635-8 sometimes remains superficially analogous. For example, the cursory sketch of a woman on the left of the present sheet resembles her counterpart on the left of the Berlin drawing, ‘The Naughty Boy’, usually dated c.1635 (Benesch 0401),[2] and similarities exist with the Berlin studies (Benesch 0140-0141) for the ‘St John the Baptist preaching’ of c.1633-34 (Bredius 555, Corpus A106, Vol. VI, no.110). In a study in New York (Benesch 0336) for the same painting, it seems that the same model was employed. Yet all these drawings are more fluid in style and less concerned with detail than the present sheet, which should therefore probably be dated before them, c.1632-4. The possibility that it was made as early as the Leiden period, admitted by several previous writers (see Literature below), should however be rejected on the basis of comparisons with drawings that were certainly made prior to the artist’s move to Amsterdam.[3] A recent proposal that the drawing must date from c.1636-40, because Ferdinand Bol made Benesch 0688 and was in Rembrandt’s studio at this period, fails to take the above arguments into account and also that Rembrandt’s pupils were often inspired by his works of an earlier period. Furthermore, Benesch 0688 is in any case likely to be by Rembrandt himself.
The purpose of the drawing is uncertain, beyond potentially forming raw material for his paintings and etchings. The varied poses of the same model, the rapid notation of the alms-giving woman on the left and the incisive details suggest that it was made from life,[4] as Rembrandt observed the man with his crutches of different sizes either receiving alms and pocketing the proceeds, or else fishing a coin from his pocket in order to pay the woman. In a general way, the study can be related to Rembrandt’s many etchings of beggars made at the beginning of the 1630s, which may have been inspired by Jacques Callot.[5] A pupil’s drawing in the Rijksmuseum (Benesch 0328) of a figure resembling that on the right of the present sheet is presumably based on it or on another similar study, now lost.[6]
The two figures on the left (the beggar and woman) were etched by Cecilia Lucy Brightwell, in reverse.
Condition: good; a few very small nicks and tears in the borderline, two on the right side, two on the left, and a slim repair along the top edge; a few residual fox-marks; a small, accidental mark in black chalk below the second figure from the right; perhaps a little trimmed: a few lines at the extreme right edge do not belong to the figure on the right and the woman on the left may also have been cut, while at the top a trial of the pen is partly trimmed away. The drawing was presumably once laid down on a washed eighteenth-century mat of the type found on other drawings from Cracherode’s collection, all now in the British Museum.
Summary attribution: Rembrandt
Date: c.1632-35
COLLECTION: GB London, British Museum (Gg,2.252)
FURTHER LITERATURE/REMARKS: Bürger, 1858, p.401 (early); Vosmaer, 1877, p.602 (possibly by Eeckhout); Michel, 1893, p.581, repr. p.533; Seidlitz, 1894, p.122 (early); Exh. 1899, London, no.A7 (c.1631-6); Lippmann, I, no.111; Kleinmann, III, no.35; Hofstede de Groot, 1906, no.919 (c.1631; compares etching and painting of this year, ‘The Blind Fiddler’, Bartsch 138, NH 77, and the onlookers in the ‘Simeon in the Temple’ in The Hague, Bredius 543; Corpus, I, no.A34, vol.VI, no.47); Baldwin Brown, 1907, pp.26 and 117, repr. pl.3; Exh. Paris, 1908, p.52, under no.122 (quotes Hofstede de Groot’s ‘rapprochement’ with Bartsch 138, NH 77); Saxl, 1908, pp.233-4 (woman possibly Saskia; compares ‘Peasant in high Cap, Bartsch 133, NH 178, of 1639); Wurzbach, 1910, p.418 (as Hofstede de Groot, 1906); Hind, 1912, I, p.55, repr. pl.XV; London, 1915, no.22 (c.1630-35); Stockholm, 1920, p.29, repr. fig.32 (compares HdG.1609 in Stockholm [not in Benesch]); Hell, 1930, p.21, repr. fig.4 (early 1630s); Hind, 1932, p.49, repr. pl.XXV; Benesch, 1935, p.24 (c.1636; with reminiscences of earlier period); Exh. London, 1938, no.22 (c.1630-35); Amsterdam, 1942, p.42, under no.82 (see n.6 below); Poortenaar, 1943, no.82, repr. (c.1630); Poortenaar, 1943[I], repr. p.63; Rosenberg, 1948/64, I, p.149/250-51, repr. fig.212 (Leiden period; beggar subjects inspired by Callot); Benesch, II, 1954/73, no.327, repr. fig.367/ 401 (c.1636); Exh. London, 1956, p. 15, no.2; Rosenberg, 1956.I, p.69 (early 1630s); White, 1962, pl.17 (c.1636); Slive, 1965, I, no.113, repr. (c.1633); Haak, 1976/74, no.19, repr. (c.1636); Bernhard, 1976, II, repr. p.163; Exh. London, 1984, no 3; Amsterdam, 1985, p.106, under no.48, n.7 and pp.211-12, under no.104, repr. fig.104a (c.1636; notes other studies of old men and beggars from all stages of Rembrandt’s career; see n.6 below); Exh. London, 1992, no.8, repr.; Schatborn, 1994, p.22 (a model sheet of varied poses, possibly drawn ‘uit het hooft’); Schatborn, 1996, p.222 (second half of 1630s); New York, 1999, p.212, under no.67, repr. fig.67.1 (compares Lehmann collection drawing, Benesch 260); Rosand, 2002, p.230, repr. fig.215 (momentum of graphic creation visible in the relationship between the figures); Exh. Vienna, 2004, no.36, repr.; Berlin, 2006, p.180, under no.53 (sees compositional analogies with later drawing in Berlin, Benesch 1141); Exh. London, 2006 (no catalogue); Exh. Los Angeles, 2009-10, no.10.1 (c.1636-40; narrative of same man seen three times); London, 2010 (online), no.7, repr.; Exh. Amsterdam, 2014, under no.3, repr. fig.3a (c.1636-40, datable because Bol made Benesch 0688 and in Rembrandt’s studio at this period); Schatborn, 2019, no.239, repr. (c.1636).
PROVENANCE: Probably Neyman sale, Paris, 8 July, 1776, lot 685 (with Benesch 0688, also in the British Museum): ‘Deux feuilles contenant chacune trois études de différents vieillards avec bâtons, exécutées de même’ [i.e. in pen and bistre], sold for 18 francs; bequeathed by the Rev. C. M. Cracherode to the present repository, 1799 (L.6O6).
[1] As first noted by Hofstede de Groot in 1906 (see Lit. above).
[2] Benesch justifiably compared the woman in the present drawing with the head of one of Lot’s daughters in a drawing in Weimar (Benesch 0128), which he dated c.1636 but which may also be earlier.
[3] See the sheets referred to under cat. nos.1, 2 and 3 (Gg,2.253; T,14.8 and Oo,9.95).
[4] Perhaps surprisingly, Schatborn, 1994, p.22 suggests that the drawing was made from the imagination rather than from life.
[5] E.g. Bartsch/NH nos.164/45, 173/44, 163/46, 160/32, 174/50, 179/49, 165/51, 151/48, 162/41, 172/47, 327/36, 138/77, 302/38, 366/33). The pose of the central figure is comparable to that of Tobit in the etching of c.1629, Bartsch 153/31.
[6] Rejected by Henkel (Amsterdam, 1942, no.82) and Schatborn (Amsterdam, 1985, no.104). Described as a pupil’s copy of c.1636 by Loevinson-Lessing, 1971, under no.28.
First posted 3 March 2018.
Benesch 0328
Subject: An Old Man in a Tall Hat, full-length, leaning on a stick
Verso: see Inscriptions.
Medium: Pen and brown ink on paper prepared yellowish-brown.
Inscribed verso, vertically, in graphite: “ex collection Chevalier Claussin, cat.82.219, coll Desperet, W. Mayor, Rembrandt, 128”
135 x 68. Watermark: none; chain lines: 25h
COMMENTS: This is a somewhat feeble attempt by a pupil to emulate Rembrandt, such as the figure on the right of Benesch 0327. The lines in the lower half and especially the feet are lifeless and despite imitating a pentimento, reveal the drawing rather clearly to be an imitation or copy, lacking all spontaneity, while the more lively handling in the hat, head, torso and arms is incoherent. The drawing was similarly assessed by several earlier writers.
Condition: some foxing and minor staining, otherwise good.
Summary attribution: School of Rembrandt
Date: c.1637-38
COLLECTION: NL Amsterdam, Rijksmuseum, Rijksprentenkabinet (L.2228, inv.RP-T-1930-36).
FURTHER LITERATURE/REMARKS: Mayor, 1871, no.361; Hogarth, 1875, no.639; Exh. Leiden, 1903, no.31; Exh. Leiden, 1906, no.61; Hofstede de Groot, 1906, no.1282 (early); Exh. Paris, 1908, no.40; Exh. Amsterdam, 1913, no.52; Exh. Leiden, 1916, no.9 (c.1635); Von Seidlitz, 1917, p.253; Exh. The Hague, 1930, no.40 (c.1635); Amsterdam, 1942, no.82, repr. pl.65 (follower of Rembrandt, early); Benesch, II, 1954/73, no.328 (c.1636-37; disagrees with Henkel in Amsterdam, 1942); Amsterdam, 1985, no.104, repr. (school work, c.1635-39); [Not in Schatborn, 2019].
PROVENANCE: J.J. de Claussin (see verso inscription; not mentioned in his sale, Paris, Schroth, 2 December, 1844); E. Desperet (L.721 – the mark was lower left but removed by the Rijksmuseum); his sale, Paris, Clément, 12-13 June, 1865, part of lot 278; William Mayor (L.2799 – the mark was at lower right but removed by the Rijksmuseum; see also Mayor, 1871 and Hogarth, 1875 in Literature above); Max Freiherr von Heyl zu Herrnsheim (L.2870); his sale, Stuttgart, Gutekunst, 25-26 May, 1903, no.2490, sold for 205 Marks; Cornelis Hofstede de Groot, by whom given in 1906 with usufruct till 14 April 1930.
First posted 4 March 2018.
Benesch 0329
Subject: Head of a Bearded Man in a High Cap, profile to left
Medium: Pen and brown ink on paper prepared light brown; ruled framing lines in pen and brown ink.
66 x 53. Watermark: none.
COMMENTS: This drawing and Benesch 0330, 0331, 0336 and 1082 have apparently been mounted together on one mat since at least 1908, when they were exhibited together in Paris; they apparently featured in the same lot in the Richardson sale of 1747, together with another drawing in the Morgan Library (not in Benesch; New York, 2006 no.71, inv. I, 194 – see Provenance). Benesch related the present drawing especially to the first two of these and also grouped them close to Benesch 0332-35. Of the latter, Benesch 0333 has already been rejected and a critical analysis of the works in the group is therefore required.
Of the drawings referred to above, the paper here is certainly very similar to that of Benesch 0330 and Benesch 0331. That these three drawings are all by the same hand seems self-evident. But the attribution to Rembrandt seems precarious once a comparison is made between the present work (for example) and the heads of the male figures on the left and right of Benesch 0327 of c.1632-35, or with the head on the right of the documentary drawing, Benesch 0336 of c.1634-35. These are both comparable types and likely to have been drawn at around the same time. The comparatively pedestrian though neat quality of Benesch 0329 becomes readily apparent, as does the more hesitant modelling of the cap and collar. There is a slip by the tip of the nose and the evenness of the execution throughout seems comparable to a copy rather than an original sketch. Thus the drawing might be an emulation by a highly competent pupil, such as Ferdinand Bol or Gerbrand van den Eeckhout (cf. the head in Benesch 0318). Rembrandt’s many etchings as well as his drawings of beggars of the Leiden years and later could have provided the inspiration.
However, the above arguments are at least partly undermined if one takes the relative size of the drawings into account: the heads, especially in Benesch 0329 and Benesch 0330 are minuscule, about half the size of the head on the right of Benesch 0336. Yet a high degree of quality is maintained nevertheless. For this reason, the possibility that these drawings are by Rembrandt is here retained, although it has to be said that the fussiness of the shading in Benesch 0330 and 0331 does seem somewhat uncharacteristic of Rembrandt as a draughtsman. Yet his etchings, including the Blind Fiddler of 1631 (Bartsch 138; NH 77) and the rare Study Sheet with Men’s Heads of c.1630-31 (Bartsch 366; NH 33) replicate this characteristic to a satisfactory degree. Sceptics will latch onto these anomalies, while others will regard these drawings as a slightly special case, as though Rembrandt were challenging himself to draw on an exceptionally small scale. The above comparisons with the etchings suggests that they may be earlier than has generally been assumed. See further the comparison made under Benesch 0332, Fig.a, which provides some further support for the attribution to Rembrandt.
Condition: generally good, with a few minor and mostly peripheral brown stains.
Summary attribution: Rembrandt?
Date: c.1632?
COLLECTION: USA New York, Morgan Library (inv. I, 174d)
FURTHER LITERATURE/REMARKS: Exh. Paris, 1908, no.496; Exh. New York, 1919 (no catalogue); Exh. San Francisco, 1920, no.365; Benesch, II, 1954/73, no.329, repr. fig.368/398 (c.1636; relates to Benesch 0330, 0331, 0332, 0334 and 0335, forming a repertoire for Rembrandt’s biblical paintings); Exh. New York-Cambridge, 1960, no.16, repr. pl.14; Exh. Minneapolis, 1965-66, n.p.; Bernhard, 1976, II, p.190, repr.; Sumowski, 1979 etc., I, under no.165x; Exh. New York, 1996 (no catalogue); New York, 2006, no.206, repr. (c.1632-34; see under Benesch 0330); [Not in Schatborn, 2019].
PROVENANCE: ?Jonathan Richardson, sen.; possibly his sale, London, Cock’s, 23 January- 11 February, 1747, 10th night (2 February), lot 22 (one of six, see main text above), bt Chauncey, 3s-4d; possibly William Esdaile; Edward J. Riggall; his sale, London, Sotheby’s, 6-8 June, 1901, one of five in lot 527 (with Benesch 0330, 0331, 0336 and 1082: “Rembrandt van Rijn. Studies of Heads, pen and ink, from the Esdaile and other collections”, bt Fairfax Murray, £42.0.0; Charles Fairfax Murray, from whom purchased in 1909 through Galerie Alexandre Imbert, Rome, by Pierpont Morgan; inherited by his son, J. Pierpont Morgan, by whom given to the present repository, 1924.
First posted 17 March 2018.
Benesch 0330
Subject: Bust of a Bearded Man in a Fur-Trimmed Hat, turned in profile to right
Medium: Pen and brown ink on pinkish light brown paper; ruled framing line in pen and brown ink; the lower left area made up.
66 x 57. Watermark: none.
COMMENTS: See under Benesch 0329. The scale here is again unusually small and comparisons are therefore difficult.
The stronger accents in the fur trim may be compared with the hat of the beggar on the left of Benesch 0327. The trailing zigzag across the back of the shoulders is somewhat unusual but compare, for example, the similar touches in the lower parts of Benesch 0205.
Condition: good apart from the repaired area lower left; slight overall discolouration.
Summary attribution: Rembrandt?
Date: c.1632?
COLLECTION: USA New York, Morgan Library (inv. I,174b)
FURTHER LITERATURE/REMARKS: Exh. Paris, 1908, no.496/2; Exh. New York, 1919 (no catalogue); Exh. San Francisco, 1920, no.365; Benesch, II, 1954/73, no.330, repr. fig.369/396 (c.1636; refers to his entry on Benesch 0329; relates to Benesch 0333-34); Exh. New York-Cambridge, 1960, no.15, repr. pl.14; Exh. Minneapolis, 1965-66, n.p.; Bernhard, 1976, II, p.190, repr.; Exh. New York, 1996 (no catalogue); New York, 2006, no.203, repr. (c.1632-34; compares Benesch 0087, Benesch 0327; stronger touches have led, verbally, to the autograph status of the drawing being questioned); [Not in Schatborn, 2019].
PROVENANCE: ?Jonathan Richardson, sen.; possibly his sale, London, Cock’s, 23 January- 11 February, 1747, 10th night (2 February), lot 22 (one of five, presumably with Benesch 0329, 0331, 0336 and 1082), bt Chauncey, 3s-4d; possibly William Esdaile; Edward J. Riggall; his sale, London, Sotheby’s, 6-8 June, 1901, one of five in lot 527 (with Benesch 0329, 0331, 0336 and 1082: “Rembrandt van Rijn. Studies of Heads, pen and ink, from the Esdaile and other collections”, bt Fairfax Murray, £42.0.0; Charles Fairfax Murray, from whom purchased in 1909 through Galerie Alexandre Imbert, Rome, by Pierpont Morgan; inherited by his son, J. Pierpont Morgan, by whom given to the present repository, 1924.
First posted 17 March 2018.
Benesch 0331
Subject: Bust of a Bearded Old Man in a High, Fur-Trimmed Cap, profile to right
Medium: Pen and brown ink, with traces of corrections in white bodycolour at back of fur trim on the cap; traces of ruled framing lines in pen and brown ink.
78 x 64. Watermark: none.
COMMENTS: See the note to Benesch 0329. The comparison there made with the rare etched Study Sheet with Men’s Heads of c.1630-31 (Bartsch 366; NH 33)[1] is particularly apposite for the present drawing, especially with the head on the left edge of the print. Yet it has to be said that the much-interrupted outlines and rather scratchy handling almost throughout the drawing give cause for hesitation despite the highly persuasive and effective characterisation – a notable achievement on such a small scale. Few of Rembrandt’s pen drawings are datable to the first years of the Amsterdam period, before 1634, which exacerbates the already significant problems in assessing works that may date to this period.[2]
There are some broader and slightly more liquid lines in the lower parts of the figure’s collar and chest as well as at the point where the shadow begins in the hat (and just under the brim) which look to have been made with a different pen, perhaps at a later moment. Similar heads appear in the etched Sheet of Studies with Figures and Saskia in Bed of c.1640-41 (Bartsch 369; NH 177).[3]
Condition: some minor stains but generally good.
Summary attribution: Rembrandt?
Date: c.1632?
COLLECTION: USA New York, Morgan Library (inv. I, 174e).
FURTHER LITERATURE/REMARKS: Exh. Paris, 1908, no.496/5; Exh. New York, 1919 (no catalogue); Exh. San Francisco, 1920, no.365; Benesch, II, 1954/73, no.331, repr. fig.370/399 (c.1636; compares Benesch 0329 and the etched Sheet of Studies, Bartsch 369; NH 177); Exh. New York-Cambridge, 1960, no.17, repr. pl.14 (c.1634-36); Exh. Minneapolis, 1965-66, n.p.; Bernhard, 1976, II, p.191, repr.; White, 1969, I, p.159, repr. II, fig.233 (as Benesch); Sumowski, 1979 etc., I, under no.165x; Exh. New York, 1996 (no catalogue); White, 1999, p.179, repr. fig.242; Exh. Amsterdam-London, 2000-2001, under no.38, repr. fig.a (see n.3 below); Exh. Rome, 2002-3, under no.38, repr. fig.a; New York, 2006, no.205, repr. (c.1632-34; compares etching Studies of Men’s Heads of c.1631, Bartsch 366; NH 33, and Benesch 0327, 0329 and 0330); [Not in Schatborn, 2019].
PROVENANCE: Jonathan Richardson, sen. (L.2184);[4] possibly his sale, London, Cock’s, 23 January-11 February, 1747, 10th night (2 February), lot 22 (one of five, presumably with Benesch 0329, 0330, 0336 and 1082), bt Chauncey, 3s-4d; William Esdaile (L.2617); his sale, London, Christie’s, 18-25 June, 1840, probably one of two in lot 1054 (both as Rembrandt): “The Annunciation; from Sir J. Reynolds’s Collection; and head of an old man” bt Henry Graves with lot 1053, £1-11-6); Edward J. Riggall; his sale, London, Sotheby’s, 6-8 June, 1901, one of five in lot 527 (with Benesch 0329, 0330, 0336 and 1082): “Rembrandt van Rijn. Studies of Heads, pen and ink, from the Esdaile and other collections”, bt Fairfax Murray, £42.0.0; Charles Fairfax Murray, from whom purchased in 1909 through Galerie Alexandre Imbert, Rome, by Pierpont Morgan; inherited by his son, J. Pierpont Morgan, by whom given to the present repository, 1924.
[1] Made by Jane Shoaf Turner in New York, 2006, no.205.
[2] The Bust of an Old Man of 1634 in the Grossmann Album (Benesch 0257) is the first documentary pen drawing of the Amsterdam period.
[3] The comparison made by Ger Luijten in Exh. Amsterdam-London, 2000-2001 (see Literature).
[4] According to New York, 2006, on the old backing, now removed, is what may be a fragment of Richardson sen.’s pressmark (cf. L.2983-84).
First posted 18 March 2018.
Benesch 0332
Subject: Head of a Bearded Man in a Flat Cap, profile to left
Verso: blank
Medium: Pen and brown ink, touched with white; inscribed verso in graphite: “g.g.” [?]
54 x 31; chain lines: not measurable.
COMMENTS: Comparable to Benesch 0329-0331. Like Benesch 0331 (qv), parts of the drawing – this time in the centre of the head – appear to have be in a different ink but this may be due to a chemical reaction. Most of the drawing seems plausible for Rembrandt, with the provisos of scale and other anomalies mentioned under Benesch 0329 and Benesch 0331. Compare the underdrawing of the head of the Prodigal Son in Benesch 0519 (see Fig.a; in particular, note the eye and eyebrow) and the bearded, profile heads to left and right in Benesch 0667.
Condition: Restored (see Comments).
Summary attribution: Rembrandt?
Date: c.1632-35?
COLLECTION: F Bayonne, Musée Bonnat-Helleu (inv.1478 [1465]).
FURTHER LITERATURE/REMARKS: Exh. Paris, 1908, no.422; Benesch, II, 1954/73, no.332, repr. (c.1636); Exh. Bayonne, 1968-1969, no.25 ; Exh. Bayonne, 1975, no. 25. [Not in Schatborn, 2019].
PROVENANCE: Léon Bonnat (L.1714), by whom presented to the present repository in 1919.
First posted 25 March 2018.
Benesch 0332A (Benesch Addenda 8)
Subject: Bust of a Young Man with a High Barret
Verso: Laid down
Medium: Pen and brown ink.
Inscribed lower right in pen and brown ink, perhaps by Pierre-Jean Mariette for the sale of Pierre Crozat: “222”[1]
67 x 60.
COMMENTS: Although of quality, it is not possible to link the drawing very closely with any of Rembrandt’s documentary, or indeed other drawings (compare Benesch 0340, for example). Nor do the many figurative etchings of the 1630s lend support. Yet the links with Benesch 0332 are almost tangible in the frizzy calligraphy in the hair. However, cf. also the head in Benesch 0362, which is suggestive of Govert Flinck.[2]
In 2021 the compiler reassessed the drawing prior to its sale and, as the Christie’s catalogue, noted, “suggested that an attribution to Gerbrand van den Eeckhout should be considered. He notes that a similar treatment of the facial features can also be found in two drawings which have recently been attributed to Van den Eeckhout (see Benesch 0059 and Benesch 0325. He furthermore notes that the ‘tangle of lines in the hair’ can also be found in other drawings attributed to Van den Eeckhout (Benesch 0108 and 0325), and that Eeckhout’s (purported) self-portraits show similarly prominent noses, and that it should not be ruled out that this could be a self-portrait by the artist”.[3] In Fig.a the drawing is placed next to details of two drawings (left to right, Benesch 0159 and Benesch 0325) in which the details of the pupils (an emphatic dot), the eyebrows (in Benesch 0159 especially) and the mouth (particularly in Benesch 0325) are suggestive of the same artist, as is also the fineness of the nib. For the tangled lines in the hair, compare the base of the cross in Benesch 0108.
Condition: generally good – a little faded.
Summary attribution: Gerbrand van den Eeckhout?/Rembrandt??
Date: c.1632-35?
COLLECTION: Art market, 2021 (see Provenance).
FURTHER LITERATURE/REMARKS: Benesch, II, 1954/73, no.332A (Add 8), repr. (c.1636; life study; compares Benesch 0327-0336); [Not in Schatborn, 2019].
PROVENANCE: Possibly Pierre Crozat (see Inscriptions above); Leo Franklyn; Schaeffer Galleries; Kate Schaeffer and by decent to Cornelia Bessie; her estate sale, online, Christie’s, 28 January, 2021, lot 59, repr., as Circle of Rembrandt (and with a note of the compiler of the present catalogue’s revised opinion that the drawing might be by Gerbrand van den Eeckhout, and perhaps a self-portrait of him), sold for $27,500.
[1] See Schatborn, 1981, pp.41-46.
[2] Last sentence added 1 December 2020 (see under Benesch 0362, n.2).
[3] The above paragraph added 24 July 2022. For supposed portraits of Van den Eeckhout, see the drawing in the Fondation Custodia (Sumowski, Drawings, no.613, repr; Paris, 2010, no.61, repr.) and the painting in the Academia Carrara, Bergamo (Sumowski, Gemälde, no.524, repr.).
First posted 26 March 2018; updated with remarks concerning Flink (1 December 2020) and a revised attribution from “Rembrandt??” to “Van den Eeckhout?” (24 July 2022).
Benesch 0333
Subject: Head of a Man in a Fur Cap, profile to right
Medium: Pen and brown ink; ruled framing lines in pen and black ink.
Inscribed verso: “G 11/ 7/ Y1/ G5/ Y7/ Z”
52 x 50.
COMMENTS: Formerly attributed to the school of Rembrandt, the drawing was accepted by Hofstede de Groot in 1906[1] and subsequently, until rejected by Starcky in Exhibition, Paris, 1988-89 (see Literature below). The latter stated that the drawing is derived from two prints (‘gravures’) but does not specify which. In fact the lively execution gives no reason for suggesting it is a copy or derivation; but like Benesch 0329-0331 (qqv), with which it has much in common in style, the scale makes a judgment difficult and the links with Rembrandt’s documentary or other drawings remain unsatisfactory. However, the sharp characterisation and crisp details make an attribution to Rembrandt possible.
Condition: top right corner repaired; brown stain lower right and some overall discolouration.
Summary attribution: Rembrandt?
Date: c.1632-34?
COLLECTION: F Paris, Musée du Louvre (L.1955; inv.22962.B, recto; formerly NIII8637; MA8157)[2]
FURTHER LITERATURE/REMARKS: Morel d’Arleux (Inv. ms.); Hofstede de Groot, 1906, no.645/3 (noting current attribution to school of Rembrandt);[3] Paris, 1933, no.1166 (c.1631-34; Benesch, 1935, p.24; Benesch, II, 1954/73, no.333, repr. (c.1636; sompares Benesch 0331 and 0334); Arquié, Labbé and Bicart-Sée, 1987, p.453; Exh. Paris, 1988-89, under no.9 (rejected as Rembrandt); [Not in Schatborn, 2019].
PROVENANCE: Jonathan Richardson, sen; Charles-Paul-Jean-Baptiste Bourgevin Vialart, comte de Saint-Morys; seized by the Revolutionary government, 1793, and transferred to the present repository in 1796-97.
[1] Hofstede de Groot’s statement “Der Schule Rembrandts zugeschrieben”, has been interpreted as meaning that he himself attributed the drawing to the school of Rembrandt. But the drawing’s inclusion in his 1906 catalogue suggests that he was going against received opinion and including it as by Rembrandt himself.
[2] In the MS inventory, vol. 9, p. 403. Also the Inventaire du Musée Napoléon. Dessins. Vol.6, p.1039, chap. : Ecole hollandaise, Carton 83. (…) Numéro : 8157. Nom du maître : Idem [[ Rembrandt /&. Numéro d’ordre dans l’oeuvre du maître : 21. Désignation des sujets : Sur le même carton cinq dessins : l’un à la plume et lavé, représente une femme agenoux ; les autres sont faits à la plume, et représentent des têtes. Dimensions : H. 10,5 x L. 9,5 cm [[la femme agenoux]] ; H. 7 x L. 11,5 cm [[le plus grand des autres]]. Origine : Idem & Collection nouvelle /&. Emplacement actuel : Idem & Calcographie du Musée Napoléon /&. Observations : Idem & [Remis au Musée pour être relié] [[à l’encre]] ]]. Signe de recollement : [Vu] [[au crayon]] [Vu] [[au crayon]] [Vu] [[au crayon]] [Vu] [[au crayon]] [Vu] [[au crayon]] [[trait oblique / au crayon / sur le n° d’ordre]]. Cote : 1DD38
[3] Hofstede de Groot’s description is somewhat confused, saying the figure is in profile to left, and giving the inventory number as 22962a.
First posted 27 March 2018.
Benesch 0334
Subject: Bust of Old Man in a Fur Hat, profile to right
Medium: Pen and brown ink.
C.92 x 70.
COMMENTS: To judge from Benesch’s illustration (the drawing has not been seen or published since), the scratchy, spikey style, especially in the seam of the sleeve, relates closely to Benesch 0331 and there are also links in the head with Benesch 0330 (qqv). Benesch records that the attribution to Rembrandt was supported by Max J. Friedländer.
Condition: uncertain.
Summary attribution: Rembrandt?
Date: c.1632-35?
COLLECTION: D Berlin, Wennerscheid Collection [according to Benesch]
FURTHER LITERATURE/REMARKS: Benesch, II, 1954/73, no.334, repr. (c.1636; compares Benesch 0330 and 0333); [Not in Schatborn, 2019].
PROVENANCE: unknown.
First posted 28 March 2018.
Benesch 0335
Subject: Bust of a Bearded Man in a Barret, full face
Medium: Pen and brown ink.
Inscribed lower right with a paraphe similar to that on the drawings mentioned under Benesch 0113 (see further under Comments below).
61 x 61
COMMENTS: Although connected by Benesch with Benesch 0329, the style here is distinct, although there is again some connection with Rembrandt’s early etchings (cf. For example the 1630 Self-Portrait, Bartsch 24, NH 72, and the 1631 Bust of an Old Man, Bartsch 312, NH 82). The face is quite extraordinarily detailed and the whole head is worked up with a gossamer-fine web of delicate lines and cross hatching. This is unlike Rembrandt, much fussier, with lines that are rather unvaried in the pressure exerted on the pen. And for all the labour, the grip on the forms is not fully convincing.
The way the hat is drawn, with thin, scalloped, nervous lines throughout (which cannot be parallelled in the etchings, such as the two mentioned above), reminds me of Govert Flinck in his landscapes of 1642 in the collections of the British Museum, Lugt and the Museum Boijmans-Van Beuningen (Sumowski 902-904; see especially the passage on the top of the bridge in the Lugt drawing and the background trees to the right of the Boijmans drawing). The comparatively slack style of zig-zag shading in the drapery left and right, combined with liquid darker accents, also resembles Flinck’s work, even at a much later date (cf. Sumowski 889 of 1656 in The Hague).[1] If by him, the drawing is likely to have been made early in Flinck’s career, while he was in Rembrandt’s workshop, and shows a degree of detail and refinement that he was later to abandon.
The paraphe or inscription at the lower right is possibly related to that seen in Benesch 113 (qv, where other similarly inscribed drawings are listed).
Condition: last seen by the compiler in 2002 (at Sotheby’s), since when cleaned to remove some unsightly spotting, leaving the ink a little paler than usual. There seems to have been an earlier attempt to wash the drawing, leaving a ‘halo’ near the collector’s mark. There is also an accidental splodge lower left and a vertical cut or score through the paper towards the right.
Summary attribution: Govert Flinck?
Date: c.1634-35?
COLLECTION: Private Collection, France
FURTHER LITERATURE/REMARKS: Benesch, II, 1954/73, no.335, repr. (c.1636; groups with drawings around Benesch 0329); [Not in Schatborn, 2019].
PROVENANCE: Frederick Leverton Harris according to Benesch;[2] A.G.B. Russell (L. Suppl. 2770a); his sale, London, Sotheby’s, 22 May, 1928, lot 130, bt Mellaert, £10; sale, London, Sotheby’s, 10 July, 2002, lot 178; subsequently private collection, France, and by descent.
[1] Peter Schatborn (correspondence with the compiler, 8 April 2017), thought the drawing by Willem Drost. He was told by the present owner that Frits Lugt believed it to be by Rembrandt.
[2] Benesch apparently only knew the drawing from a photograph in the Witt Library. He erroneously thought the drawing was from the collection of Frederick Leverton Harris, which was dispersed at the same sale as that of A.G.B. Russell.
First posted 30 March 2018.
Benesch 0336
Subject: A Bearded Elder and a Self-Portrait, with a sketch of his eye
Verso: inscriptions only.
Medium: Pen and brown ink; ruled framing lines in pen and a warmer brown ink.
Inscribed verso, top in pen and brown ink (similar to the framing lines on the recto): “15 . R – N 12 5= [cancelled] ]ǀ”; top left in graphite: “5355/5”; centre in graphite: “Z . 2” [?]
106 x 95. Watermark: none; chain lines: 26h
COMMENTS: See under Benesch 0329 regarding the mounting and provenance.
Like Benesch 0140-0142A, this is a documentary drawing, being a sketch for the grisaille of St John the Baptist Preaching, now in Berlin, of c.1633-34 (Bredius 555; Corpus A106; Corpus, VI, 110). The figure on the right of the drawing appears as the central figure in the group of elders in the middle foreground. In the oil, the figure’s beard is somewhat shorter (or at least cut more squarely) and he looks down and frowns in concentration at the arguments being put to him by the rabbi in front of him. His nose – perhaps to add a more semitic appearance – is also much larger. The headdress is also adorned with a hanging pearl.
The figure already appears in Benesch 0141 and 0142 (recto and verso, qqv) but in the present drawing his head-dress is closer to the oil-sketch, so it was presumably made later in the process of developing the details of the composition. Indeed, as the X-radiograph of the painting does not seem to anticipate the headdress (for which there was no ‘reserve’ prepared in the underpaint), it may be that the present sketch – and indeed some of the other preparatory drawings for the picture – was made only after work on the oil had been begun. The X-radiograph shows that Rembrandt altered and added figures in the composition as he worked on it.[1] It appears likely that the oil-sketch was created with the intention of making a print.
The small self-portrait on the left, more accurately a drawing in which Rembrandt used his own face for a character study (his scrawny neck would be more appropriate for an older man than Rembrandt, then around 28 years old), may have been made in the same context, towards one of the elder’s interlocutors or one of the many listeners, but in the event it was apparently abandoned: one, more youthful face, towards the upper left of Benesch 0140, adopts a comparable expression.[2] The artist’s left eye is repeated above on the same small scale.
Condition: slightly foxed and faded, generally good. The lines in the lower edge show that the drawing was once part of a larger sheet.
Summary attribution: Rembrandt*
Date: 1633-34.
COLLECTION: USA New York, Morgan Library (inv. I, 174a).
FURTHER LITERATURE/REMARKS: Exh. Paris, 1908, no.496/1; Exh. New York, 1919 (no catalogue); Exh. San Francisco, 1920, no.365; Benesch, 2, 1954/73, no.336, repr. fig.380/406 (c.1636, for Baptist Preaching; compares Benesch 0327 and 0329, and the self-portrait to painting in Norton Simon Museum, Pasadena, Bredius 32 , Corpus C97, Wetering 172); Exh. New York-Cambridge, 1960, no.14, repr. pl.14 (c.1634-35); London, 1961, under no.182; Exh. Minneapolis, 1965-66, n.p.; Erpel, 1967, no.61, repr.; Exh. Paris-Antwerp-London-New York, 1979–80, no.66, repr.; Bruyn, 1983, p.54, n.13; Bonafoux, 1985, pp.48 and 145, repr. p.48; Corpus, 3, 1989, pp.84-85, repr. fig.17; Exh. Berlin-Amsterdam-London, 1991-92, under no.7, n.3; Exh. London, 1992, under nos.7 and 8, n.3; Exh. New York, 1996 (no catalogue); Exh. London-The Hague, 1999-2000, p.142, repr. fig.31; Chatsworth, 2002, III, under no.1465; Corpus, 4, 2005, p.234, n.125 (figure on left not a self-portrait as too wrinkled and not looking in a mirror); New York, 2006, cat. no. 204, repr. (also compares Self-Portrait in The Hague [Bredius 24; Wetering 157]); Slive, 2009, p.46, repr. fig.4.5 (c.1634-35; Rembrandt’s face not drawn in a mirror, but pace Corpus, 4, 2005, is a self-portrait); London, 2010 (online), under nos.7 and 98 (seemingly the same model as the nearest beggar in Benesch 0327; headdress resembles drawing in British Museum, inv. T,14.26 [https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/P_T-14-26]); Royalton-Kisch and Schatborn, 2011, p.331, no.25, repr. (documentary drawing); Exh. New York, 2016, p.46, repr. fig.44 (made during work in progress on the related painting); Exh. Washington-Paris, 2016-17, p.166, repr. figs.7-8 (1634-35); Schatborn, 2019, no.25 and p.17, repr. (c.1635; example of a drawing made during the search for a final composition).
PROVENANCE: Possibly Jonathan Richardson, sen.; perhaps his sale, London, Cock’s, 22 January-11 February, 1747, tenth night (2 February), lot 22 (with four others, presumably Benesch 0229, 0330, 0331 and 1082), bt Chauncey, 3s-4d; possibly William Esdaile; Dr. Edward Riggall; his sale, London, Sotheby’s, 6-8 June, 1901, one of five in lot 527: “Rembrandt van Rijn. Studies of Heads, pen and ink, from the Esdaile and other collections” (to Fairfax Murray for £42.0.0); Charles Fairfax Murray, from whom purchased through Galerie Alexandre Imbert, Rome, in 1909 by Pierpont Morgan; inherited by his son, J. Pierpont Morgan, by whom given to the present repository, 1924.
[1] See Corpus, III, pp.76-7 in particular. They rightly argue (p.83), again on the basis of the X-radiograph, that the red chalk study of St John (Benesch 0142a, qv) was executed before the oil, as the underpaint suggests that his pose was never altered.
[2] The head’s attitude also bears some resemblance to the head immediately behind the headdress of the right-hand figure of the central group of three elders. Corpus, 3, 1989, p.71, note that the seated man who looks out at the spectator from a position almost directly beneath St John’s outstretched hand is sometimes considered to be a self-portrait. However, see Corpus, 4, 2005 (in Literature above) in which the notion that the head in the drawing is a self-portrait is rejected.
First posted 2 April 2018.
Benesch 0337
Subject: Bust of a Man in Kingly Costume, wearing a diadem, looking up
Medium: Pen and brown ink with (later?) brown wash; ruled framing lines in pen and brown ink.
60 x 62.
COMMENTS: Benesch 0338 is in exactly the same style and depicts the same figure, perhaps an actor (see under Benesch 0120). Neither the penwork nor the wash is truly commensurate with Rembrandt’s own drawings (compare such documentary sheets as Benesch 0168 or Benesch 0336) and indeed the wash appears to be a later addition. There are links with Govert Flinck (cf. Benesch 0121, Benesch 0528 and Benesch 0656) and an attribution to him for these drawings is plausible.
Condition: somewhat stained and light-struck.
Summary attribution: Govert Flinck?
Date: c.1636?
COLLECTION: D Munich, Staatliche Graphische Sammlung (inv.1702)
FURTHER LITERATURE/REMARKS: Hofstede de Groot, 1906, no.446 (as showing a woman…); Benesch, 1935, p.24; Benesch, II, 1954/73, no.337, repr. (c.1636; relates to Benesch 0338 and style to Benesch 0340); Munich, 1973, no.1126; [Not in Schatborn, 2019].
PROVENANCE: Counts Palatine?
First posted 3 April 2018.
Benesch 0338
Subject: Bust of a Man in Kingly Costume, wearing a diadem, profile to left
Medium: Pen and brown ink with (later?) brown wash; ruled framing lines in pen and brown ink.
58 x 63.
COMMENTS: See the note to Benesch 0337
Condition: somewhat stained (especially top left) and light-struck.
Summary attribution: Govert Flinck?
Date: c.1636?
COLLECTION: D Munich, Staatliche Graphische Sammlung (inv.1703)
FURTHER LITERATURE/REMARKS: Munich, 1884-93, no.68a; Hofstede de Groot, 1906, no.428; Benesch, 1935, p.24; Benesch, II, 1954/73, no.338, repr. (c.1636; relates to Benesch 0337 and style to Benesch 0340); Munich, 1973, no.1365; [Not in Schatborn, 2019].
PROVENANCE: Counts Palatine?
First posted 3 April 2018.
Benesch 0339
Subject: Four Studies of Male Heads
Verso: blank (apart from L.3306); until recently (c.2008) laid down on Richardson’s mat
Medium: Pen and brown ink with brown wash on pale buff-brown paper; ruled framing line in graphite down left side only.
Inscribed on the front of the mat in pen and brown ink, below, by Richardson, sen.: “Rembrandt”; lower right in graphite: “no.I IV / From Richardson and Bale Collections”; on verso of mat in pen and brown ink: “Rembrandt / pen and ink sketch of a number of heads / from the Houlditch / Richardson / Knight & / Bale Collections”; below this, in a paler ink, erased: “Bought June 1902 / Colnaghi & Co, London” [followed by an illegible price]; to right, with an arrow from the name of Houlditch, in graphite: “dit is niet juist, het stempeltje / TH is dat van Thom Hudson. / De volgorde der collecties is / Jonathan Richardson Sr. 1746 / Thomas Hudson 1779 / Knight? / C.S. Bale 1880”; top, in pen and brown ink: “D.20 / n”; and top left, four dots forming a square; in graphite, centre: “16483” [followed by a tick]; below, in graphite: “Knights Sale / CSB”
126 x 158. Watermark: none; chain lines: vertical (distance apart uncertain; c.13 laid lines/cm)
COMMENTS: The drawing resembles other informal sketch-sheets by Rembrandt, though is somewhat unusual in combining two everyday characters (left and right) with beturbaned oriental types (might they be actors?)[1]. The varied degrees of finish the characters exhibit has led to the suggestion that Rembrandt here consciously drew a model sheet for the education of his students.
In style the links with Benesch 0340 (which also includes heads of orientals) have often been highlighted. Among the documentary drawings, the sketches for the grisaille of St John the Baptist Preaching of c.1633-34, Benesch 0140-0142 and Benesch 0336, appear a little tighter and perhaps earlier, which seems to be confirmed by the 1636 etching of Studies of the Head of Saskia and others, which includes a comparable oriental head and has a similar mise-en-page.[2]
An etching based on the drawing was made in 1799 by Chevalier de Claussin. An anonymous etching, perhaps of a similar date, copies the three heads that have no wash (in reverse) together with Benesch 0240a and Benesch 0687. Although probably based on prints by De Claussin, it also reproduces a Rembrandt signature with the date 1637, but it is uncertain which, if any, of the heads the date refers to and it may not be trustworthy (it was inscribed on the plate in reverse).[3]
Condition: generally good; a small tear top right near corner; some spots of blueish-grey wash to left; somewhat trimmed (see lines below and stamp to right).
Summary attribution: Rembrandt.
Date: c.1635-36.
COLLECTION: USA Cambridge (Mass.), Fogg Art Museum, Harvard University Art Museums, Maida and George Abrams Collection.
FURTHER LITERATURE/REMARKS: Lippmann, III, 89; Hofstede de Groot, 1906, no.1363 (c.1630-35); Benesch, II, 1954/73, no.339, repr. (c.1636; compares Benesch 0340); Exh. London, 1960 (Colnaghi’s), no.30; Sumowski, Drawings, I, 1979, under no.225x; Exh. New Haven, 1983, p.118; Exh. London-Paris-Cambridge, 2002-3, no.46, repr. as Benesch, compares mise-en-page to Benesch 0360; model-sheet tradition, for use in instructing pupils); Exh. Boston-Chicago, 2003-4, no.34, repr; Exh. Cambridge (MA), 2006 (unpublished checklist); Exh. Greenwich, 2009, no.3, repr.; Exh. Boston, 2010-11, no.3, repr.; Exh. Denver, 2018-19, no.9, repr.; Schatborn, 2019, no.290, repr. (c.1637).
PROVENANCE: Jonathan Richardson, sen. (L.2183 and on his mat); Thomas Hudson (L.2432); John Knight (according to the title-page of his sale catalogue, most of his collection was acquired “during the latter part of the last [i.e. 18th] century”?; his sale, London, Phillips, 19 July, 1841, lot 120; Charles Sackville Bale; his sale, London, Christie’s, 10 June, 1881, lot 2427, bt Whitehead; P. & D. Colnaghi & Co., London; Jhr H. Teixeira de Mattos; Franz Koenigs; Paul Cassirer; his sale, London, Sotheby’s, 20 November, 1957, lot 70; P. & D. Colnaghi & Co.; Mrs Donald Methuen; her sale, London, Christie’s 7 April, 1970, lot 124; P. & D. Colnaghi; sale, New York, Christie’s, 11 January, 1994, lot 385, bt Maida and George Abrams (L.3306); presented by the latter (with part of his collection) to the present repository, 2017.
[1] For drawings that represent (or may represent) actors, see under Benesch 0120.
[2] As proposed by Robinson in Exh. London-Paris-Cambridge, 2002-3, no.46.
[3] I am grateful to William W. Robinson for knowledge of the anonymous etching, a photograph of which was owned by Seymour Slive.
First posted 6 April 2018.
Benesch 0339A
Subject: Four Studies of Men, a three-quarter-length, two busts and a head
Verso: Sketch of a Hat
Medium: Pen and brown ink with brown wash; the verso in pen and brown ink, but cancelled in brush and brown wash. Inscribed verso in graphite: ” No 47.3″
141 x 155; Chain lines: 26h.
COMMENTS: The figure at the upper left, who wears tassels at his collar, is likely to be the same person portrayed in Rembrandt’s Portrait of a Seated Elderly Man of c.1639 (Paris art market in 2016, – see under the Not in Benesch tab), and the two drawings are probably contemporaneous.
Benesch placed the drawing close to Benesch 0340, in which especially the turbaned head at the upper left is stylistically comparable (though more securely modelled)), and in which the adjacent heads also have the, for Rembrandt, typical, fine, near-vertical hatching lines above the eyes, also encountered here at the upper left. Yet overall there is a slackness in the details of the drapery and a loose fluidity which makes the attribution to Rembrandt problematic. The wash seems tentative and the lines unusually even in pressure, although this effect could have been caused by a particularly thin, liquid ink. Comparable effects are encountered in Benesch 0145, the authenticity of which is bolstered by Rembrandt’s inscription, and the documentary drawings, Benesch 0188 and Benesch 0257, but again, the modelling seems less secure and for the reasons stated some uncertainty concerning the attribution remains. However, the drawing does not appear to be a copy.
Condition: Somewhat faded and stained, the verso especially mottled with fox marks; the tTop 2mm strip more freshly preserved, as it must have been protected by a former mount, and something of this also visible at the right edge and below.
Summary attribution: Rembrandt?
Date: c.1639?
COLLECTION: GB Oxford, Ashmolean Museum (inv. WA1960.48).
FURTHER LITERATURE/REMARKS: Parker, 1960, pp.56-57, repr. pl.xiv; Benesch, 1964, p.117, repr. fig.14 (reprinted Benesch, 1970, p.253, repr. fig.221); Benesch, II, 1973, no.339A, repr. fig.411 (c.1636); [Not in Schatborn, 2019].
PROVENANCE: Henry Stephen Olivier (L.1373); Mrs Helen Sidall; acquired by the present repository from E.M. Siddal in 1960.[1].
[1] I am grateful to An van Camp for amplifying the provenance details (email to the compiler, 28 April 2018).
First posted 7 April 2018.
Benesch 0340
Subject: Sheet of Studies, Mostly Male Heads, and with a woman cradling her child studied three times
Medium: Pen and brown ink with brown wash and red chalk.
220 x 233.
COMMENTS: Many of Rembrandt’s drawings have been cut by dealers and collectors into smaller, separate drawings, but the present sheet is the finest surviving work not to have suffered such depredations. Compare also Benesch 0339 and the Berlin drawings, Benesch 0218-9, the latter of which has been largely reconstituted.
It has been suggested that rather than a random series of sketches, Rembrandt here consciously followed or referred in some way to the venerable tradition of the model-book, a medieval practice in which artists assembled studies on the same page in albums as material for future reference.[1] But the sheer variety of characters assembled on this single sheet, from women with children at their breasts to men in barrets as well as oriental types with turbans (top left), makes the link more than a little tenuous, as does the varying degree of finish, from the incipient sketch at centre right, of just the middle section of a child asleep at its mother’s bosom, to the highly resolved male figures on different scales that dominate the left half of the sheet. There are two studies that stand apart not only in style but in technique, the youth lower right edge leaning on a flat surface, and another figure, hitherto unremarked, of a head of a man wearing a barret in profil perdu (turned to the right) that has been erased using the brush to form little more than a patch of red wash under the arm and hand holding the kerchief at the centre of the drawing.[2] All these sketches appear to have been made from life, with the possible exception of the women and children.[3]
So rather than referring back in time, the drawing is more readily understood as a modern sketchbook page, on which various ideas were tried out and characters sketched, probably drawn opportunistically to capture the characters – many of them perhaps seen on the same occasion – and also sketched for pleasure, as much as with any potential future practical use in mind.[4] It should be dated c.1634-35 for a number of reasons: the use in two figures of red chalk, a medium little used by Rembrandt after the Leiden period, recalls the exceptions he made in the documentary drawing of c.1633-34 in the Courtauld of St John the Baptist Preaching (Benesch 0142a), the studies after Leonardo in 1635 (Benesch 0443-45) and the sketches of the Magdalene and the Virgin Mary for the Entombment (Benesch 0152) which probably date from the same year;[5] the oriental’s head at the top left and the man with a barret immediately below him reveal links in style with Benesch 0257 of 1634 (rom the Burchard Grossmann album); the women and children on the right compare well with the documentary drawings of c.1633-34 for the St John the Baptist Preaching (especially Benesch 0140-42) – perhaps especially, compare the small profile sketch on the right of Benesch 0142 recto with the oriental head at the top left and the delineation of the same figure’s arms with those of the women on the right; the fine hatching lines at the upper right corner of the Birmingham sheet, with splintery zig-zags running in more than one direction, resemble the shading on the right in the silverpoint Portrait of Saskia in Berlin of 1633 (Benesch 0427).
While none of the figures appears to have been directly employed in any other work by Rembrandt, the style suggests that the sketches were made contemporaneously with those for the Berlin grisaille. Thus the idea that they may have formed part of the background of research studies made in preparation for that composition seems plausible. The cast of characters in the picture contains many women with children, sometimes at their breast (for example the woman immediately to the left of and behind the three elders in the centre) as well as men in oriental costume, a figure leaning on his arm and looking out (like the red chalk figure lower right) and heads turned in every direction, including in strict profile as for the figure at lower left here and in the prominent central group of the grisaille, are features that might lend support to this contention.
The largest figure, at upper centre, has been described as wearing a plumed hat, but he began by wearing a barret. Then a conical shape (cf. the central figure in Benesch 0209) was tried out with the tip of the brush but finally scrubbed or interrupted by a double loop, again made with the brush, which gives a plume-like appearance, though this was probably not the intention (see further under note 7 below). His broad, jowly face and overweight appearance give him a superficial resemblance to the actor, Willem Barthelsz. Ruyter (see under Benesch 0120 and compare the later – c.1639 – Rijksmuseum portrait of the actor in iron-gall ink [described under the “Not in Benesch” tab]).[6]
A drawn copy after one of the heads is in Berlin,[7] and an etching of the whole sheet was made by Chevalier I. J. de Claussin. François Basan made an etching after the main head at upper centre.[8]
Condition: generally good; slightly trimmed at the right
Summary attribution: Rembrandt.
Date: c.1634-35.
COLLECTION: GB Birmingham, Barber Institute of Fine Arts (inv.49.10).
FURTHER LITERATURE/REMARKS: Exh. London, 1878-79, no.309; Exh. London, 1899, no.117; Lippmann, I, 85; Bode and Valentiner, 1906, p.28, repr. (c.1635); Hofstede de Groot, 1906, no.1024 (c.1635; compares sketch-sheet style etchings Bartsch 365 and 369; NH 157 and 177); Heseltine Drawings, 1907, no.63; Saxl, 1908, p.231; Neumann, 1918.I, no.46; Stockholm, 1920, p.55, repr. fig.63; Exh. London, 1929, no.583 (1930, p.199); Berlin, 1930, I, p.246, under inv.13748; Benesch, 1935, p.24; Benesch, 1947, no.73, repr.; Birmingham, 1952, pp.188-89; Exh. London, 1953, no.302; Benesch, II, 1954/73, no.340, repr. (c.1636; compares Benesch 0339 and 0355 and the women and children with Benesch 0258 and 0360; also the etching Bartsch 365; NH 157); Exh. Rotterdam-Amsterdam, 1956, no.42; Exh. London, 1967, no.53; Exh. Amsterdam, 1969, no.37; Sumowski, Drawings, I, 1979, under no.225x; Birmingham, 1983, p.47; Bruyn, 1983, pp.55 and 58, n.33, repr. fig.4 (model-book type of drawing); Amsterdam, 1985, under no.100, repr. p.207 (mid-1630s); Birmingham, 1986, no.12, repr. twice, once in colour; Exh. London, 1986, no.12; Exh. Berlin-Amsterdam-London, 1991-92.I, cat. no.8, repr. (mid-1630s; model sheet); Exh. London, 1998, no.96; Birmingham, 1999, p.79, repr.; Exh. Vienna, 2004, p.45, repr. fig. 10 with detail on p.40 (as Bruyn, 1983); Corpus, 4, 2005, pp.190-91, repr. fig.162 (example of a study of disparate figures, while other drawings repeat figures and ideas for groups); Berlin, 2006, under no.22 (as Bruyn, 1983); Slive, 2009, p.44-46, repr. fig.4.3 (c.1635); Schatborn, 2019, no. 293, repr. (c.1637).
PROVENANCE: R.P. Roupell (L.2234); his sale, London, Christie’s, 6th day, 13 July, 1887, lot 1109, bt Heseltine; J.P. Heseltine (L.1507); Henry Oppenheimer by 1929; passed in 1932 by inheritance to his brother, O. F. Oppenheimer; his sale, London, Christie’s, 17 June, 1949, lot 27, when acquired by the present repository.
[1] See Bruyn, 1983 (as per Literature above). It should be remembered that Bruyn was primarily a medievalist before he joined the Rembrandt Research Project.
[2] Described even in Exh. Berlin-Amsterdam-London, 1991-92.I, cat. no.8, nonsensically as follows: “The underside of the pen-drawn arm of the man in the middle is heightened with red chalk”.
[3] See Birmingham, 2005.
[4] The idea that people, including professional artists, might draw and also paint for pleasure seems to have wholly escaped modern art historians. In the days when curators were all artists (in some museums till the 20th century), it was self-evident.
[5] Benesch 154 of c.1634-35 also contains red chalk.
[6] Gary Schwartz ( retrieved 8 April 2018) believes the head at the lower left portrays the figure seen in an etching after Rembrandt by Johannes van Vliet (Hollstein 26), which in a later state is said to represent George I Rákóczy, Prince of Transylvania, but the much flatter nose and curled eyebrow in the print makes the identification most unlikely.
[7] See Berlin, 1930, p.246, inv.13748.
[8] An impression is in the British Museum, in the Recueil Basan, inv. 1941,0327.11.8. It carries a ‘signature’ with the date 1639, and shows the figure with ‘plumes’.
First posted 11 April 2018.
Benesch 0340a
Subject: Bust of an Elderly Man Wearing a Sixteenth-Century Style Cap, and with a medal on a chain around his neck.
Medium: Reed (?) pen and brown ink, with a ruled pen framing line (to judge from the etched reproduction).
Inscribed: in the copper plate below: “Rembrandt del” and “Laurentz fec. 1769”
125 x 118 (the etching).
COMMENTS: Benesch included a number of etched reproductions by Johann Daniel Laurentz (1729-1810) after ‘lost’ Rembrandt drawings, which he believed were copied from authentic originals. In the present case, the broad lines suggest an affinity with Rembandt’s drawings in reed pen from the 1650s rather than from the mid-1630s as Benesch proposed. But until or unless the original drawing resurfaces an open verdict must remain not only concerning the date but also as to whether it was indeed by Rembrandt himself.
Summary attribution: Johann Daniel Laurentz, after Rembrandt?
Date: c.1650?
FURTHER LITERATURE/REMARKS: Benesch, II, 1954/73, no.0340a (c.1635-36 on the basis of the etched reproduction; compares Benesch 0337-40 and Benesch 0261-63); [Not in Schatborn, 2019].
First posted 15 April 2018.
Benesch 0341
Subject: Five Studies of Heads
Verso: Two Cottages
Medium: Silverpoint on prepared parchment; recto with ruled framing lines in pen and grey ink, partly gone over in graphite.
Inscribed verso, lower right, in graphite: “4110”
134 x 80. Watermark: none (parchment)
COMMENTS: See under Benesch 0427 (concerning the date, the medium and whether the artist used a silverpoint, ‘tafelet’-sketchbook). This is one of three small sheets containing silverpoint drawings by Rembrandt (the third being Benesch 0466, qv also). All were probably made on a trip to Sint Annaparochie in Friesland, where Saskia attended the baptism of her niece, Sophie, on 2 June, 1633.[1]
It has been suggested that Saskia may have modelled for the figure in exotic, sixteenth-century garb in the centre of the sheet. On the basis of a comparison with Benesch 0427, the only certain portrait of her, the identification must remain conjectural.[2] The other figures, apparently drawn from life, presumably depict characters encountered on the journey, perhaps also in Friesland. These are informal sketchbook jottings with a potential for future reference and should not be viewed – as they sometimes have been – as part of the model-book tradition.
The verso also appears to have been sketched from nature and the type of cottage accords with those to the north east of the former Zuiderzee – the area around Sint Annaparochie.[3] Those shown in Benesch 0466 appear to be of the same type (the verso of Benesch 0466 probably depicts Sint Annaparochie itself). These are the earliest known landscape drawings by Rembrandt (not counting the “townscape”, Benesch 0057a).
The drawing has been cut down, probably removing the remainder of the cottage on the left, as well as some figures on the recto. It is reasonable to assume that the dimensions of the sheet were originally at least equal to the largest of the three silverpoint drawings, i.e. 109 x 192, the size of Benesch 0466.[4]
As Benesch noted, a comparable cottage appears in Rembrandt’s painting, The Mill, now in Washington (not in Bredius; Corpus, VI, no.205), but the connection is not direct.[5] Under Benesch 0466 it is suggested that Rembrandt could have made the landscape drawings on silverpoint while seated in a barge, owing to the ultra-low viewpoint. If so, the leaning figure on the lower right of the recto here might (is this too fanciful?) portray a bargeman,[6] though his companions on the recto might suggest characters from a group of mummers.
Condition: As noted above, cut down; some rubbing, scuffing and discolouration but generally good.
Summary attribution: Rembrandt.
Date: c.1633.
COLLECTION: NL Rotterdam, Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen (inv. R 25).
FURTHER LITERATURE/REMARKS: Lippmann, 1, 48 and 49; Michel, 1893, p.582; Seidlitz, 1894, pp.121 and 123; Exh. London, 1899, no.204; Hofstede de Groot, 1906, nos.1023 and verso repeated as no.1043; Heseltine, 1907, no.2, repr.; Benesch, 1925, p.121 (c.1632-33); Exh. Berlin, 1930, no.325; Exh. Amsterdam, 1932, no.244; Exh. Rotterdam, 1934, no.76; Benesch, 1935, p.15; Wimmer, 1935, pp.15, 16, 26, 30, 47; Benesch, 1947, p.16, under no.21; Benesch, 2, 1954/73, no.341, repr, figs 388/413 and 390/415 (c.1637; links to other silverpoint drawings and verso to the cottage by the mill in The Windmill, Washington, Corpus, VI, 206, which he believes should be dated as the drawing); Exh. Rotterdam-Amsterdam, 1956, no.47 (c.1636-37; top right figure a portrait of Saskia, as also central figure); Rosenberg, 1956.I, p.69 (verso c.1637); Haverkamp Begemann, 1961, p.286; Slive, 1965, I, nos.48-49; Rotterdam, 1969, p.23, repr. figs 17-18 (attribution not fully convincing); Benesch, 1970, p.47; Amsterdam, 1985, under no.32, n.3 (c.1633); Rotterdam, 1988, no.11, repr. (c.1636-37; top right figure likely a man; modelbook sheet); Exh. Washington, 1990, pp.70-72, under no.1, repr. fig.1 (c.1633; Bakker dates to 1633 and suggests cottages not typical of Amsterdam but of area to the south of the city, or else further north, N.E. of the Zuiderzee or – ‘a more fanciful hypothesis’ – Friesland [an idea proposed by Bakker in same catalogue, pp.54-55]); Royalton-Kisch, 1990, p.135 (all Rembrandt’s silverpoint drawings should be dated 1633 as per date on Benesch 0427); Schneider, 1990, pp.33-34 (c.1633-34); Van de Wetering, 1991, pp. 221, and 226, n.39 (use of a ‘tafelet’); Exh. Berlin-Amsterdam, 1991-92, pp.29-30, repr. fig.36 (made in Friesland); Exh. Amsterdam, 1998, p.17, verso repr. fig.12 and p.65 (drawn out of doors and different in style to most of Rembrandt’s landscapes); Broos, 2005, pp.85-86, repr. figs.4 [verso] and 5 [recto] (1633; associates silverpoint sketches with Rembrandt and Saskia’s visit to Sint Annaparochie that year; doubts that a ‘tafelet’ was used [agreeing with a letter he received from Bevers to this effect]); Corpus, 4, 2005, pp.190-91, repr. fig. 160 (example of a ‘tafelet’ sketch); Exh. Rotterdam, 2005-6, p.xiii and no.5, repr.; Exh. Istanbul, 2006, no.5, repr.; Slive, 2009, p.46, repr. fig.4.4 [recto], and pp.146-48, repr. fig.12.1 [verso] (c.1633-35); Exh. Washington-London, 2015, p.158, repr. pp.184-85, pls 73 recto and verso (c.1633); This Catalogue online, 16 April 2018 (c.1633); Exh. Mettingen, 2019, p.26, repr. fig.2; Schatborn, 2019, nos 223 and 480, and pp. 19 and 305, repr. (c.1635); Exh. Leiden-Oxford, 2019-20, pp.70 and 72-73, and no.149, repr. (c.1633); Rutgers, 2019, pp.22-23, repr. fig.2 (c.1633); Gnann, 2021, p.20, repr. fig.4.
PROVENANCE: Sir W.W. Knighton (according to Hofstede de Groot, 1906, no.1023); J.P. Heseltine (L.1507; not in his sale, Amsterdam, 27 May, 1913); Franz Koenigs; D.G. van Beuningen, by whom given to the to the Boijmans Museum Foundation in 1940.
[1] Broos, 2005, passim. He convincingly suggests that Rembrandt accompanied his wife-to-be, whose portrait he drew on 8th June, six days after Sophie’s baptism. He was to return the following year, 1634, for his wedding to Saskia on 22 June, and again in 1635 when Saskia witnessed the baptism on 12 July of Hiskia, the daughter of Titia van Uylenburgh (Saskia’s sister) and Gerrit van Loo.
[2] Haverkamp-Begemann, in Exh. Rotterdam-Amsterdam, 1956, no.47, thought the figure at the top right might also portray her while Broos believed that figure to be male.
[3] See Bakker in Exh. Washington, 1990, pp.53-55, and Broos, 2005; as here noted under Benesch 0466, the cottage in the background of the 1632 etching, The Ratcatcher (Bartsch 121; NH 111; as noted under Benesch 0466) resembles those in the two silverpoint drawings.
[4] Broos, 2005, p.86.
[5] Benesch, II, 1954/73, no.341. Reading his text (“the cottage, much obscured by dark varnish, stands in the shadow of the large bastion”), it appears that he thought the similar cottage was not the one next to the mill itself, but another shape in the lower centre of the painting, which since cleaning has emerged as part of the bastion itself.
[6] Compare, for example, his counterparts on ff.63 and 65 of Adriaen van de Venne’s album in the British Museum (Royalton-Kisch, 1988, no.63 and 65, repr.); many bargemen also appear in works by other artists who painted river scenes, such as Esaias van de Velde, Jan van Goyen and Salomon van Ruisdael.
First posted 16 April 2018.
Benesch 0342
Subject: A Young Woman Carrying a Child, three-quarter-length, turned to right
Medium: Pen and brown ink; remnants of ruled framing lines in pen and brown ink.
104 x 87.
COMMENTS: The drawing is inseparable in style and motif from Benesch 0343 (qv), in which the same woman in a similar pose and wearing probably the same headdress appears towards the upper left (the other women have different headgear). Benesch 0251 may represent the same individual. The style seems to accord with Rembrandt’s in the mid-1630s, although it cannot be related to any of the documentary drawings entirely satisfactorily. The details are less precise than in the documentary sketches of c.1633-34 for the Berlin grisaille of St John the Baptist Preaching (Benesch 0140-42 and 0336) and the sweeping articulation of the arms both here and in Benesch 0343, with the double lines in the shoulder, anticipate his iron-gall ink sketches of c.1637-39 (cf. Benesch 0659). Thus a date c.1636-37 seems probable.[1] For the motif, compare Benesch 0194, Benesch 0226 and Benesch 0228.
It has been suggested that the child was one of the six children (recorded in 1634) of Hendrick van Uylenburgh and his wife Maria van Eck, in whose home Rembrandt lodged at the beginning of the Amsterdam period.[2] See further under Benesch 0194 for Rembrandt’s drawings of women and children.
An etching by Chevalier I.J. de Claussin copies this on the same plate as Benesch 0340.[3]
Condition: somewhat stained especially near the edges (probably mat burn) but otherwise good.
Summary attribution: Rembrandt.
Date: c.1636-37.
COLLECTION: NL Amsterdam, Museum het Rembrandthuis.
FURTHER LITERATURE/REMARKS: Hofstede de Groot, 1906, no.1020 (as from Rob. Dumesnil and Jac. de Vos jnr collections); Heseltine, 1907, no.3; Rembrandthuis, 1931, no.3; Amsterdam, 1931, no.3; Exh. Amsterdam, 1932, no.243 (1637); Benesch, 1935, p.28; Benesch, II, 1954/73, no.342, repr. (c.1636; same model in Benesch 0343; compares Benesch 0403); Sumowski, 1956-57 (copied with Benesch 0340 in etching by De Claussin); Haverkamp Begemann, 1961, p.13 (compares Benesch 0251-2); Amsterdam, 1972, no.III, repr. (as Benesch, 1954/73); Amsterdam, 1991, no.1, repr. (mid-1630s; probably once part of a larger sheet; perhaps child of Uylenburgh [see above]; otherwise as Benesch, 1954/73); Exh. Munich-Amsterdam, 2001-2, no.23, repr. (c.1636); Paris, 2010, under no.4 (could have been made around the same time as Benesch 0343, which dated c.1637-38); Schatborn, 2019, no.231, repr. (c.1635).
PROVENANCE: Sir W.W. Knighton (according to Hofstede de Groot, 1906 and Heseltine, 1907; see also under Hofstede de Groot, 1906, in Literature above); R. Dumesnil (according to De Vos sale and Hofstede de Groot, 1906); J. de Vos; his sale, Amsterdam, Roos, Roos, Muller, van Pappelendam and Schouten, 22 May, 1883, lot 420, with one other, a sketch of two men; J.P. Heseltine (L.1507); his sale, Amsterdam, Muller, 27 May, 1913, lot 9; donated to the present repository by a group of benefactors, 1913.
[1] In Paris, 2010, Schatborn also compares the Adam and Eve (Benesch 0164) of c.1638.
[2] Suggested in Amsterdam, 1991, no.1. Rembrandt’s and Saskia’s own children died too young to be the infant depicted here, with the exception of Titus, born in 1641. But the style suggests a significantly earlier date. The 1634 document mentioning the Uylenburgh children (Gerrit, Sara, Anna, Suzanna, Isaack and Lyntgen) on 15 July 1634 is online at http://remdoc.huygens.knaw.nl/#/document/remdoc/e15021 (consulted 17 April 2018). See also for this document, Broos, 2012, p. 121.
[3] According to Sumowski, 1956-57, though I have not yet found evidence of an impression.
First posted 18 April 2018.
Benesch 0343
Subject: Three Studies of Women Carrying a Child, with another child playing peek-a-boo and an outline of a head and cap upper right
Verso: inscriptions only.
Medium: Pen and ink, with some rubbing with the finger.
Inscribed lower left, in pen and brown ink: “Remb” [?] (see under Benesch 0113); verso, in pen and brown ink, lower left: “L2696”
187 x 153. Watermark: part of a shield with Strasbourg lily; chain lines: 27/28h
COMMENTS: See the related drawing, Benesch 0342, which appears to have been made from the same model as seen here at the upper left, and at the same time. The other woman, who wears a bowl-like hat with a strap under her chin, was sketched twice and seems older. Perhaps neither is the mother of the child, but rather a nurse and an older relative.
Benesch 0194 shows a comparable figure of a woman carrying child in her arms, as do Benesch 0226 and 0228, while Benesch 0251 possibly shows the same woman seen here at the upper left and in Benesch 0342. At least some of Rembrandt’s drawings of women and children were brought together in an album that later belonged to Jan van de Cappelle (see under Benesch 0194).
Presumably drawn from direct observation, the movement of the figures is expressed in the pentimenti in the nearer arm of the uppermost and lowest women. The repositioning of the child suggests the game of peek-a-boo was not confined to the upper left study; in its suggestion of interrelated moments in time it is reminiscent of Benesch 0659, where an old man plays with a child. Here, the freedom of the handling of the drawing is tempered by the precision of the vertical hatching, especially in the upper part of the face of the woman in the two lower studies. Also highly refined is the face of the wonderfully characterised child playing peek-a-boo at the upper left. The ‘false start’ of a head at the upper right seems to be an initial outline for a head resembling that of the woman at the upper left (to judge by the loop at the back of the head).
Such drawings may have been kept for future reference although as in this instance they tend not to reappear in recognisable form in Rembrandt’s paintings, etchings or other drawings.
Condition: generally good; a 20mm horizontal stain to left of the lower figure, and minor damages at the lower right corner and lower centre.
Summary attribution: Rembrandt
Date: c.1637-38
COLLECTION: F Paris, Fondation Custodia, Frits Lugt Collection (inv. 4904)
FURTHER LITERATURE/REMARKS: Exh. Amsterdam, 1935, no.44 (c.1637; then in the collection of “N.N.”); Lugt MS notes in RKD (‘R., goed c.1636’); Exh. Haarlem, 1951, no.152 (c.1635-40); Benesch, II, 1954/73, no.343, repr. fig.395/416 (c.1636; compares ‘same model’ in Benesch 0342 and the figures to the right of Benesch 0340); Exh. Paris, 1957 (no catalogue); Haverkamp-Begemann, 1961, pp.24 and 26 (1634 or 1636); Exh. Paris, 1965, no.91; Exh. Paris, 1970, no.156 (c.1635-40); Amsterdam, 1972, under no.III (c.1635-40); Haverkamp-Begemann, 1976, p.362, repr. fig.5; Schatborn, 1981.I, pp.1 and 3, no.22, repr. (c.1636); Vogel-Köhn, 1981, p.214, no.28, repr (c.1635-38); Broos, 1996, p.161; Van Berge-Gerbaud, 1997, p.70, repr. (c.1639); Exh. Paris-Haarlem, 1997-98, p.xx/xxi[Dutch or French edition], and no.7, repr. (late 1630s); Starcky, 1999, pp.115 and 118, repr (c.1636-38); Exh. Edinburgh-London, 2001, no.58, repr. (c.1635-37; exh. only in Edinburgh); Van Eck, 2001, p.586; Exh. Munich-Amsterdam, 2001-2, under no.23, repr. fig.1 (c.1636); Exh. Brussels, 2005, under no.9, p.35, repr. fig.2; Exh. Dresden, 2006, pp.23-24, repr. fig.6; Exh. Paris, 2006, p.15, no.16, repr. (second half of 1630s); Exh. Paris, 2006-7 (no catalogue); Paris, 2010, no.4, repr. (c.1637-38, as also Benesch 0342; pentimenti under right arm of upper and lower woman; compares Eve in Benesch 164); Exh. New York, 2011, p.88, repr. (1630s – probably 1637-38); Exh. Paris, 2011, no.8; Broos, 2012, pp.66-67, repr. fig.XII-2; Schatborn, 2019, no.230, repr. (c.1635); Fondation Custodia online, 2022: https://collectiononline.fondationcustodia.fr/bronnen/drawings/detail/0e9734e2-7301-4482-cd2f-fbfdb061a3cc/media/6b332b8f-02ba-63ad-6c22-e08442bbc621?mode=detail&view=horizontal&q=rembrandt%20Benesch&rows=1&page=20&sort=order_s_preferred_artist%20asc [last updated June 2020; accessed 7 August 2022]
PROVENANCE: A.C. von Frey, c.1930; “N.N.” (according to Exh. Amsterdam, 1935, no.44), but Frits Lugt (L.1028) acquired the drawing from Von Frey, 18 June 1935.
First posted 23 April 2018.
Benesch 0344
Subject: A Woman Holding a Child in her Arms
Verso: laid down
Medium: Pen and brown ink.
150 x 121.
COMMENTS: In style, an unusual drawing. The somewhat fragmented movements of the pen – in the foreground shadow exaggeratedly, nay wilfully calligraphic – is reminiscent of the style of the Leiden period, in drawings such as Benesch 0010 and Benesch 0027. Benesch 0034 has comparable downward loops of the pen in the lower drapery that then turn to the left, seen again, for example, in Benesch 0300, a later drawing, and the shadows in the former are not entirely incommensurate with what we see here; but the medium in Benesch 0034 is chalk, while here we have pen, which gives the drawing a very different quality. On the other hand, the face of the child seems reasonably consistent with Rembrandt’s works of the mid-1630s and the abstracted, triangular, nearer foot links with the documentary drawings, Benesch 0141 and Benesch 0292.
The unusually pronounced and heavily-executed pentimenti, through which the figure was adjusted from a near-profile stance to look instead down towards her basket, is an un-Rembrandtesque aspect of the drawing. Yet in the absence of an alternative attribution I cannot completely discount that it might be by him, perhaps made in around 1632-35, although such an eventuality seems unlikely.
Condition: generally good; some spotting and surface dirt; stained by an old mount[er]? along the top edge.
Summary attribution: Rembrandt??
Date: c.1632-35?
COLLECTION: A Vienna, Albertina (inv.8850)
FURTHER LITERATURE/REMARKS: Hofstede de Groot, 1906, no.1460; Benesch, 1935, p.28; Benesch, II, 1954/73, no.344, repr. (c.1636; compares Benesch 0342); Exh. Vienna, 1956, no. 21; Exh. Vienna, 1969-70, no.10, repr.; [Not in Schatborn, 2019].
PROVENANCE: Albert von Sachsen-Teschen (Lugt 174).
First posted 23 April 2018.
Benesch 0345
Subject: A Seated Man Feeding a Child, with two further sketches of children (“The Widower”)
Medium: Pen and greyish brown ink and wash.
Inscribed on the former mat by “S.W.”, presumably Samuel Woodburn: “The Widower”
173 x 142.
COMMENTS: The novelty of the alluring and unusual subject, dubbed “The Widower”, perhaps by the dealer Samuel Woodburn in his inscription on the old mat, led owners and scholars to associate the drawing with Rembrandt’s personal life, to the extent of identifying the man depicted as the artist himself feeding his son, Titus. Thus the attribution seemed to be secured by Rembrandt’s biography. Dates were suggested that fell soon after the death of Saskia. But already in 1917, Seidlitz rejected the attribution and he was certainly correct: no drawing convincingly ascribed to Rembrandt resembles the formulations here, whether in the style, structure or the rendition of details.[1]
An alternative attribution to Heijman Dullaert has been suggested, but the scarce evidence of his draughtsmanship (Sumowski 570xx) makes this appear speculative.[2] The regular hatching also has some points in common with Willem Drost but insufficiently close to warrant an attribution to him. Nevertheless, the drawing does seem to belong in the wider orbit of Rembrandt’s influence in Amsterdam in the early 1650s.
Condition: Faded.
Summary attribution: School of Rembrandt.
Date: c.1650-52?
COLLECTION: DK Copenhagen, Statens Museum For Kunst (inv.18011).
FURTHER LITERATURE/REMARKS: Lippmann, I, 45 (c.1650); Michel, 1893, p.297; Exh. Amsterdam, 1898; Hofstede de Groot, 1906, no.1013 (1643-45); Heseltine, 1907, no.30, repr. (on cardboard mat inscribed “The Widower”); Exh. Paris, 1908, no.377; Hind, 1912, p.66, repr. pl.33 [not in 1924 ed.]; Exh. Amsterdam, 1913, no.46; Exh. Leiden, 1916, no.59; Hirschmann, 1917, p.12; Seidlitz, 1917, p.252 (as Lippmann, but not Rembrandt); Stockholm, 1920, p.57, repr. fig.65 (suggests not by Rembrandt; assumes the man depicted is Rembrandt and rejects the dating to the mid-1640s); Becker, 1923, p.11, no.37, repr.; Weisbach, 1926, p.158, repr. fig.29; Exh. The Hague, 1930, no.90; Exh. Ny Carlsberg Foundation, no.426 (c.1655-60); Exh. Copenhagen, 1953, p.109, repr. p.55 (c.1650); Benesch, II, 1954/73, no.345, repr. fig.401/420 (c.1636-37; refutes Seidlitz, 1917; states without reference that Saxl though it represented Rembrandt and dated it c.1634; compares Benesch 0436 and the hand to Benesch 0438); Rosenberg, 1956.I, p.69 (c.1643 to be preferred); Scheidig, 1962, pp.41 and 77, cat. 31, repr.; White, 1964, p.82, repr. (c.1643); Slive, 1965, no.45 (Rembrandt not depicted); Vogel-Köhn, 1974, no.81, repr. p.230 (1644-45; as Slive, 1965); Bernhard, II, 1976, p.202 (c.1636-37); Tümpel, 1977, p.91 (school work, c.1643); Exh. Copenhagen, 1996, pp.55-57, repr. (not Rembrandt, as Royalton-Kisch and Schatborn stated verbally in 1995; Schatborn’s alternative suggestion, Heijman Dullaert, rejected); [Not in Schatborn, 2019].
PROVENANCE: Samuel Woodburn; Barron Grahame; his sale, London, 1878; J.P. Heseltine (L.1507); his sale, Amsterdam, F. Muller, 27 May 1913, lot 18 (c.1655-60); C. Hofstede de Groot (L.561); his sale, Leipzig, Boerner, 4 November, 1931, lot 169, bt Gustav Falck; presented to the present repository by the Ny [New] Carlsberg Foundation, July, 1948.
[1] Jan Garff, in Exh. Copenhagen, 1996, hoped to re-dub the drawing “Pater familias”, like the etching by Adriaen van Ostade (Bartsch 33).
[2] Op. cit., 1996, p.55, recording Schatborn’s oral opinion.
First posted 26 April 2018.
Benesch 0346
Subject: Bust of a Bearded Man in a Fur Hat
Medium: Red chalk on light brown paper; ruled framing lines in pen and pale brown ink.
60 x 63.
COMMENTS: The drawing has been related to Rembrandt’s etching, dated 1640, of an Old Man with a Divided Fur Cap (Bartsch 265; NH 182).[1] The scale is much smaller here and presumably the etching – like the drawing – was made from life. Yet the drawing does at least adumbrate the print to come: the costume, pose and bust length are all comparable in general terms, and the model could have been the same in both. It therefore seems likely that the drawing predates the more finished print.
For style one might compare the red chalk Self-Portrait (Benesch 0437 recto), with its similar treatment of the upper chest with spaced, near-vertical lines, though the scale there is again larger. There are also links with Rembrandt’s copies after Pieter Lastman of c.1636-37 (perhaps especially Benesch 0448, which is also in red chalk). The somewhat geometric underlying structure of the torso looks forward to the 1650s, but the degree of detail in the head and hat, despite the chalk’s being less than sharp, seems to anchor the drawing more firmly in the late 1630s – or in 1640 itself, the date of the British Museum’s study of Cornelis Claesz. Anslo (Benesch 0758), which exhibits the same softness of the chalk and blocked-out construction.
Negative assessments of the drawing (see Literature) were perhaps unduly influenced by the drawing’s condition.
The costume appears to be Polish, the hat apparently belonging generically to the type called the “kuchma”.[2]
Condition: rather worn/rubbed; the light-brown paper tone could well be discolouration due to exposure.
Summary attribution: Rembrandt.
Date: c.1639-1640.
COLLECTION: NL Amsterdam, Amsterdam Museum [Fodor Collection, L.1036] (inv. TA 10274).
FURTHER LITERATURE/REMARKS: Amsterdam, 1863, p.37, no.159 (one of seven ‘studiehoofden’); Gram, 1863, p.340; Vosmaer, 1868, p.511, no.d of e (‘têtes de vieillards’); Gower, 1875, p.126; Vosmaer, 1877, p.596, no.d (as Vosmaer, 1868); Dutuit, 1885, p.92; Michel, 1893, p.591; Kleinmann, III, 2; Hofstede de Groot, 1906, no.1220 (doubtful); Wurzbach, 1910, p.415 (compares Man with Divided Fur Cap, Bartsch 265; NH 182); Honderd Tekeningen, 1934, no.80; Benesch, 1935, pp.27-28 (c.1637; compares Benesch 0142); Münz, 1952, II, p.64, under no.59 (as Wurzbach, 1910 – ‘same model in a similar pose’); Benesch, II, 1954/73, no.346, repr fig.383/418 (c.1637; compares bearded man at upper left of Benesch 0141 and Benesch 0370); Exh. Cologne-Bremen, 1955, no.72; Exh. Assen, 1956, no.28; Exh. Warsaw, 1956, p.32, no.27; Exh. Belgrade-Zagreb, 1960, p.17, no.60; Exh. Jerusalem, 1960, p.14, no.60; Exh. Budapest, 1962, p.17, no.60; Exh. Amsterdam, 1963, no.25c; Amsterdam, 1972, p.138, under no.B265 compares etching as Wurzbach, 1910); Amsterdam, 1981, no.7, repr. (c.1635-40; similar, though not directly related, to the etching, Man with Divided Fur Cap, Bartsch 265; NH 182); Schatborn, 2019, no.434, repr. (c.1652).
PROVENANCE: Willem Baartz; his sale, Rotterdam, Lamme, 6-8 June 1860, lot 100: ‘Rembrandt van Rijn. Six têtes d’études. Crayon noir, sanguine et bistre’, bt Lamme, f 7; C.J. Fodor, by whom bequeathed to the Museum Fodor (L.1036), 1860; acquired by exchange by the present repository in 1937.[3]
[1] Since Wurzbach, 1910 and followed by Münz, 1952 and Filedt Kok in Amsterdam, 1972. Broos, in Amsterdam, 1981, acknowledges the similarity without seeing a direct relationship.
[2] See Broos, 1974, p.200.
[3] The provenance is the same as Benesch 0372.
First posted 28 April 2018.
Benesch 0347
Subject: A Seated Man, Listening, profile to right
Medium: Pen and brown ink; ruled framing lines in pen and grey-brown ink.
91 x 78.
COMMENTS: For style, compare the figure of Jacob in Benesch 0095, both in the vigour of the outlines (not least in the arms) and in the detail of the hatching in the neck. The upper figure of Adam in the documentary drawing, Benesch 0164 of 1638, is also analogous and suggestive for the date. These comparisons suggest that the Courtauld sheet is later than the grisaille of St John the Baptist Preaching (Bredius 555, Corpus A106, vol. VI no.110), with which it has sometimes been linked in the past.
In c.1657, Rembrandt was to use a comparable figure in his etching of Christ Preaching [‘La Petite Tombe’] (Bartsch 67; NH 298).
Condition: generally good though somewhat discoloured; presumably a fragment of a larger sheet; the mounter responsible for the framing lines allowed their ink to spread at upper right.
Summary attribution: Rembrandt.
Date: c.1638.
COLLECTION: GB London, Courtauld Institute (Seilern Collection, inv.D.1978.PG.407).
FURTHER LITERATURE/REMARKS: Valentiner (unpublished 3rd volume) 1337; Benesch, II, 1954/73, no.347, repr. (c.1637; relates to listeners in Benesch 0138 and grisaille of Baptist preaching, Bredius 555, Corpus A106, vol. VI, no.110 and related sketch, Benesch 0141; for style also compares Benesch 0348); London, 1971, no.407 (c.1640); Exh. London, 1983, no.15 (fragment; for a scene of a biblical sermon); [Not in Schatborn, 2019].
PROVENANCE: F. Kleinberger; acquired in 1961 by Count Antoine Seilern (Princes Gate Collection), by whom bequeathed to the present repository, 1978.
First posted 30 April 2018.
Benesch 0348
Subject: Two Men Listening (after Raphael), one standing, one seated
Medium: Pen and brown ink.
Inscribed lower right, by a later hand, in pen and brown ink: “”Rembrandt”
Measurements uncertain.
COMMENTS: Benesch’s cryptic comment on the drawing links it (by association with his comments on Benesch 0347) with the Berlin grisaille of St John the Baptist Preaching (Bredius 555; Wetering 110). In fact the figures are a critique of two of the listeners in Raphael’s tapestry design of St Paul Preaching at Athens, probably known to Rembrandt through the engraving by Marcantonio Raimondi.[1] Both figures are adjusted, the younger, seated man turns his head more towards us and the older man, lowered in relation to the nearer figure, now wears a cap and his cloak is differently configured.
Whether the drawing is at all connected with the grisaille of c.1634 is uncertain, but the date is not impossible (compare Benesch 0336). The group on the left of Rembrandt’s documentary drawing of the Lamentation (Benesch 0154) and the related oil in the National Gallery, London (Bredius 554; Corpus A105, vol.VI, no.114), both of the same period, seems to echo the arrangement more than anything in the St John. The style of Benesch 0154 is also comparable.
Raphael’s seated figure may lie behind the pensive young man towards the left of the etching of Christ Preaching (The Hundred Guilder Print) of c.1648 (Bartsch 74; NH 239). His tapestry designs influenced Rembrandt, and also his teacher, Pieter Lastman, on many other occasions (see, for example, Benesch 0449). In 1639, Rembrandt made his sketch after Raphael’s Portrait of Baldassare Castiglione (Benesch 0451), while the 1656 inventory of Rembrandt’s possessions mentions works by or after Raphael six times, as follows, further revealing his esteem for the Italian painter: [item 67] “Een tronie van Raefel Urbijn” (A head (tronie) by Raphael of Urbino); [item 114] “Een Maria beeltie van Raefel Urbijn” (A figure of [the Virgin] Mary by Raphael of Urbino); [item 196] “Een dito [kunstboeck] met kopere printen van Raefel Urbijn” (One ditto [art album] with copperplate prints by Raphael of Urbino); [item 205] “Een dito [kunstboeck] met printen van Raefel Urbijn” (One ditto [art album] with prints by Raphael of Urbino); [item 214] “Een dito [kunstboeck] van Raefel de Urbijn, seer schoonen druck” (One ditto [art album] by Raphael of Urbino, with very fine impressions [of prints]); [item 232] “Een dito [kunstboeck] met de bouleringe van Raefel, Roes, Hanibal Crats en Julio Bonasoni” (One ditto with the erotica by Raphael, Rosa, Annibale Carracci and Giulio Bonasone).[2]
Condition: Presumably cut from a larger sheet; the top right section made up.
Summary attribution: Rembrandt (after Raphael).
Date: c.1634?
COLLECTION: Whereabouts unknown.
FURTHER LITERATURE/REMARKS: Valentiner, III (unpublished) 1198; Benesch, II, 1954/73, no.348, repr. (c.1637; compares Benesch 0347); Schatborn, 2019, no.663, repr. (c.1636).
PROVENANCE: Dr van Lucius, The Hague (in 1920).[3]
[1] First noticed by the compiler 1 February, 1989. See Bartsch, XI, p.50, no.44.
[2] For the inventory, see Strauss and van der Meulen, 1979, no.1656/12. Rembrandt bought prints after Raphael at a sale in 1637 (see ibid., 1979, no.1638/20). See also the Raphael influence in Benesch 0540 and in the school drawing (“Carel Fabritius” group) Benesch 0531.
[3] According to Benesch.
First posted 1 May 2018.
Benesch 0349
Subject: A Bearded Old Man in a Fur Cap, leaning on a stick, half-length to right
Verso: laid down
Medium: Pen and wash in greyish-brown ink; ruled framing lines in pen and brown ink (partly covered in gold by the mounter).
78 x 68. Watermark: none visible (laid down)
COMMENTS: A characteristic school drawing that emulates Rembrandt closely but has a neat, nimby-pimby approach that is entirely alien to his draughtsmanship. As noted by Benesch, the figure’s hands resemble those of the foreground woman in Benesch 0140, but the style is different. In the evenness of the touch, which rather suggests that it was not made from life, one might conjecture that it could be by the young Ferdinand Bol, whose drawings often display this characteristic. If so, the present work was likely to have been made soon after Bol joined Rembrandt’s studio in c.1636.
One curious aspect of the drawing – which must be a fragment of a larger sheet – is the way the man’s stick stops just short of the edge of the paper below, while his right sleeve goes down beyond it. This suggests the drawing might be a copy, which would explain both the evenness of the outlines and the similarity of the hands in Benesch 0140; for if a copy, it may be based on a lost sketch by Rembrandt, perhaps one made, like Benesch 0140, in the context of the grisaille of St John the Baptist Preaching of c.1633-34 (Bredius 555; Corpus A106, vol. VI, no.110) or at around the same time.
Condition: Generally good though with some surface dirt and discolouration; almost certainly a fragment of a larger sheet.
Summary attribution: School of Rembrandt (Ferdinand Bol??).
Date: c.1636-38.
COLLECTION: NL Amsterdam, Rijksmuseum (L.2228 on verso of the backing; De Bruijn-van der Leeuw Bequest, inv. RP-T-1961-78).
FURTHER LITERATURE/REMARKS: Hind, 1913-14, no.18, repr. (c.1628-35); Benesch, 1935, p.28 (c.1637); Exh. Bern, 1937, no.184 (c.1632); Exh. Basel, 1948, no.4 (c.1632); Benesch, II, 1954/73, no.349, repr. fig.384/422 (c.1637; compares Benesch 0140); Van Gelder, 1961, p.151, n.24; Van Regteren Altena, 1961, pp.69 and 85, no.34; Amsterdam, 1985, no.100, repr. (school of Rembrandt, comparing Benesch 0340; probably mid-1630s; cut from a larger sheet); [Not in Schatborn, 2019].
PROVENANCE: Richard Houlditch (L.2214); his sale, London, Langford’s, 12-14 February, 1760; The Duke of Marlborough; his sale, London, Sotheby’s, 19 February, 1930, lot 73, bt Colnaghi, £30; I. de Bruijn-van der Leeuw; by whom given to the present repository, 1949, with usufruct until 28 November, 1960.
First posted 17 May 2018.
Benesch 0350
Subject: Bust of an Elderly Man in a Flat Cap, facing right
Verso: some recent inscriptions in graphite.
Medium: Pen and brown ink; remnants of framing lines in pen and brown ink at top and lower edges.
Inscribed top right in pen and brown ink with a paraphe “RH –” [?] (see under Benesch 0113)
84 x 69. Watermark: none; chain lines: 24/25v
COMMENTS: With his large earrings (if that is what they are) and oversized beret, the figure appears exotic and could be an actor (see under Benesch 0120).
For style, the obvious comparison is with the two figures with flat caps on the left of Benesch 0340. This leaves the present drawing wanting – it seems to be made up of parts: cap, face, band across the chest, hand and drapery, and the echoing zigzags for the profiles of the lower front and the lower back. The lack of flow and coherence between these parts is troubling. Then there is the hatching in the face, which lacks the precision or subtlety of the heads in Benesch 0340. In the present sketch it appears overly dense and at an somewhat uncharacteristic angle for a Rembrandt face. Comparable conclusions are to be drawn from a comparison with the Seated Old Man of c.1638-39 from the Lugt Collection (Not in Benesch; Paris, Fondation Custodia inv.4502),[1] who wears a similar headgear. The Standing Woman on the verso of that drawing is stylistically related in a more convincing manner, though again the figure there is moderately more coherent. Yet the congruities cannot be ignored and allowance should be made for the small scale in Benesch 0350. For these reasons I retain the possibility that Rembrandt made it, although its distance in style from any of the documentary sheets should also be remarked. No convincing alternative attribution has been forthcoming.
The paraphe at the top right, which appears on a number of drawings (see under Benesch 0113) is presumably an early collector’s mark, although it has every appearance of being in the same ink as the drawing – another reason for caution, perhaps.
Etched by Johann Daniel Laurenz.
Condition: slight spotting and discolouration but generally good.
Summary attribution: Rembrandt?
Date: c.1635-39.
COLLECTION: USA Washington, National Gallery of Art (Widener Collection, inv.1942.9.677).
FURTHER LITERATURE/REMARKS: Benesch, 1935, p.28; Benesch, II, 1954/73, no. 350, repr. (c.1637; compares Benesch 0349 and Benesch 0142); Exh. Washington, 1969, no. 31, repr.; Exh. Washington, 2006 [no numeration]; [Not in Schatborn, 2019].
PROVENANCE: K.E. von Liphart (L.1687); by descent to R. von Liphart (L.1758); Marsden J. Perry (L.1880); J.E. Widener, by whom bequeathed to the present repository in 1942.
[1] Repr. Paris, 2010, no.8, as well as in the present publication.
First posted 19 May 2018.
Benesch 0351
Subject: Studies of Five Figures
Verso: Composition Sketch with Figures in Movement Near an Entrance (The Massacre of the Innocents?)
Medium: Pen and brown ink (recto and verso); two ruled framing lines in pen and brown ink. Attached to a blue paper strip with a mottled line in pen and brown ink just outside the edges of the drawing.
Inscribed in pen and brown ink, lower right: “1864” and “217” [the latter crossed out]
152 x 105. Watermark: none; chain lines: 24h.
COMMENTS: The five figures on the recto (with an incipient sixth face near the upper right figure), with their often exotic headgear, compare reasonably well with the types portrayed in the Berlin grisaille of St John the Baptist Preaching of c.1633-34 (Bredius 555; Corpus A106, vol.VI, 110). The verso, with its energetic group of figures, is not easy to read but could depict the Massacre of the Innocents, as Kruse suggested (see Stockholm, 1920). Particularly towards the right there seems to be a woman rushing towards the right and carrying what could be a child, while the other figures stumble and turn all around her.
The style of the recto, though it resembles both sides of the documentary drawing for the Berlin grisaille at Chatsworth (Benesch 0142), is closer to Benesch 0145 in the Morgan Library, not least in the delineation of the frontally posed figures’ faces but also in the passages of deliberate horizontal hatching in the clothes. Although the details are sharper in the Morgan drawing, the hand appears to be the same. A similar congruity is found between the lower figure, seen from behind, and the horsemen at the top right of Benesch 0360 verso.
For the verso perhaps the closest is the area on the right of Benesch 0151, which has a similar energy and calligraphy.
For these reasons I am inclined to accept the drawing and place it c.1634, which makes a connection with the Berlin grisaille quite likely.
Condition: Good, if faded, with a few thin spots, especially in the lower left corner.
Summary attribution: Rembrandt.
Date: c.1634?
COLLECTION: S Stockholm, Nationalmuseum (L.2985; inv.2064/1863).
FURTHER LITERATURE/REMARKS: Hofstede de Groot, 1906, no.1608 (c.1630-35); Stockholm, 1920, no.II:7 [verso] and IV.18 [recto] (not Rembrandt; compares Benesch 0138, Benesch 0141 and Benesch 0151; verso represents Massacre of the Innocents); Valentiner, 1924, no.187 (verso); Benesch, 1933-34 (reprinted Benesch, 1970, p.119); Benesch, 1935, p.28; Benesch, II, 1954/73, no.351, repr. figs 403-404/424-425 (c.1637; compares especially Benesch 0141, as well as Benesch 0145, 0152, 0360 verso, 0361 and 0364; the verso with Benesch 0423 verso and Benesch 0144); Exh. Rotterdam-Amsterdam, 1956, no.72; Exh. Vienna, 1956, no.35; Sumowski, 1979 etc., V, 1981, under no.1185x; Exh. Stockholm, 1992-93, no.134, repr. (verso perhaps figures reacting to a heavenly apparition, comparing 1634 etching of Annunciation to the Shepherds, Bartsch 44; NH 125); [Not in Schatborn, 2019].
PROVENANCE: Roger de Piles? [many Crozat Rembrandt drawings were said by Mariette to have been acquired from de Piles]; Pierre Crozat (Mariette, 1741, p.101); his sale, Paris, 10-13 May, 1741 (lot number uncertain), bt Tessin; Carl Gustav Tessin (1695-1770; L.2985; his inventory, 1739-42, f.46 verso; 1749 cat., vol. 15, no.14); presented by him in 1750 to King Adolph Frederik of Sweden; his sale, 1777, where purchased by his successor, Gustav III, for the Swedish Royal Library (cat. 1790, no.1864); whence transferred to the Royal Museum, Stockholm (L.1368) and thence transferred in 1866 to the present repository.
First posted 19 May 2018.
Benesch 0352
Subject: Bust of a Man in a Turban
Medium: Pen and brown ink; ruled framing lines in pen and brown ink.
Inscribed in graphite, lower left, with a cross in a circle.
101 x 88. Watermark: crowned shield with crozier (only partly visible).
COMMENTS: The drawing appears close in style to Benesch 0682, especially in the tramline nose and somewhat uncertain profiling of the face of the central figure, but also in the rather liquid application of ink from a highly-charged quill. This kind of handling belongs to the 1640s (cf., for example, the documentary drawings Benesch 0183, 0188, 0388 and 0736), but the insecurity of the modelling has led to the drawing’s attribution to Govert Flinck. The connection with drawings such as the Musketeer, now in Copenhagen (Benesch A33, Sumowski 953x) seems undeniable, yet the more varied touch here, from the thin lines of the feather decoration to the almost brush-li ke treatment of parts of the drapery, together with the connection with Rembrandt’s own drawings mentioned above, allows us to retain it among the drawings “attributed to” the master. It may be that the drawing was not made from life but rather a sketch for one of the Magi or another figure from the Bible.[1]
Condition: Cut from a larger sheet with strips made good at both sides; somewhat stained, especially at lower corners and on added strips.
Summary attribution: Rembrandt? or Govert Flinck?
Date: c.1640-45?
COLLECTION: NL Rotterdam, Museum Boijmans van Beuningen (inv. R 99).
FURTHER LITERATURE/REMARKS: Benesch, II, 1954/72, no.352, repr. fig.391/426 (c.1637; see n.1 below); Benesch, 1964, p.116; Rotterdam, 1969, pp.23-24, repr. fig.19; Benesch, 1970, p.253; Bernhard, 1976, p.222; Rotterdam, 1988, no.76, repr. (by Flinck, with reservations, c.1637; relates to his drawing in Copenhagen, Benesch A33, Sumowski 953x); [Not in Schatborn, 2019].
PROVENANCE: acquired in 1928 by Franz Koenigs (L.1023a); his collection purchased and given in 1940 by D.G. van Beuningen to the Boijmans Museum Foundation (Stichting Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen).
[1] Benesch, 1957, compared the oriental to right in Benesch 0147 and figures in the painting of Samson’s Wedding of 1638 (Bredius 507; Corpus A123, vol. VI, no.160).
First posted 24 May 2018.
Benesch 0353
Subject: Half-Length Study of a Man in a Turban by a Window, with a Girl Beyond
Verso: Standing Turbaned Oriental, hands clasped before him
Medium: Pen and brown ink, rubbed with the finger; the verso in darker ink and with wash, over black chalk.
Inscribed in pen and brown ink, top left: “138”
148 x 109.
COMMENTS: Benesch rightly rejected the verso, which is somewhat reminiscent of the early works of Constantijn Daniël van Renesse of c.1650 and gives the impression of being a copy by an inexpert hand after an unknown prototype.[1] The style of the recto also betokens the 1650s, when Van Renesse was a pupil until his return to his native Eindhoven in 1653. Among Rembrandt’s documentary drawings, the broad, sweeping outlines of the recto appear to arrive in his work in c.1647 with the Study for the Portrait of Jan Six (Benesch 0767), continuing through to his last drawings of the 1660s (such as Benesch 1066 and 1178). The parallel hatching in the face resembles that in the curtains in the Minerva in the Six album of 1652 (Benesch 0914), while the somewhat schematic head of the child may be compared with the simplified heads as formulated in the Anatomy Lesson of Dr Deyman of 1656 (Benesch 1175). There are also stylistic links to Benesch 1151 in the broad outlines of the drapery.
Thus the style places the drawing too late to be connected, as earlier writers have suggested, with the painted Still-Life with Dead Peacocks of c.1639 (Bredius 456; Wetering 165). Rather, the drawing must derive in part from this or a similar composition – there does seem to be a dangling body and neck of one bird, below centre. This derivative quality increases the probability that the drawing is by a pupil. Yet the stylistic connections between the recto and Van Renesse are not persuasive (compare Job with His Friends and His Wife, now in Stockholm, Sumowski 2190xx and the Interior with a Staircase, now in Bayonne, Sumowski 2205xx). On balance, the recto drawing approaches Rembrandt himself significantly more closely: it is stylistically bolder and more decisive than his pupils’ drawings of the period, while the drapery and hatching are close to what is found in the curtain at the top left of the documentary drawing, Minerva in her Study, of 1652 (Benesch 0914). Why Rembrandt should choose to re-evoke his earlier, painted composition some 13 years later remains a mystery, but cannot be allowed to detract from the stylistic analogies with his work. On the other hand, the pedestrian quality of the verso, as noted has links with Van Renesse and to some degree with the dry handling of Abraham van Dijck.[2]
Condition: Some spotting and staining, mostly near the edges, and somewhat faded.
Summary attribution: Rembrandt (verso: School of Rembrandt, perhaps Constantijn van Renesse).
Date: c.1652.
COLLECTION: D Berlin, Staatliche Museen, Kupferstichkabinett (inv.1110).
FURTHER LITERATURE/REMARKS: Dutuit, 1885, p.80; Hofstede de Groot, 1906, no.147 (1638; represents a Jew; relates to painting, Still-Life with Dead Peacocks of c.1639 [Bredius 456; Wetering 165] and sees a bird ‘touched out’ where the figure now is); Lippmann, 4, no.35 (as Hofstede de Groot, 1906); Freise, Lilienfeld and Wichmann, 1914, no.139 (recto later than the painting; called School of Rembrandt in the Kupferstichkabinett); Van Dyke, 1927, p.28; Berlin, 1930, p.234, inv.1110 (c.1645-50; otherwise as Hofstede de Groot, 1906); Exh. Berlin, 1930, p.269 (c.1645-50); Benesch, 1935, p.24; Benesch, II, 1954/73, no.353, repr. (c.1637; as Hofstede de Groot, 1906, dating painting c.1637; the figure an independent study from the background; for style compares Benesch 0339, 0340 and Benesch 0412); Exh. Berlin, 1956, no.97 (c.1645-50); Slive, 1965, no.480 (c.1638); Bredius-Gerson, 1969, under no.456 (study for the Amsterdam painting); Bernhard, 1976, p.204 (c.1637); Corpus, 3, 1989, p.339 (the drawing does not assist in trying to understand the genesis of the Amsterdam painting) ; Berlin, 2018, no.56, repr. (Abraham van Dyck; compares Sumowski 576xx, 583xx and 584xx); [Not in Schatborn, 2019]; De Witt, 2020, no.DR1 (not Abraham van Dijck, but without argumentation).
PROVENANCE: K.F.F. von Nagler (L.2529); purchased with his collection by the present repository in 1835 (see under L.2529 and Berlin, 1994, p.18).
[1] Bevers, in Berlin, 2018, no.56, attributes both the recto and verso to Abraham van Dyck, but in my view only the verso bears a stylistic connection with his work, which is close in style to the early Van Renesse, so he could be right. Bevers also records the opinion of Frits Lugt in his MS card index of Rembrandt’s drawings in 1924 – that the drawing is by Rembrandt but ‘unpleasant’.
[2] See n.1, though only the verso truly compares with the dry handling of Abraham Van Dijck, as in the Old Woman, Seated, Holding a Book, now in the Morgan Library, New York (inv. I, 194; Sumowski 571xx; De Witt, 2020, no.D11), but the analogies with Van Dijck are insufficient to underpin an attribution to him.
First posted 26 May 2018; revisited 16 November 2018.
Benesch 0354
Subject: Full-Length Standing Woman in Exotic Attire; Bust of a Woman in Profile to left; an ornament
Medium: Pen (reed pen?) and brown ink with some brown wash; the bust in red chalk, with some (later) work in graphite; freehand framing lines in pen and grey-brown ink probably drawn by a later hand (the “Munich Forger”?) as also much of the shading beneath the figure and probably the very darkest part of the line that grazes the figure’s forehead (see further below and n.6).
Inscribed in pen and brown ink to right, by Rembrandt: “gesp” [buckle or clasp]; to lower left, an old inventory number: “5047.”. Inscribed verso with the letter “R”.
201 x 78. Watermark: Basel staff.
COMMENTS: The drawing, inventoried in the nineteenth century as depicting a Vestal Virgin, has more recently been associated with Rembrandt’s drawings of actors, most of which are dated around the time of the first performance of Gijsbrecht van Aemstel in early 1638 (see under Benesch 120).[1] But although the low viewpoint of the main figure does indeed seem like an actor on stage,[2] this liquid drawing appears – at least superficially – to be later in style, its breadth of handling providing links to such documentary drawings as the St Jerome Reading, of 1653 (Benesch 0886). However, the possibility that Rembrandt worked in such a broad style in c.1638 remains open through the figure on the lower left of Benesch 0381, for example. The small red chalk sketch of a girl or young woman at the upper right also seems to belong to the 1630s – possibly even from the mid-1630s. Perhaps the sheet was reused later. To complicate matters, Benesch thought that the inscription (which he could not decipher) and what he called the “bell cord” were later additions, though without stating whether he thought these “later additions” were by Rembrandt (probably, he thought not).
These latter comments fall aside with the decipherment of the inscription (see further below). But there are some later additions, which may in part explain why the attribution to Rembrandt is not always accepted: near the feet of the figure there are some touches in the same grey-brown ink as the framing lines; the darkest part of the line that obliquely touches the figure’s forehead and descends to her hands – creating the sense that she is holding a palm – also seems to be an addition;[3] and the red chalk bust has some later elaborations in graphite. Superficially, too, the liquid handling resembles the work of Ferdinand Bol in such drawings as Benesch 0102,[4] but as well as the handwriting (on which see below) , the freedom of touch, the varied strength of the strokes and the strength of the overall characterisation point to Rembrandt.
If the attribution on stylistic grounds is reasonably persuasive, if not watertight, it is rendered well-nigh unassailable by the fact that the redoubtable Amsterdam archivist, the late Isabella van Eeghen, accepted that the inscription at the upper right is in Rembrandt’s own handwriting. Van Eeghen was among the most renowned archivists of recent decades and made a particular study of documents concerning Rembrandt, so her opinions were – and still are – regarded as gospel (despite the fact that she did not generally hold art historians in very high regard). She not only believed she saw Rembrandt’s own hand, but also deciphered the word as “gesp” (buckle or clasp).[5] This makes the attribution of the drawing to Rembrandt himself a near-certainty.
Having checked various documents with Rembrandt’s handwriting, there seems little doubt that the handwriting is indeed his and that the word is “gesp”. The long-looped “g” (begun at the top with an open loop and ending in a near flourish in the tail towards the left) followed by a separately begun, raised “e” (it does not run on uninterrupted from the “g”) are replicated, for example, in the “ge” at the start of the word “gepleeght” at the beginning of the second line of Rembrandt’s third letter to Constantijn Huygens of 12 January 1639.[6] The “p” in this word is also similar. The “ge” may also be compared with its two appearances in the word “geneegentheijt” in the third line of the text of Rembrandt’s fifth letter to Constantijn Huygens.[7]; and with the word “gemoet” appended to Benesch 0257; the “ges” is very comparable to the same combination of characters in “geschie” five lines from the end and “gesondtheijt” in the last main line of the sixth letter to Huygens.[8] The “p” in “gesp”, despite the analogy noted above, is somewhat anomalous: Rembrandt’s “p” usually leans more forward, does not have a second loop behind the letter that mirrors the loop at the front, and has no horizontal tick to the right of the tail. However, the “p” can sometimes be more vertical and there is a double loop in the “p” in “port” on the verso of Rembrandt’s seventh letter to Huygens, where he wrote the recipient’s address.[9]
The iconography is uncertain. Benesch was reminded of the figures to the right in the Departure of Rachel (Benesch 0147), including Rachel herself. One might also think of Pharaoh’s Daughter in a Finding of Moses. Or is she holding a palm, either of martyrdom or to personify Victory or Glory?[10] This seems unlikely, as the strongest part of the line below the headdress, which runs obliquely past the figure’s forehead, appears to be a later addition.[11] The belt-like strap with a small bell on the right is probably a more detailed description of the ornament dangling behind the figure’s ear.
Condition: somewhat faded but generally good; probably cut from a larger sheet.
Summary attribution: Rembrandt.
Date: c.1638?
COLLECTION: D Munich, Staatliche Graphische Sammlung (L.2723; inv. 1460).
FURTHER LITERATURE/REMARKS: Hofstede de Groot, 1906, no.459; Saxl, 1908, p.534; Benesch, 1935, p.28; Benesch, II, 1954/73, no.354, repr. fig.394/428 (c.1637; inscription and ‘bell cord’ later additions; compares female figure to right of Benesch 0449, and profile to Benesch 0149; not drawn from life but inspired by another work of art); Exh. Munich, 1957, no.12; Volskaya, 1961, pp.54-60 (identified as possibly Gijsbrecht’s daughter Adelgrund or as the ghost of Badeloch’s dead niece, Machtelt); Exh. Munich, 1966-67, no.19; Van de Waal, 1969, pp.147-49, repr. fig.9 (disagrees with Volskaya, 1961, stating that the text of the play shows that Machtelt did not appear as ‘blessed’ [vv.770-773] and the image is also not in accord with her ‘anguished’ appearance described in vv.760-767; van de Waal agrees [p.148] that the drawing is theatrical, pointing to the foreshortened perspective in this respect; the inscription, according to van de Waal, was read by I. van Eeghen as ‘gesp’ [buckle] and as she thought in Rembrandt’s own handwriting; if Machteld, Benesch’s date of c.1636 for groups II and III of actors [II = Benesch 316-22] must be revised to 1637 [1st edition of the play] or 1638 [1st performance]); Hummelen, 1973, p.155, repr. fig. 105; Munich, 1973, no.1101, repr. pl.306; Schatborn, 1978, p.134 (figure not carrying a palm, which is a later addition); Exh. Munich, 1983-84, no.72; Exh. Munich-Amsterdam, 2001, no.74, repr. (c.1637; reads inscription as “STE”; says Schatborn believes the heavy oblique line upper left is a later addition; represents Gloria or Victoria, with a palm frond); Burmester and Renger, 2003, p.56 and figs 5 and 5a (see notes 3 and 11 below); [Not in Schatborn, 2019].
PROVENANCE: probably Kurfürst Carl Theodor.
[1] Volskaya, 1961 (see Literature above).
[2] A point made by Van de Waal, 1969 (see Literature above).
[3] See also Burmester and Renger, 2003, p.56 and figs 5 and 5a.
[4] As suggested to the compiler by Peter Schatborn (email 4 June 2018), comparing the Study with Two Marys (Wroclaw, Sumowski 98), the Standing High Priest, also in Wroclaw (Benesch 0102; Sumowski 165x), the profile of the angel in the Hagar and the Angel now in Stockholm (Sumowski 175x) and the profile of Hagar in the drawing of the same subject in the Lugt Collection (Sumowski 250x).
[5] As recorded in Van de Waal, 1969. One might imagine that she could have written an article entitled ‘Een gesp en de kunsthistorici’ along the lines of Van Eeghen, 1969. She was responsible for transcribing all Rembrandt’s letters for Gerson, 1961.
[6] Strauss and van der Meulen, 1979, no.1639/2.
[7] Strauss and van der Meulen, 1979, no.1639/4.
[8] Strauss and van der Meulen, 1979, no.1639/5; see also Exh. Amsterdam, 1987-88, no.43, repr..
[9] Repr. Gerson, 1961, p.68 – all the letters are reproduced in Gerson, 1961.
[10] Suggested by Vignau-Wilberg in Exh. Munich-Amsterdam, 2001, p.272.
[11] See Burmester and Renger, 2003, p.56, repr. figs 5-5a (as n.3 above), showing the drawing in normal light and under a reflectionspectroscope, in which the later lines in the shadows below and the later parts of the oblique line described above disappear (I confess to believing that the technology may not always be accurate in what it retains as original work – near the shadows below, for example, it seems to take slightly too much away). It might be that the stronger lines sometimes bury earlier, lighter ones; and interestingly the added inventory number at the lower left remains in the scientific image.
First posted 27 May 2018.
Benesch 0355
Subject: Bust of a Man Wearing a Cap, profile to left
Medium: Pen and brown ink with brown wash; remnants of (badly ruled) framing lines in pen and brown ink brown ink.
Inscribed in pen and dark brown ink, lower left, with the old inventory number: “3058.”
128 x 108. Chain lines: 22v.
COMMENTS: For the most part, the drawing has the rigid quality of a copy. This is particularly the case with the drapery, where all sense of modelling has gone awry. But some parts of the head, especially at the back, are livelier, resembling drawings such as Benesch 0088, Benesch 0273 and Benesch 0339, so that it is possible that an incipient original – perhaps by Van den Eeckhout rather than Rembrandt, to judge from the similarities with Benesch 0088 – has been gone over and elaborated by a later hand (perhaps the “Munich Forger”). Against this theory are the tentative lines at the upper right of the sheet, which one might expect to be livelier but are surprisingly limp (compare those at the lower right of Benesch 0273).
A (photographic?) replica, cut down and in poor condition, was recently on the London art market.[1]
Condition: spotted and stained so that the paper has become brown; small losses at upper corners.
Summary attribution: School of Rembrandt, either partly after Rembrandt or with some incipient work by Rembrandt or Gerbrand van den Eeckhout.
Date: c.1635-40.
COLLECTION: D Munich, Staatliche Graphische Sammlung (inv. 1603).[1]
FURTHER LITERATURE/REMARKS: Munich, 1884-93, no.8a, repr.; Hofstede de Groot, 1906, no.445 (shows a woman); Benesch, 1935, p.24; Benesch, II, 1954/73, no.355, repr. (c.1637; compares ‘geometrical’ style of Benesch 0148); Munich, 1973, no.1125, repr. pl.316 (compares Benesch 0148); [Not in Schatborn, 2019].
PROVENANCE: Elector (Kurfürst) Carl Theodor (1724-1799), Munich.
[1] Offered at Sotheby’s, London, 4th July, 2018, lot 113, repr. (cut horizontally just below the neck, with a patch missing at what had become the lower left corner). The effect of the replica was highly deceptive as it looked like an original drawing.
First posted 28 May 2018.
Benesch 0356
Subject: An Old Woman Wearing Spectacles, reading
Medium: Pen and dark brown ink (almost black); the nib, probably a quill, has split into 2 lines at times.
99 x 80. Watermark: none; chain lines: 25-26v.
COMMENTS: Benesch compared the verso of Benesch 0419, a drawing that is clearly not by Rembrandt himself. The style (like the subject of an old woman reading) seems to depend on Rembrandt’s Leiden period (cf. Benesch 0028-29) but in the slack detailing throughout, the drawing is surely the work of a pupil or follower. The effect of the nib splitting is unusual.
Condition: generally good (minor spots and stains apart).
Summary attribution: School of Rembrandt.
Date: c.1630-35?
COLLECTION: P Wroclaw, Ossolineum (National Ossoliński Institute; inv.8722).
FURTHER LITERATURE/REMARKS: Benesch, II, 1954/73, no.356, repr. (c.1637; compares Benesch 0419 verso); Haverkamp-Begemann, 1961, p.26; Scheidig, 1962, p.78, no.38, repr.; Exh. Wroclaw 1998, no.25, repr.; Exh. Warsaw, 2006, no.5, repr. (1640s); Kozak and Tomicka, 2009, no.7, repr. (1640s); [Not in Schatborn, 2019].
PROVENANCE: Prince Henryk Lubomirski; transferred by him in 1823 to the Lubomirski Museum, formerly in Lwow (Lviv; inv.8722).
First posted 29 May 2018.
Benesch 0357
Subject: A Kneeling Man; Head of a Woman
Verso: laid down.
Medium: Red chalk (perhaps touched with white in the nearer shoulder and a remnant of black chalk at the heel).
183 x 158. Watermark: not visible (laid down); chain lines: 24v
COMMENTS: The figure must have been referred to by Rembrandt when making his etching, The Baptism of the Eunuch, in 1641 (Bartsch 98; NH 186), for which Benesch 0013 is also a study. There are some minor differences (the head more upright; hands fully clasped; the fall of drapery differs lower centre) and the model is given an appropriately African appearance. The ineffable sense of light in the drawing suggests that an outdoor scene was always envisaged.
In both the drawing and etching there are links between the figure and his counterpart in the previous version of the same subject that Rembrandt made during his Leiden period, recorded in prints by Johannes van Vliet and a copyist (Hollstein 12 and 12 copy b).[1] But in style the drawing belongs with Benesch 0447, after Pieter Lastman, which is usually dated c.1637, the year assigned by Benesch to Rembrandt’s other three copies after Lastman (Benesch 0446 and 0448-9). It is conceivable that another figure by Lastman lies behind the present study,[2] although it is not obviously a copy and no prototype is known.[3]
Also regarding the date, the drawing was long mounted together with Benesch 0308, in which the medium and paper look very similar (insofar as one can tell from drawings that are laid down).
The head below has been compared with that (in reverse) in the lower section of the etching, Three Studies of Female Heads; one lightly etched (Bartsch 367; NH 162) which is usually dated to c.1637. In fact the expression is equally close to the lower head (not in reverse) in the etching of Three heads of women, one asleep, which is dated 1637 (Bartsch 368; NH 161). Despite a degree of awkwardness, there seems to be insufficient reason to question the authenticity of this lower head or regard it as a pupil’s sketch, as did both Hofstede de Groot and Benesch.
Condition: Generally good; some old creases; clearly cut below; some smudges of dirt or black chalk, including an accidental near-vertical ‘line’, lower left.
Summary attribution: Rembrandt.
Date: c.1637.
COLLECTION: A Vienna, Albertina (inv.8837).
FURTHER LITERATURE/REMARKS: Hofstede de Groot, 1906, no.1435 (Head below perhaps added later); Schönbrunner and Meder, no.859; Benesch, 1935, p.23; Valentiner, II, 1935, no.553, repr. (pace Hofstede de Groot, 1906, the woman below not added later; says Lugt thinks for a Baptism of the Eunuch); Münz, 1952, under no.211 (a study for 1641 etching of Baptism of the Eunuch, Bartsch 98; NH 186); Benesch, II, 1954/73, no.357, repr. fig.385/431 (c.1637; the head below by a pupil, most of whose work cut away; compares Benesch 0447); Exh. Vienna, 1956, no.30; Exh. Rotterdam-Amsterdam, 1956, no.59; Exh. Stockholm, 1956, no.86; Exh. Vienna, 1969-70, no.14, repr.; Exh. Milan, 1970, no.8, repr.; Exh. Vienna, 2004, no.32, repr. (c.1637; perhaps referred to by Rembrandt for the later etching, Bartsch 98; NH 186; head below resembles Bartsch 367; NH 162; resembles in style Benesch 0447); Paris, 2008, under no.256, n.3 (loose connection with the etching, Bartsch 367; NH 162); Schatborn, 2019, no.289, repr. (c.1637).
PROVENANCE: Prince Charles de Ligne; Herzog Albert von Sachsen-Teschen (Lugt 174).
[1] The lost picture is also known through what is thought to be a copy, now in the Kremer Collection (discussed in Corpus, I, p.37, repr. fig.4 and Sumowski, Gem., no.1913; see also http://www.thekremercollection.com/rembrandt-harmensz-van-rijn-the-baptism-of-the-eunuch-copy-of-a-lost-painting/ [consulted 31 May 2018]). Rembrandt also treated the subject in one of his earliest paintings, dated 1626 and now in Utrecht (Corpus A5; vol.VI, no.9). It is perhaps worth remarking in a footnote that Rembrandt’s eunuchs are all bearded, which means that (did he k ow this?) they were castrated after puberty (the biblical account, Acts, XVIII, 26-39, of course makes no mention of a beard).
[2] As suggested by Peter Schatborn to me in conversation when we were at the Albertina studying Rembrandt’s drawings together, 29 July 1987.
[3] Lastman is known to have treated the subject several times, including in a painting of 1623 now in Karlsruhe (Seiffert, 2011, repr. fig.37; see also, for other versions by Lastman, figs.23, 216 and 217).
First posted 31 May 2018.
Benesch 0358
Subject: Sketch-Sheet with Two Women Walking, one carrying a bundle and two dead birds, accompanied by a child
Verso: blank (apart from L.1607 and see Inscriptions)
Medium: Black chalk; ruled framing lines in pen and dark grey ink.
Inscribed in graphite, lower right: “2105” and on verso with the inventory number: “K.d.Z. 2236”
90 x 111.
COMMENTS: The drawing was cut from a larger sketchbook sheet, as is revealed not only by the cut-off shading at the lower right but by a few touches of chalk near the upper left corner.
In style and subject the drawing belongs with a number of sketches of figures on the street that stylistically may be grouped around Benesch 0749, a documentary drawing of c.1647 (its verso is a sketch for the etched Portrait of Jan Six of that year, Bartsch 285; NH 238). The shading here, at the lower right and in the drapery of the woman on the left, is especially similar.
It should be noted that the two main figures do not exactly belong with each other, as the scale and perspective/ground-level are different. The older woman on the left is extraordinarily well observed for such a diminutive drawing, with her heavy gait and her right heel lifting from her shoe; the nearer woman is either off to market with her wares (in a sack over her shoulder and two birds tied by their feet to a string held in her right hand),[1] or returning with her purchases (more probably the former as her attire suggests she is from the peasant farming community herself).[2]
In traditional iconography, dead birds can refer to sexual drive or a lack thereof, especially in older people, but whether that jokey concept was even at the back of Rembrandt’s mind it is impossible to say.[3]
Condition: Generally good; cut from a larger sheet.
Summary attribution: Rembrandt
Date: c.1647
COLLECTION: D Berlin, Staatliche Museen Berlin, Kupferstichkabinett (L.1607; inv.2236)
FURTHER LITERATURE/REMARKS: Amtliche Berichte, III, 1882, col.IX (acquisition report); Lippmann, II, no.48A; von Seidlitz, 1900, p.488; Hofstede de Groot, 1906, no.142; Freise, Lilienfeld and Wichmann, 1914, no.133 (not Leiden period); Berlin, 1930, p.234 (c.1636-40; with wrong inventory no.1236; compares etching Bartsch 133; NH 178); Benesch, 1935, p.24 (c.1636); Benesch, II, 1954/73, no.358, repr. fig.396/432 (c.1637; compares style of Benesch 0447 and types of figures in Benesch 0417); Exh. Berlin, 1956, no.74 (c.1636-40); Slive, 1965, no.272 (c.1637-40); Exh. London, 1992, under no.50 (c.1647); Berlin, 2006, no.28 (c.1647-48); Schatborn, 2019, no.397 and p.19, repr. (c.1647).
PROVENANCE: Barthold Suermondt, Aachen; his sale, Frankfurt, Prestel, 5 May, 1879, lot 247, with a study of an oriental; purchased by the present repository from Gutekunst in Stuttgart in 1881.
[1] Bevers (in Berlin, 2006) surmises that the birds are ducks, which seems more likely than Benesch’s chickens.
[2] Cf., for example, the drawings on folios 50, 54 and 75 in the Adriaen van de Venne album in the British Museum (Royalton-Kisch, 1988, repr. pp.241, 249 and 291.
[3] This common euphemism was resurrected by De Jongh, 1968-69 but can easily be overplayed, retrospectively, by art historians (see on this topic, Franits 2017).
First posted 2 June 2018.
Benesch 0359
Subject: A Seated Woman Suckling a Child
Medium: Pen and brown ink with grey and brown wash and red chalk, with white bodycolour; ruled framing lines in pen in brown ink.
Inscribed lower left in pen and brown ink by a later hand: “Rembrandt ft.”
147 x 112.
COMMENTS: A study by Ferdinand Bol for his painting of the Flight into Egypt, known through a copy in the San Diego Museum of Art, datable c.1644 (fig.a).[1] In effect, the drawing is a ‘documentary’ one for Bol. To earlier generations the drawing appeared so Rembrandtesque that it was believed that Bol had referred to a drawing that was by his teacher (see the various opinions recorded under Literature below). Earlier still, the drawing was thought to be Rembrandt’s preparatory sketch, in reverse, for his Louvre Holy Family of 1640 (Bredius 563; Corpus C87, vol.VI, no.173). In Bol’s painting, clearly inspired by Rembrandt’s etching, the child has fallen asleep, which makes the Virgin’s right hand, apparently offering her left breast, somewhat meaningless – another reason adduced in the past to retain the drawing for Rembrandt. However, both the style and the somewhat pictorial finish and technique, which includes red chalk as well and pen and brown ink and different tones of wash, is entirely characteristic of Bol (as noted by Sumowski, comparing his nos.100, 189x and 272x).[2]
For the motif, compare also the British Museum’s drawing by Bol of the Holy Family in an Interior, which includes a similar Virgin and Child seen from a different angle;[3] the drawing was made in preparation for Bol’s etching of the same subject dated 1643 (Bartsch 4; TIB 4). In Dresden is another painting of the Rest on the Flight into Egypt by Bol with some similarities to the present work, thought the Virgin rests her head on her left hand while her right is lowered. Bol’s drawing of the Holy Family in an Interior, now in Darmstadt, repeats the motif in comparable form (Sumowski 195x).
Condition: Apparently generally good (not seen).
Summary attribution: Ferdinand Bol
Date: c.1644
COLLECTION: F Paris, Musée du Louvre (L.1886; inv. RF29734).
FURTHER LITERATURE/REMARKS: Smith, 1829, p.201, no.28; Chennevières, 1879, p.26, repr. P.25; Exh. Paris, 1879, no.351; Dutuit, 1885, p.106; Michel, 1893, p.591 (in H. Pereire collection); Hofstede de Groot, 1906, no.813; Exh. Paris, 1908, no.405; Schmidt-Degener, 1908, p.40, repr. pl.48; Stockholm, 1920, p.53 (Bol); Van Regteren Altena, 1925, , pp.336-37 (quotes Falck’s opinion that the drawing is by Bol but in fact sees it as by Rembrandt, though Bol used the drawing for his painting in San Diego); Benesch, 1947, no.95, repr.; Valentiner, 1951, p.347, n.7 (by Bol, for signed painting in San Diego; rejects Benesch’s inclusion of the drawing in Benesch, 1947); Benesch, II, 1954, no.359, repr. fig.402/433 (c.1636-37; compares Benesch 0258-9 and Benesch 0360; the gesture of the hand becomes meaningless in the San Diego painting as it no longer offers the breast, and Bol simply used the drawing, which is by Rembrandt); Van Gelder, 1955, p.396 (Bol); Sumowski, 1956-57,p.264 (Rembrandt); Haverkamp-Begemann, 1961, p.26 (Bol; compares Bol etching, Bartsch 4); Sumowski, 1961, p.6 (Bol); Exh. Paris, 1970, no.157; Sumowski, 1973, p.101, n.76 (Rembrandt); Tsurutani, 1974, p.54 (Bol, late 1630s; San Diego painting a copy); Vogel-Köhn, 1974, p.182, no.19 (Rembrandt, c.1635-38); Bernhard, 1976, p.200, repr. (Rembrandt, c.1636-37); Sumowski, 1979 etc., I, no.96 (Bol, c.1644, for painting of that year known through copy in San Diego); Vogel-Köhn, 1981, no.19; Blankert, 1982, p.165; Brugerolles, 1984, p.13; Paris, 1988, no.211, repr. (Bol); Exh. Paris, 1988-89, no.86, repr. (c.1643-44); [Not in Schatborn, 2019].
PROVENANCE: J. Danser Neyman; his sale, Paris, 8-11 July, 1776, lot 690, bt Fouquet, 26 livres, with lot 692; J. Goll van Franckenstein (with his number 2398 verso; by descent until sale, Amsterdam, 1 July, 1833, Album I, p.38, no.14 bt Hulswit, f.35; Hendrik van Cranenburgh; his sale, Amsterdam, 26 October, 1858, album K, no.239 bt Engelberts, f.100; C.J. Nieuwenhuys; Joseph Eugène Schneider; his sale, Paris, , 6-7 April, 1876, lot 84, bt Armand, F.500; M.A. Armand by whom given to Henri Pereire; André Pereire, by whom bequeathed to the present repository with usufruct until 1974.
[1] The picture, illustrated by Benesch from an old sale catalogue, is mentioned by Blankert, 1982, under no.R26, as a poor copy.
[2] Respectively the Portrait of a Gentleman (Wroclaw, inv. 8724); the Oriental Seated at a Desk (formerly in the Heseltine Collection); and the Woman Playing the Lute (private collection, Hilversum).
[3] Sumowski 95; London, 2010 (online) Bol no.3; inv. 1836,0811.337.
First posted 4 June 2018.
Benesch 0360
Subject: Four Studies of Women, two holding an infant
Verso: Sketches of Men on Horseback
Medium: Pen and brown ink, touched with grey wash, with corrections in white heightening; traces of red chalk over the whole verso.
Inscribed in pen and brown ink by Léon Bonnat, top right: “85” [his album number, L.1714]
200 x 150. Watermark: indistinct coat-of-arms.
COMMENTS: The recto depicts four women, twice (in the sketches to the left of centre) with a baby and twice without. The headdress varies from the cap, like a maid’s, at the top, to the wide-brimmed hat at the bottom, with veils drawn over the head in the two other studies.
There are some analogies with the etchings Rembrandt made in 1636, supposedly of his wife Saskia, especially in the Studies of the Head of Saskia and Others (Bartsch 365; NH 157), which is dated that year. Like the present drawing, the etching shows either Saskia and/or another woman in various headdresses, including another veil (upper right) and wide-brimmed hat (lower left). For this reason, the present drawing has always been described as ‘Four Studies of Saskia’; additionally, by association with the 1636 date of the etching, the drawing is placed in the same year and the child is assumed to be Rembrandt and Saskia’s first (recorded) off-sping, Rumbartus, the infant baptised on 15 December 1635 but who died two months later, on 15 February 1636.
This all seems plausible until careful comparisons are made with the only truly certain portrait of Saskia, the silverpoint drawing of 1633 in Berlin (Benesch 0427). To my mind this discounts the identification of Saskia for the head at the top right which, to judge from her cap, is probably a maid. Her snub nose and broad cheeks are also significantly different. But the comparison with the Berlin drawing is not much more convincing for the identification of the other figures, either. In fact, it seems more likely that none of the figures depicted is Saskia (with the possible exception of the second figure from the top),[1] an argument that is bolstered by discrepancies of style for the putative date of 1636, for three main reasons:
Firstly, the unusually refined hatching at the top right, with descending but separate trails or rows of zigzags, exactly matches the approach seen to the right of the portrait in the Berlin drawing of 1633 (Benesch 0427). A similar approach to shading, albeit using a broader nib, is seen in another documentary drawing, from the Burchard Grossmann album, of 1634 (Benesch 0257), as well as, for example, Benesch 0403 recto. Zigzags rather than parallel lines of shading, are more common in Rembrandt’s work of the years c.1630-34 than later, especially when executed with the tightness seen here.[2] Similar passages are also encountered in etchings of c.1630-32, such as the passage on the right of Bartsch 358 (NH 58) of c.1630, and the lower left corner of Bartsch 152 (NH 110), which is dated 1632.
Secondly, the arms of the lower figure are close to those of the woman at the lower left of another documentary drawing, one of the Berlin studies of c.1633-34 for the grisaille of St John the Baptist Preaching (see Benesch 0140); and the lines below the arms, loosely describing the child, also closely resemble the freer passages of the other Berlin sketch for the grisaille, Benesch 0141. The bent elbows of the two figures to the right of centre are also comparable to those adopting this posture towards the central and lower right of Benesch 0141. The latter drawing includes not only a woman with a broad-brimmed (though more turban-like) headdress but also two women resting their heads on their left hands, so it is possible that they were at least partly inspired by the present sheet – in which case it would have to be earlier.
Thirdly, the verso seems almost inseparable in style from Benesch 0151 (qv), a drawing which, as we have independently argued, is likely to date from not long after the Leiden period (i.e. c.1631-34). The rumps and legs of the horses are especially compatible with the present sheet, not only in the pose and the fall of the light but also in the approach to shading, which although slightly broader in Benesch 0360 also includes some short dashes to add tone. For both drawings Rembrandt appears to have been informed by that Bible of the period for horses, the prints of Antonio Tempesta (1555-1630), in the present case perhaps by his Standing Horse, with Lowered Head, Facing Right, from his series of Horses from Different Lands (Bartsch 943), in which the position of the legs and posterior are similar.
Taking these factors into account, I believe it more likely that the drawing was made in c.1633, perhaps on the trip to Sint Annaparochie in Friesland when Saskia attended the baptism of her niece, Sophie (daughter of her sister, Hiskia) on 2 June, 1633 (see under Benesch 0341 and Benesch 0427, drawn on the journey). The Berlin drawing of Saskia (Benesch 0427) was made on 8th June, six days after Sophie’s baptism. If made at this time, the model for the mother in the present drawing is just as or more likely to be Hiskia rather than her sister, Saskia (the resemblance is not closer than a general ‘air de la famille’). The child would be Sophie;[3] and the maid would be their maid. It is of course possible that the figures are from another family, such as the six-child household (recorded in 1634) of Hendrick van Uylenburgh and his wife Maria van Eck,[4] in whose home Rembrandt lodged at the beginning of the Amsterdam period (see under Benesch 0342).[5]
If the above surmises are correct, the drawing becomes a key indicator of Rembrandt’s drawing style in the early Amsterdam period, years to which few of his pen drawings may be confidently assigned.
Condition: generally good; some light-staining to recto especially, where the verso also shows through; a scuff near the upper figure’s right eye.
Summary attribution: Rembrandt.
Date: 1633?
COLLECTION: NL Rotterdam, Museum Boijmans van Beuningen (inv. R83).
FURTHER LITERATURE/REMARKS: Lippmann, I, no.173a-b; Von Seidlitz, 1894, p.122; Exh. London, 1899.I, no.176; Exh. Leiden, 1906, no.50; Hofstede de Groot, 1906, no.710 (c.1636; compares etchings, Bartsch 365, 367 and 369; NH 157, 162 and 177); Exh. Paris, 1908, no.414; Saxl, 1908, p.239 (study for etching, Baptism of the Eunuch, Bartsch; Benesch, 1925, p.124; Exh. Düsseldorf, 1929, no.86; Exh. Berlin, 1930, no.326; Benesch, 1933-34, p.301 (reprinted Benesch, 1970, pp.50-51); Exh. Rotterdam, 1934, no.80; Valentiner, II, 1934, nos.678 and 789; Benesch, 1935, p.27; Exh. Rotterdam, 1938, no.316, repr. fig.252; Amsterdam, 1942, p.2, under no.7; Benesch, 1947, under nos.73, 87 and 95; Benesch, II, 1954/73, no.360, repr. figs 410-11/434-45 (c.1636-37; as Hofstede de Groot, 1906; verso compared with Benesch 0151, 0361, 0365, 0367 and 0368); Biörklund and Barnard, 1955, p.66, under no..BB-36b; Exh. Rotterdam-Amsterdam, 1956, no.46; Drost, 1957, p.182; Haverkamp-Begemann, 1961, p.23 (compares Benesch 0151); Slive, 1965, I, nos.184-85; Muller, 1968, p.33, repr. fig.6; White and Boon [Hollstein, XVIII], 1969, under no.B365; Rotterdam, 1969, pp.22-23, repr. figs 14-15; White, 1969, p.119, repr. fig.155; Sumowski, 1971, p.126; Exh. New York-Boston-Chicago, 1972-73, no.86, repr.; Munich, 1973, p.168, under no.1157 (regards a drawing in Munich, Benesch C25, as derived from the present sheet); Vogel-Köhn, 1974, pp.2, 27, 29 and 30, no.33, repr.; Schatborn, 1975, pp.9-10, repr. fig.1 (child is Rumbartus, therefore datable Dec 1635-Jan 1636); Exh. Amsterdam, 1983, no.86, repr. fig.xx; Amsterdam, 1985, under no.12; Rotterdam, 1988, no.10, repr. (c.1636; compares etching, Bartsch 365; NH 157; shows Rumbartus; verso perhaps for a composition such as the Baptism of the Eunuch); Corpus, 3, 1989, p.733 (quoting Wegner in Munich, 1973, qv); Exh. Edinburgh-London, 2001, no.61, repr. (c.1636); Exh. Rotterdam, 2005-6, no.7, repr.; Exh. Istanbul, 2006, no.7, repr.; Slive, 2009, pp.14-16, repr. fig.2.2 [recto] (c.1635-36; probably Saskia with Rumbartus); Exh. London-New York, 2012-13, pp.134-135, repr. fig.55 (c.1635; probably shows Rumbartus); Exh. Hamburg, 2017-18; The Present Catalogue online, 2018; Schatborn, 2019, nos 244 [recto] and 461 [verso], and pp.143 and 285, repr. (c.1636; figures on verso, in contrast to the animals, drawn only cursorily); Exh. Rotterdam, 2019-20 (no cat.).
PROVENANCE: Jonathan Richardson, sen. (L.2184); John Thane (L.1544); R.P. Roupell (L.2234); his sale, London, Christie’s, 12-14 July, 1887, lot 1099; Léon Bonnat (L.1714); acquired in 1927 by Franz Koenigs (L.1023a); D.G. van Beuningen, by whom presented to the present repository (on loan from the Stichting Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen), 1940.
[1] Comparisons with the many other putative portraits of Saskia, whether painted, etched or drawn, are still less similar.
[2] The closest I can find among the later drawings is in the J. Paul Getty Museum’s much more broadly drawn Sketch for Joseph Interpreting the Dreams of the Butler and Baker (not in Benesch; inv.95.GA.18).
[3] Rembrandt and Saskia returned to Sint Annaparochie in the following year, 1634, for their wedding on 22 June, and again in 1635 when Saskia witnessed the baptism on 12 July of Hiskia, the daughter of Titia van Uylenburgh (Saskia’s other sister) and Gerrit van Loo. See Broos, 2005, passim..
[4] For their children, some of whom appear to have been born around 1633, see Exh. London-Amsterdam, 2006, pp.44-45.
[5] The drawing could also have belonged to the album of drawings of women and children, on which see further under Benesch 0194.
First posted 6 June 2018.
Benesch 0361
Subject: Two Men Rowing
Verso: laid down on an old mat (cream with ruled border lines in pen and brown ink, two on the drawing (in a double line) one just outside the drawing and two near the edge (in a double line).
Medium: Pen and brown ink (see under Condition); ruled (double) framing lines in pen and brown ink (see under ‘Verso’ above).
67 x 59.
COMMENTS: Diminutive drawings such as this pose particular problems of attribution – the amount of stylistic ‘information’ they provide for comparison is limited. On balance, however, the following analogies suggest that it is by Rembrandt, quite apart from the deft description of the figures and their action, with shading to separate them optically:
The connection (already made by Benesch) with the figures at the top right of Benesch 0360 verso, where the quality and spacing of the shading is the same; the ‘spikiness’ of the cap of the further figure replicates the cap of the speaking figure, second from the left in the Chatsworth documentary sketch for the grisaille of St John the Baptist Preaching of c.1633-34 (Benesch 0142 recto); the hands of the nearer rower, abbreviated to a mitten shape, resemble the hand of the figure at lower left in Benesch 0398; the use in the same figure of circles to abbreviate the eyes is found in several other Rembrandt sketches, including the small child in the centre of the Pancake Woman (Benesch 0409).
The drawing may have been referred to by Rembrandt when painting The Mill, now in Washington (Wetering 206): in the lower right corner he included a figure similar to the nearer one in the drawing, with his oar at almost the same angle, but giving him a beard like the further figure in the drawing. The attribution of the painting has, however, proven controversial, but for those who support it, the attribution of the drawing should gain in plausibility by the connection.
Condition: The paper has discoloured to pale brown.
Summary attribution: Rembrandt.
Date: c.1635.
COLLECTION: H Budapest, Szépművészeti Múzeum (inv.1574; formerly 520).
FURTHER LITERATURE/REMARKS: Dutuit, 1883, p.88; Michel, 1893, p.586; Hofstede de Groot, 1906, no.1383; Térey, 1909, , pl.14; Benesch, Ars Una, 1924, p.257 (c.1635-36); Benesch, 1925, p.120/124, repr. fig.7 (reprinted Benesch, 1970, p.50, repr. fig.20); Exh. Budapest, 1932, no.140; Benesch, 1935, p.27; Benesch, 2, 1954/73, no.361, repr. fig.405/436 (c.1637; compares Benesch 0360 verso, Benesch 0362 and Benesch 0141); Bernhard, 1976, p.225; Washington, 1995, pp.230-41, repr. fig.6 (1640s; relates to painting The Mill of 1640s, Corpus, VI, no.206; [number wrongly given as Benesch 668]); Budapest, 2005, no.216, repr. (School of Rembrandt); Exh. Kassel-Leiden, 2006-7, p.89, repr. fig.68 (records Wheelock opinion in Washington, 1995); Washington, 2014 (online);[1] Wetering/Corpus, 6, 2015, under no.206 (cf. The Mill); [Not in Schatborn, 2019]
PROVENANCE: Prince N. Esterházy (inv.28. 17a; L.1965).
[1] An updated online version of Washington, 1995, by Arthur Wheelock, dated 24 April, 2014, at:
https://www.nga.gov/collection/art-object-page.1201.pdf (consulted 7 June 2018).
First posted 7 June 2018.
Benesch 0362
Subject: Man in a Plumed Hat with a Halberd
Verso: blank.
Medium: Pen and brown ink.
85 x 72.
COMMENTS: The freedom of touch in the torso of the figure is redolent of Rembrandt’s style in the 1640s, as we know from the documentary drawings (e.g. Benesch 0183, 0188, and 0736). But the motor movements of the hand seem different here, more akin to Govert Flinck, whose drawing of a Musketeer in Copenhagen (Benesch A33; Sumowski 953x) has elements in common in the cap, feather and the abbreviated mouth. Although this kind of figure might have stepped out of The Night Watch, or off the stage of the Amsterdam theatre, it should be remembered that Flinck was also active in both spheres. His civic company group portrait of the Civic Guardsmen of the Company of Captain Joan Huydecoper and Lieutenant Frans van Waveren, of 1648-50 (Amsterdam Museum) includes a comparable figure, third from the left, though shouldering a musket and sporting a moustache.[1] Compare also Benesch 0337-38 and Benesch 0350.
The more Rembrandtesque touch in the face, with its tighter details and firm characterisation, suggest that the drawing dates from not long after Flinck’s apprenticeship to Rembrandt, but overall an attribution to the latter seems unlikely.
Cf. also Benesch 0332A.[2]
Condition: Generally good; presumably cut from a larger sheet.
Summary attribution: Govert Flinck?
Date: c.1640-45?
COLLECTION: CH Basel, Kunstmuseum (inv.1978.563).
FURTHER LITERATURE/REMARKS: Benesch, 1947, no.80, repr.; Benesch, II, 1954/73, no.362, repr. (c.1636-37; compares Benesch 0360 verso); [Not in Schatborn, 2019].
PROVENANCE: Victor Koch, London; acquired by the present repository in 1978.
[1] See Exh. Amsterdam, 2017-18, p.168, repr. fig.217 (detail repr. p.66, fig.79).
[2] This last sentence added 1 December 2020, following a suggestion from Jonathan den Otter (e-mail 30 November 2020).
First posted 8 June 2018.
Benesch 0363
Subject: A Figure Mounting a Horse, with an assistant
Verso: A Rider with a Quiver on Horseback, seen from behind
Medium: Pen and brown ink; ruled framing lines in pen in brown ink.
Inscribed in pen and brown ink, verso, lower right: “Rembrandt”
142 x 149. Watermark: none; chain lines: 27/28, recto horizontal, verso vertical.
COMMENTS: The recto is clearly a preliminary idea for the foreground horseman and his assistant in the grisaille painting of The Concord of the State, which probably dates from 1637 (Bredius 476; Corpus A135, vol.VI. no.153).[1] For the horse, Rembrandt may have referred back to an earlier sketch, Benesch 0360 verso, in which the animal’s posterior and legs are similarly posed.
Scholars were long hampered in their assessment of the drawing by the consensus dating of the related painting to the early 1640s (see Literature below), which has since been revised. This later date was reinforced by the perceived connection between the verso and Rembrandt’s 1641 etching of The Baptism of the Eunuch (Bartsch 98; NH 186). But the latter connection is far from close and it seems more logical – if one believes that both recto and verso are by Rembrandt – to date the recto and verso to 1637.
The somewhat liquid handling of the recto, with its flurry of pentimenti as Rembrandt grappled with the pose and sought to revise it with ever thicker lines (resulting in near-incomprehensibility), conforms reasonably well with two documentary drawings, the Ganymede of 1635 (Benesch 0092) and the Adam and Eve of c.1638 (Benesch 0164), bolstering the date of c.1637; closer still is the sketch of Two Butchers at Work, which is inscribed by Rembrandt and usually dated to the same years (Benesch 0400) – the passage to the right, with its diagonal shading, is especially close.
The verso, showing an exotic, perhaps Polish horseman in a tall divided fur hat, is more problematic and has even been dismissed as a forgery, created in the eighteenth century to enhance the financial value of the rather skimpy drawing on the recto.[2] Although clearly less fluent than the recto, rather pernickety in the details of the fur hat, and at times harsh, as in the figure’s neck, in general the style seems reasonably consonant with a number of drawings by Rembrandt, including Benesch 0368 (especially in the hatching to the right and below). The shading in the bridle is also similar to that in the table at the lower left of Benesch 0282. Finally, the detailed treatment of the fur hat is commensurate with that of the man on the left of Benesch 0327 as well as in those worn – albeit in black chalk – in Benesch 0369-70. Certainly, no more persuasive comparisons have been made to undermine the connection with Rembrandt himself and for this reason the verso is accepted here, albeit with some reservations. The rather stiff handling might be more readily explicable if Rembrandt were basing the drawing on another work of art, thereby giving his drawing some copy-like qualities.
Condition: Some staining and foxing, mostly near the edges (especially on the left) but generally good.
Summary attribution: Rembrandt
Date: c.1637.
COLLECTION: NL Amsterdam, Rijksmuseum, Rijksprentenkabinet (inv. RP-T-1930-32).
FURTHER LITERATURE/REMARKS: Exh. The Hague, 1902, no.66; Exh. Leiden, 1906, no.58; Hofstede de Groot, 1906, no.1278 (c.1641; connects with etched Baptism of the Eunuch, Bartsch 98; NH 186); Exh. Paris, 1908, no.409, recto (c.1641); Exh. Amsterdam, 1913, no.78, recto; Exh. Leiden, 1916, no.34 (as Exh Paris, 1908); Hirschmann, 1917, p.15 (c.1638-46); Seidlitz, 1917, p.253; Benesch, 1925, p.124 (reprinted Benesch, 1970, p.50); Exh. The Hague, 1930, no.57 (as Exh. Paris, 1908); Paris, 1933, p.16, under no.1144 (before 1641); Valentiner, II, 1934, no.793 (c.1633-35); Benesch, 1935, p.27 (c.1637); Amsterdam, 1942, nos. 7-8, repr. pl.6 (c.1632); Exh. Rome-Florence, 1951, no.69 (verso, c.1641; relates to Concord of the State); Münz, 1952, under no.211; Benesch, II, 1954/73, no.363, repr. figs 408-9/438-9 (c.1637; recto a woman dismounting; compares Benesch 0140-41 and connects with St John the Baptist Preaching, Bredius 555, Corpus A106, vol.VI, no.110); Exh. Rotterdam-Amsterdam, 1956, no.103 and under no.48 (as Exh. Rome-Florence, 1951); Held, 1969, p.69, n.101; Exh. Vienna, 1970-71, under no.141 (1641); Amsterdam, 1972, p.86, under B.98 (1641); Amsterdam, 1985, no.20, repr. (recto related at a distance to Concord of State; verso not by Rembrandt but likely an eighteenth-century addition – see further above); Exh. Amsterdam, 2006, pp.79-80, repr. fig.74 (recto only; c.1640-41); Schatborn, 2017 [online at hdl.handle.net/10934/RM0001.COLLECT.28142, consulted 10 June 2018] (as Amsterdam, 1985); Schatborn, 2019, no.48, repr. [recto only], (c.1637).
PROVENANCE: Art market, Paris (Roblin), 1901; C. Hofstede de Groot, by whom presented to the present repository, with a life interest (d.1930).
[1] For the date of the grisaille, which was intended as a design for a political print, see Kempers, 2000.
[2] Schatborn in Amsterdam, 1985, no.20. Partly for this reason Schatborn and I decided to omit the drawing from the list of documentary drawings (see Royalton-Kisch and Schatborn, 2011).
First posted 12 June 2018.
Benesch 0364
Subject: A Winged Hussar on Horseback with Two Orientals in Turbans, one mounted
Medium: Pen and brown ink.
Inscribed top left in pen: “3” and verso: “rimbrant v r f.”
143 x 224.
COMMENTS: The ‘Winged Hussars’ of Poland became famous for their victories in the sixteenth century. In battle they wore armour so that – as Benesch surmised – the drawing was probably made in the context of a parade.
The style, with its passages of somewhat rigid parallel hatching (e.g. in the tail of the horse) and somewhat even outlines, connects the drawing with those made by Rembrandt at a parade in 1638 (see under Benesch 0365). Despite some impressive and fluid qualities, however, there are aspects of the drawing that suggest Rembrandt was not himself the draughtsman.[1] Chiefly, the roughly-sketched group on the left, with its somewhat slippery, imprecise modelling, overlarge rider and squat and short-armed foreground figure, seems foreign to Rembrandt’s manner. It has been pointed out that they resemble the biblical figures of Haman and Mordechai.)[2] Yet to judge from the illustration, they are not the work of a second hand, added to the original winged hussar. Also against an attribution to Rembrandt are the analogies with Benesch 0098, Benesch 0111 and Benesch 0179; and, for the squat figure, with Benesch 0102 (with its echoes of Rembrandt’s own drawing, Benesch 0207). Many of these are now attributed to Govert Flinck. The slack passage of shading immediately under the main horse’s belly is also uncharacteristic. On the other hand, there is an authority to the draughtsmanship of the winged horseman that is comparable to Benesch 0145 and the shadow at the lower right has something in common Benesch 0142 recto and immediately under the figures in Benesch 0344.
Overall, on the basis of these comparisons, I would be inclined to argue that the drawing could be by Govert Flinck, but an inspection of the original, should it resurface, might possibly allow for Rembrandt’s name to be retained for the winged hussar himself.
Condition: uncertain (not seen).
Summary attribution: Govert Flinck?? Rembrandt??
Date: c.1638?
COLLECTION: unknown (formerly with J.H. Boehler, Munich, stock no.3360).
FURTHER LITERATURE/REMARKS: Benesch, 1935, p.27; Benesch, II, 1954/73, no.364, repr. (c.1637-38; notes the subject as a Polish winged hussar, comparing etching Bartsch 366; NH 36a; perhaps drawn at a pageant; compares Benesch 0151, 0360 verso, Benesch 0363 recto and verso and Benesch 0365; anticipates painting, ‘The Polish Rider’, Bredius 279; Corpus, V, 20, vol.VI, no.236; J.S. Held suggested that the left-hand group resembles Haman and Mordechai); [Not in Schatborn, 2019].
PROVENANCE: Earl of Dalhousie (according to Benesch, 1954); with J.H. Boehler, Munich.
[1] These comments, it should be understood, are made only on the basis of photographs.
[2] See Literature, Benesch, 1954/73..
First posted 14 June 2018.
Benesch 0365
Subject: A Black Drummer and Commander Mounted on Mules, riding in profile to right
Verso: Laid down on a remnant of an eighteenth-century, ‘Richardson’-style mat, with gilding around the edge of the drawing.
Medium: Pen and brown ink and red chalk with brown wash, touched with white and yellow. The order of the application appears to be (1) pen and brown ink; (2) brown wash (in two tones); (3) yellow (probably oil rather than watercolour); (4) red chalk; (5) white heightening. Benesch, 1954/73 (see Lit. under Comment) noted that the red chalk was applied while the wash was still wet, and he also recorded the presence of oil paint.
230 x 171. Watermark: none visible; chain lines: not visible (though the paper has ‘assumed’ the laid lines from the eighteenth-century mat).
COMMENTS: With Benesch 0366-68, from a homogeneous group of four drawings of related motifs taken from an exotic pageant, with figures in historicising and foreign costumes. All are executed in much the same style and technique, with (unusually for Rembrandt) somewhat rigid outlines. They also all trace their respective provenenaces to Jonathan Richardson, senior.
It seems likely that the pageant represented was that held in The Hague in February, 1638 as part of the festivities surrounding the marriage of Wolfert van Brederode to Louise Christine van Solms, the sister of Amalia, the Princess of Orange.[1] The identification has much to commend it and the published description of the event, a pamphlet of 1638,[2] refers to groups of black musicians, as shown in Benesch 366, and to ‘un Tambour à cheval batant de deux Atabales’ (‘a drummer on horseback striking two kettledrums’). The description of the dress worn in the parade before the tournament also coincides with what is seen in the drawings. Yet some caution is necessary as similar figures may have appeared at other events that Rembrandt could have witnessed, and his rare documented excursions from Amsterdam do not include one at this time.
Although the drawing is often said to represent two black drummers, the further figure, with his elaborate, somewhat Hungarian-style fur cap, is more probably a commander, holding a mace rather than a drumstick.[3] To judge from the background wash, they appear to be entering under an arch.
The date of 1638 coincides with the stylistic evidence: of the documentary pen and ink studies, the most comparable are the Rotterdam drawing of Ruth and Naomi (Benesch 0161), which on the verso has a sketch for the 1638 etching ‘Joseph telling his Dreams’ (Bartsch 37; NH 167) and the study of ‘Adam and Eve’ in Leiden (Benesch 0164) for the etching of this subject of the same year (Bartsch 28; NH 168).
Condition: Good; small repair lower left corner and small losses at top corners; probably trimmed – the mule’s nose is ‘cut off’ at the right.
Summary attribution: Rembrandt
Date: c.1638.
COLLECTION: GB London, British Museum (inv.Oo,10.122)
FURTHER LITERATURE/REMARKS: Bürger, 1858, p.393 (for a ‘cortège’ in an ‘Adoration of the Magi’); Blanc, II, 1861, p.454; Vosmaer, 1877, p.602; Dutuit, IV, 1885, p.86; Michel, 1893, p.581; Hofstede de Groot, 1894, pp. 177-8 (probably influenced by some oriental model); Seidlitz, 1894, p.121 (attribution doubtful); Lippmann, I, no.117; Exh. London, 1899, London, no. A15 (probably early); Exh. London, 1899, London, no. A15 (probably early); Kleinmann, II, no.56; Sarre, 1904, pp.148-9, n.2 (rejects theory of an oriental model though the motif of a parasol seen in Louvre ‘Timur’, Benesch 1188); Bell, c.1905, repr. pl.II; Hofstede de Groot, 1906, no.924 (copied by Rembrandt, perhaps from an oriental prototype); Saxl, 1908, p.234 (c.1649); Wurzbach, 1910, p.418 (as H. de Groot, 1906); London, 1915, no.8 (c.1630-35; records that Seidlitz, 1894, doubted the attribution, though not of cat. no. 18 (1859,0806.74); Exh. London, 1929, p.227, and 1929[I], p.200, under no.584 (relates to Benesch 0366, private collection); Valentiner, II, 1934, no.792 (c.1633-5); Benesch, 1935, p.27 (c.1637; drawing exceptionally pictorial; relates style and iconography to Benesch 0360 verso, Louvre, Benesch 0363, Rijksmuseum, Benesch 0151 Rotterdam); Exh. London, 1938, no.8; Benesch, 1947, p.12 and no.87 (c.1637); Hamann, 1948, p.147, repr. fig.104 (c.1635); van Regteren Altena, 1952, p.63 (1638; based on marriage pageant at The Hague in February, 1638 – see Comments above); Benesch, 1954/73, 2, no.365, repr. fig.412/442 (c.1637-8); van Regteren Altena, 1955, p.410 (as in 1952); Exh. London, 1956, p.17, no.12; Benesch, 1960, p.19 and no.29, repr.; Exh. New York-Cambridge, 1960, p.26, under no.31; Goldscheider, 1960, repr. pl.20 (c.1637); Scheidig, 1962, p.44 and no.48, repr. (unusual degree of finish); White, 1962, repr. frontis. (c.1638); Brion et al., 1965, repr. in colour p.126; Slive, 1965, I, no.119, repr. (c.1638); Exh. Amsterdam, 1969, no.52 (c.1638; follows van Regteren Altena, 1952); Exh. Chicago-Minneapolis-Detroit, 1969-70, under no.112 (as van Regteren Altena, 1952; also relates to Rembrandt’s interest in the theatre in second half of 1630s); Exh. London, 1972-73, no.209 (c.1637); Bernhard, 1976, 2, repr. p.232; Sciolla, 1976, p.9, repr. pl.XX; Broos, 1977, p.104 (misquotes Sarre, 1904, as originator of theory of Hofstede de Groot, 1894, which is ignored); Konstam, 1977, p.94 (see n.3); Konstam, 1978, pp.26-7, repr. fig.7 (see n.3); Exh. Paris-Antwerp-London-New York, 1979-80, p.103, under no.71 (notes Richardson provenance of the four drawings in the group); Royalton-Kisch, 1991, p.18, n.1 (with examples of coloured drawings); Exh. Berlin-Amsterdam-London, 1991-2[I], p.60, repr. fig.14a; Exh. London, 1992, no.21, repr. in colour (as main text here); Exh. New York, 1991-2, under no.18; Exh. London, 2000-1; Schwartz, 2006, p.297, repr. fig.528 (represents 1638 pageant); Exh. Amsterdam, 2008; London, 2010 (online), no.17, repr.; Exh. London, 2011; Schatborn, 2019, no.302 and p.144, repr. (c.1638; this group of four drawings in a category of their own, with unusual use of yellow).
PROVENANCE: Jonathan Richardson, sen. (L.2184); A. Pond, sale, Langford, 1 May, 1759, lot 72, ‘Two negro kettledrummers on horseback (tinged and washed)’, bt Hudson, £8; Thomas Hudson (L.2432); his sale, Langford, 2nd day, 16 March, 1779, lot 52 (contemporary MS identification in British Museum’s copy), bt Willet with two others (unspecified in the MS) £6-15-0; R. Willet, his anon. sale, T. Philipe, 4th day, 13ff. June, 1808, lot 426, bt Allen, £26-5-0; bequeathed by Richard Payne Knight, 1824.
[1] Van Regteren Altena, 1952, pp.59-63.
[2] ‘Relation de ce qui s’est passé à La Haye au mois de Fevrier l’an 1638 […] à La Haye, de l’imprimerie de Theodore Maire, 1638.’
[3] As noted by Christopher White in the British Museum’s files. The many differences between the figures undermine the theory proposed by Konstam, 1977 and 1978 (see Literature) that a single model was posed next to a mirror, the further figure being his reflection. Nor is the model necessarily the same as in Benesch 0366, as he proposes.
First posted 15 June 2018.
Benesch 0366
Subject: Four Black Musicians with Wind Instruments
Medium: Pen and brown and black ink and brown wash, with red and yellow chalk.
Inscribed lower left, in pen and brown ink: “11”; lower right, in graphite: “I 417”
179 x 135. Watermark: none visible.
COMMENTS: See under Benesch 0365. A figure comparable to the one with two tall feathers in his cap, but holding a large bow and a quiver of arrows, stands in the shadows behind St John the Baptist at the upper right of the grisaille of St John The Baptist Preaching of c.1633-34 (see fig.a).[1]
Condition: Good; to judge from Benesch 0365 and Benesch 0367, probably trimmed from a larger sheet, c.229 x 171mm..
Summary attribution: Rembrandt
Date: c.1638.
COLLECTION: USA New York, The Morgan Library (Thaw Collection; inv.2004.42 [formerly EVT 145]).
FURTHER LITERATURE/REMARKS: Waagen, 1857, p.215 (in Mrs James’s Collection); Brunet, 1866, p.260; Lugt, 1921, under no.2648; Exh. London, 1929, no.584 and 1929.I, p.200; Benesch, 1947, no.88, repr.; Van Regteren Altena, 1952, p.61, repr. fig.2; Benesch, II, 1954/73, no.366, repr. (c.1637-38; as Benesch 0365); Benesch, 1960, under no.29; Exh. Chicago-Minneapolis-Detroit, 1969-70, under no.122; Bernhard, 1976, II, p.233, repr.; Konstam, 1978, pp.94-95, repr. fig.37 (believes further two figures are mirror reflections of a maquette of the nearer two); Exh. Paris-Antwerp-London-New York, 1979-80, under no.71; Exh. New York, 1981, under no.75; Exh. Berlin-Amsterdam, 1991-92.I, under no.14; Exh. London, 1992, under no.21 (c.1638; as Van Regteren Altena, 1952); Exh. New York, 1994-95, no.18, repr. (as Exh. London, 1992); Exh. London, 1996-97, no.14, repr.; Exh. Melbourne-Canberra, 1997-98, under no.81; New York, 2006, no.216; New York, 2017, no.323, repr.; Schatborn, 2019, no.303 and p.144, repr. (c.1638; this group of four drawings in a category of their own, with unusual use of yellow).
PROVENANCE: Jonathan Richardson, Sr. (Lugt 2184); Jonathan Richardson, jun. (Lugt 2170 as blind stamp); Richard Houlditch (Lugt 2214); possibly his sale, London, Langford, 12-14 February, 1760, lot 68, bt Hudson, £4-10s; Thomas Hudson (Lugt 2432); possibly his sale, London, Langford, 15-26 March, 1779, lot 52 (one of three with Benesch 0368) bt Willett, £6-15s; Ralph Willett; his sale, London, T. Philipe, 13ff. June, 1808, 4th day, lot 454, bt Allen, 7gns; Charles Rogers (1711-1784), London (no mark; see L.624-26); Thomas Dimsdale (L.2426); sold by his descendants to the art dealer Samuel Woodburn; Andrew James (and subsequently his widow – see Waagen, 1857); William Russell; his sale, London, Christie’s, 10-12 December, 1884, lot 416, bt Haig, £2-5s; Robert Prioleau Roupell (without his mark – see L.2234); with Hans M. Calmann (art dealer; his catalogue, 1952), London, 1952; with Victor Koch (art dealer); Konrad Feilchenfeldt (art dealer, Zurich); Walter Feilchenfeldt (art dealer), Zurich from whom acquired by Eugene V. and Clare E. Thaw, New York, by whom given to the present repository.
[1] Bredius 555, Corpus A106, vol.VI, no.110.
First posted 16 June 2018.
Benesch 0367
Subject: A Mounted Officer, moving to left, almost in profile, wearing a high plumed hat and a ruff, his sword slung across his back.
Verso: laid down on a remnant of an old mat with gilding (as Benesch 0365, qv).
Medium: Pen and brown ink with brown wash, with red chalk, touched with white heightening and yellow (perhaps oil – see Benesch 0365).
Inscribed on verso of backing card, in graphite: “34 [in a circle]” and “12”
Inscribed in
210 x 164. Watermark: none visible; chain lines: not visible, but the paper has taken on those of the backing.
COMMENTS: See Benesch 0365. The traditional title is used here, although the costume of the figure seems old-fashioned for the date and not necessarily representative of an ‘officer’. Of the group of four drawings (Benesch 0365-68), this is the only one to show the figure moving towards the left, and it is also taken from a higher vantage-point.
Condition: Good; trimmed a little irregularly on all sides; a minor, yellowish stain, upper right.
Summary attribution:
Date: c.1638
COLLECTION: GB London, British Museum (inv.1859,0806.74)
FURTHER LITERATURE/REMARKS: Blanc, 2, 1861, p.454; Vosmaer, 1877, p.602; Dutuit, IV, 1885, p.86; Michel, 1893, p.582; Hofstede de Groot, 1894, p.178 (based on an earlier drawing in the manner of Adriaen van de Venne or Esaias van de Velde; costumes of c.1600); Exh. London, 1899, no. A16 (costume of c.1600; relates to Benesch 0368, now New York, Pierpont Morgan Library); Lippmann, II, no.43; Kleinmann, 4, no.2; Bell, c.1905, repr. pl.XI; Hofstede de Groot, 1906, no.901 (follows Exh. London 1899); Saxl, 1908, p.338 (possibly related to The Concord of the State, datable c.1648, Bredius 476, [Corpus A135, vol.VI, no.153, as c.1637]); Wurzbach, 1910, p.418; London, 1915, no.7 (c.1630-35; more probably drawn from life than from an earlier model); Valentiner, II, 1934, no.791 (c.1633-5); Benesch, 1935, p.41; Exh. London, 1938, no.7; Hamann, 1948, p.147, repr. fig.10; (c.1635); Benesch, 1954/73, II, no.367, repr. fig.415/443 (c.1637-8); Exh. London, 1938, no.7; Exh. London, 1956, p.11, no.25; Drost, 1957, p.182, detail repr. fig.204 (compares Elsheimer drawing in Vienna in which pose and angle similar); Exh. New York-Cambridge, 1960, p.26, under no.31; Slive, 1965, I, no.267 (c.1638); Haak, 1969/68, p.150, fig.236 (c.1637-8); Exh. Chicago-Minneapolis-Detroit, 1969-70, under no.112 (as for cat. no.17, Oo,10.122); Bernhard, 1976, II, repr. p.231; Broos, 1977, p.104 (misquoting London, 1915); Exh. Paris-Antwerp-London-New York, 1979-80, p.103, under no.71 (notes Richardson, sen., provenance of the drawings in the group); Royalton-Kisch, 1991, p.18, n.1 (as for cat. no.17, Oo,10.122); Exh. Berlin-Amsterdam-London, 1991-2[I], p.60; Exh. London, 1992, no.22, repr. in colour; Turner, 1994, p.92, fig.23 (Bouverie provenance); Exh. Melbourne-Canberra, 1997-8, ‘Rembrandt’, no.81, repr. in colour.; London, 2010 (online), no.18; Schatborn, 2019, no.304 and p.144, repr. (c.1638; this group of four drawings in a category of their own, with unusual use of yellow).
PROVENANCE: Jonathan Richardson, sen. (L.2184); John Bouverie (L.325); by descent to first Earl of Gainsborough; his sale, Christie’s, 20 July, 1859, lot 133, bt Tiffin for British Museum.
First posted 16 June 2018.
Benesch 0368
Subject: Two Mummers on Horseback
Medium: Pen and brown ink and brown wash, with yellow and red chalks and white heightening.
Inscribed on the old Richardson mat at upper left, in graphite: “81”; and at lower centre, in Richardson’s hand, in brown ink: “Rembrandt”; on the verso of the mat, at lower centre, in J.C. Robinson’s hand, in pen and black ink: “J C Robinson / July 18 1893 / from Lord Aylesford Colln”.
212 x 153. Watermark: illegible fragment visible through lining with fibre-optic light.
COMMENTS: See Benesch 0365. The nearer costume is of the same old-fashioned type seen in Benesch 0367 (qv), while the further figure’s beret with a feather resembles the kind of headdress worn by Rembrandt in some of his self-portraits.
Condition: Some foxing and stains, mostly near the edges, but generally good.
Summary attribution: Rembrandt
Date: c.1638.
COLLECTION: USA New York, The Morgan Library (inv. I, 201).
FURTHER LITERATURE/REMARKS: Exh. London, 1895, no.45; Exh. London, 1899, no.110; Fairfax Murray, 1905-1912, I, no.201, repr.; Hofstede de Groot, 1906, no.1109; Exh. Paris, 1908, no.433; Exh. Cambridge (Mass.), 1922; Valentiner, II, 1934, no.790 (c.1633-35); Benesch, 1935, p.41; Exh. New York, 1952; Van Regteren Altena, 1952, pp.59-63; Benesch, II, 1954/73, no.368, repr. fig.414/444 (c.1637-38); Exh. Rotterdam-Amsterdam, 1956, no.74, repr.; Watrous, 1957, pp.96-97 and 106; Exh. New York-Cambridge, 1960, no. 31, repr.; Scheidig, 1962, pp.44 and 79, repr. fig.47; Haak, 1969, repr. fig.235; Exh. Chicago-Minneapolis-Detroit, 1969-70, no.112, repr.; Exh. Stockholm, 1970, no.65; Haak, 1974, repr. pl.3; Bernhard, 1976, II, p.230, repr.; Broos, 1977, p.104; Konstam, 1977, p.94, n.3 (made in the studio, using mirrors); Konstam, 1978, p.27, repr. fig.8 (as Konstam, 1977); Exhibition, Paris-Antwerp-London-New York, 1979–80, no. 71, repr.; Exh. New York, 1981, no.75; Sutton, 1982, p.381, repr. fig.21; Exh. Berlin-Amsterdam-London, 1991-92.I, no.14, repr. in colour; Exh. London, 1992, under nos.21-22; Fusconi et al., 1992, p.231, repr. fig.266 in colour; Exh. New York, 1994-95, under no.18; Giltaij, 1995, p.98; Exh. New York, 1996 (no catalogue); Exh. London, 1996-97, under no.14; Exh. Melbourne-Canberra, 1997-98, under no.81, repr. fig.81a; New York, 2006 no. 215, repr. (late 1630s); Schatborn, 2019, no.305 and p.144, repr. (c.1638; this group of four drawings in a category of their own, with unusual use of yellow).
PROVENANCE: Jonathan Richardson, sen. (L.2184); presumably his sale, London, Cock’s, 22 January-11 February, 1747; perhaps Jonathan Richardson, jun.; Thomas Hudson (L.2432); possibly his sale, London, Langford, 15-26 March 1779, one of three in lot 52: “The Drummers etc.”, bt Willett, £6.15.0; Ralph Willett; his sale, London, T. Philipe, 13ff. June, 1808, 4th day, lot 455: “One-two military figures on horseback, in the old Flemish dress, both with large ruffs, one with a high cap and feathers, the other with a bonnet and feather”, bt Allen, £6-10s; Heneage Finch, 5th Earl of Aylesford (L.58); his sale, London, Christie’s, 17-18 July, 1893, lot 265: “Two Cavaliers on Horseback – pen and ink, slightly washed. From the Richardson and Hudson Collections”, bt Robinson, £6; John Charles Robinson (with his inscription and signature on the verso of the mat; no mark – see L.1433); his sale [“Well-Known Amateur”], London, Christie’s, 12-14 May, 1902, lot 355, bt Hone, £42); Charles Fairfax Murray, from whom purchased through Galerie Alexandre Imbert, Rome, in 1909 by Pierpont Morgan (1837-1913), New York (no mark; see L.1509); ; inherited by his son, J. Pierpont Morgan jr, by whom given to the present repository, 1924.
First posted 16 June 2018.
Benesch 0369
Subject: A Bearded Man in a High, Fur-Trimmed Hat, turned to right
Medium: Black chalk on brownish cream paper.
Inscribed by Léon Bonnat in pen and brown ink, upper right: “12”
142 x 95. Watermark: fragment of the upper part of an eagle watermark.
COMMENTS: As Benesch pointed out, the man’s headgear is of a type seen in Rembrandt’s grisaille of St John the Baptist Preaching of c.1633-34: the figure on horseback closest to the background waterfall (Fig.a).[1] But beyond this the resemblance is weak and there is no clear suggestion of a horse in the drawing – there are no reins in the otherwise perhaps appropriately positioned hands. This is unfortunate, as the drawing could be pegged in date to the grisaille, which used to be placed in the second half of the 1630s rather than the first; but now we are bereft of such a clear foothold, as the drawing appears to be later.
The mid-to-later 1630s were, however, a time in which Rembrandt employed black and red chalk reasonably frequently, including in the documentary drawings of 1635, after Leonardo’s “Last Supper” (Benesch 0443-44), and 1637 after Pieter Lastman (Benesch 0446-49). The latter year also saw the creation of Rembrandt’s signed and dated sketch of an elephant (Benesch 0457) and probably two other drawings (Benesch 0458 and Benesch 0460). Stylistically, however, these drawings exhibit none of the concern for fine detail seen here. Perhaps the closest analogies are with Benesch 0370 (qv), which although not dated, is on the verso of an impression of an etching of c.1635, the Bearded Old Man in a High Fur Cap (Bartsch 290; NH 148). There are reasons for believeing that Benesch 0370 was made before the sheet was printed: the ridge of then platemark would have caught the chalk, creating a line along the platemark; but the opposite seems to have occurred, a white line effect. Unfortunately the etching has no watermark and may have been printed later than 1635. These drawings are, therefore, placed circa 1635 but on rather flimsy evidence. A later date remains possible, alongside drawings of the later 1640s, such as Benesch 0692 and Benesch 0817 which exhibit a comparable interest in detail and other analogous stylistic traits.
The costumes in Benesch 0369 and 0370 all seem generically Polish – another reason to date them together, perhaps. But comparable fur caps to those seen in these two drawings appear both earlier and later in Rembrandt’s work: apart from the above-mentioned grisaille, one might point to drawings such as Benesch 0226 (the uppermost figure), Benesch 0336, Benesch 0340 (the figure mostly in red chalk towards the lower right) and Benesch 0363 (especially the verso).
Condition: Generally good; the paper however has probably turned browner.
Summary attribution: Rembrandt.
Date: c.1635?
COLLECTION: F Paris, Musée du Louvre, Département des arts graphiques (inv.RF 4676; L.1886).
FURTHER LITERATURE/REMARKS: Hofstede de Groot, 1906, no.716; Paris, 1933, no.1163, repr. pl.40 (c.1630-35); Benesch, II, 1954/73, no.369, repr. (c.1637; compares Benesch 0370 and figure on horseback in front of the waterfall in the grisaille of St John the Baptist Preaching, then dated c.1637 [Bredius 555; Corpus A106, vol.VI, no.110]); Exh. Paris, 1988-89, no.15 (c.1635-37; otherwise as Benesch and contemporary with Benesch 0336); Robinson, 2000, n.2 (listed); Exh. Paris, 2006-2006, no.14, repr.; Schatborn, 2019, no.224, repr. (c.1635).
PROVENANCE: Jonathan Richardson, sen. (L.2183); probably his sale, London, Cock’s, 22ff. January, 1747 (but not identifiable as mostly not individually described in the catalogue, though Hudson bought many drawings attributed to Rembrandt); Thomas Hudson (L.2432); Ambroise Firmin-Didot (L.119); his sale, Paris, 16 April-12 May, 1887, lot 65, bt Colnaghi, F.70; William Mitchell; his sale, Frankfurt, 7 May, 1890, lot 85, bt Gutekunst, DM235; Léon Bonnat (with his album number “12” and L.1714), by whom presented to the present repository in 1919.
[1] Bredius 555; Corpus A106, vol.VI, no.110.
First posted 26 July 2018.
Benesch 0370
Subject: Three Studies of Men with Fur Caps
Verso: an impression of the etching: Bearded Old Man in a High Fur Cap (Bartsch 290; NH 148)
Medium: Black chalk; verso an etching.
Inscribed in graphite, upper left: “268” [Gersaint’s catalogue number for the etching on the verso]; inscribed verso in graphite with the same number, lower right: “268”
121 x 105. Watermark: none.
COMMENTS: See the more extensive remarks under Benesch 0369. A fourth head in profile at the very top has been cut away, leaving small margins all around the impression of the etching on the verso (Fig.b).
The drawing appears to have been made before the etching was printed on the verso. Had the impression made by the edge of the platemark been present before, the chalk would have ‘caught’ the line and created a fictive black line, whereas in fact there is a white line effect, as if chalk had been removed from the drawing during printing (see Fig.a).
The etching on the verso (Fig.b), the Bearded Old Man in a High Fur Cap (Bartsch 290; NH 148), also depicts a character with a fur hat, albeit a more elborate one. It is usually dated c.1635, at least in its earliest impressions. Thus if it was printed in c.1635 – which in the present case is not certain – and the drawing was made earlier, then the latter must have been made either in that year or before. However it is quite possible that the etching was printed rather later – it is not an especially rich or early impression – in which case the drawing might in theory also be later, from the 1640s. But on balance the earlier period, 1635, seems preferable from the point of view of style.
Compare also Benesch 0226 for the motif (top figure) and Benesch 0308 for the style, despite its being in red chalk (especially the right figure).
Condition: Generally good though much of the sheet discoloured to brown; residues and skinning from old tape near the edges.
Summary attribution: Rembrandt.
Date: c.1635?
COLLECTION: NL Rotterdam, Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen [on loan from the Stichting Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen since 1940, from the former Koenigs collection] (inv. R 84).
FURTHER LITERATURE/REMARKS: Exh. Berlin, 1930, p.61; Exh. Rotterdam, 1934, no.75; Benesch, 1935, p.24; Benesch, 2, 1954/73, no.370, repr. fig.417/446 (c.1637; compares Benesch 0346); Van Gelder, 1955, p.396; Exh. Rotterdam-Amsterdam, 1956, no.41 and under no.42; Exh. Vienna, 1956, no.34; Rotterdam, 1969, p.24, repr. fig.20; White and Boon, 1969, under no.B290; Rotterdam, 1988, no.12, repr. (c.1637); Exh. Rotterdam, 2005-6, no.9, repr.; Exh. Istanbul, 2006, no.9, repr.; Exh. Rotterdam, 2009 (coll 2 kw 3); Exh. Rotterdam, 2017;[1] Schatborn, 2019, no.225, repr. (c.1635).
PROVENANCE: J.H. Hawkins (L.1471); Franz Koenigs; D.G. van Beuningen, by whom presented to the Stichting Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen, 1940.
[1] No catalogue, but an online publication at https://www.boijmans.nl/
tentoonstellingen/rembrandt-etsen-uit-eigen-collectie (retrieved 27 July 2018).
First posted 27 July 2018.
Benesch 0371
Subject: Two Sketches of Men’s Heads, facing each other
Medium: Pen and brown ink with brown wash; ruled framing lines in pen in brown ink. Inscribed verso in graphite: “58 A”[1]
47 x 99.[1]
COMMENTS: The drawing can be confidently assigned to Rembrandt’s school, in the wider sense (to judge from a good black and white photograph). Its inclusion by Benesch is surprising and his comparisons do not bear much scrutiny (see under Further Literature below).
Although somewhat reminiscent of one sketch by Philips Koninck, the Two studies of an Oriental Figure in the British Museum, [2] on the whole the handling seems closer to drawings attributed to Aert de Gelder, such as the Seated Man Wearing a Hat, formerly in the Van Regteren Altena collection (Fig.a; Sumowski 1057x),[3] or the Standing Oriental, in the Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen, Rotterdam (Fig.b; Sumowski 1056x),[4] in which the lines describing the turban resemble those defining the cloak of the left figure here. All these are drawn with delicate, spindly and repeated outlines and somewhat linear darts of wash.
The figures may have been intended for a historical or biblical design.
Condition: uncertain (not seen); from the photographs the sheet looks rather stained.
Summary attribution: Aert de Gelder?
Date: c.1665?
COLLECTION: Private Collection NL (acquired in 1993 from the estate of another private collector [perhaps heirs of the Comtesse de Béarn?]).[1]
FURTHER LITERATURE/REMARKS: Lippmann, 4, 58a; Benesch, 2, 1954/73, no.371 (c.1637-38; compares Benesch 0142 , Benesch 0350 and Benesch 0372); [Not in Schatborn, 2019].
PROVENANCE: Unidentified collector’s mark, top left corner (L.3579); Comtesse de Béhague (formerly Béarn); presumably with her heirs (see Collection above).[5]
[1] For the inscription and measurements, which are not in Benesch, as well as the most recent provenance information, I am grateful to Saskia van Altena of the Rijksmuseum (email 9 January 2023).
[2] Sumowski 1351; London, 2010 (online), Koninck no.3, where I point to the similarity with Aert de Gelder’s drawings – I am increasingly inclined to view this drawing as possibly by Aert de Gelder rather than Koninck, despite the old inscribed attribution to Koninck on it.
[3] 86 x 85mm. Sold Amsterdam, Christie’s 10 December, 2014, lot 163.
[4] 149 x 108mm. Rotterdam, 1988, no.83, repr., where dated c.1665-70.
[5] Martine de Béhague, comtesse de Béarn is the only provenance information given – in slightly garbled form – by Benesch. She died in 1939.
First posted 29 July 2018 (see also n.1).
Benesch 0372
Subject: Two Small Head Studies, both turned towards the left
Medium: Pen and brown ink, with brown wash; ruled framing lines in pen and brown ink.
Inscribed in graphite on the former (now discarded) mat: “Rimbrant fec.”[1]
53 x 34.
COMMENTS: This diminutive drawing is difficult to judge, but overall the quality and style depart from Rembrandt’s own, though the somewhat geometric approach, especially of the lower head, has links to drawings such as Benesch 0195 (especially the verso), which is still considered to be by Rembrandt, and Benesch 0356, which is not. This leaves the drawing in the realms of uncertainty, here expressed with one question mark, not least because the type of head and cap seems to belong more to the mid-1630s than the period of Benesch 0195.
Whether the drawing was made with a particular subject or composition in mind, as some previous writers have suggested, seems uncertain (see Further Literature below).
Condition: Presumably a fragment.
Summary attribution: Rembrandt?
Date: c.1630-35?
COLLECTION: NL Amsterdam, Amsterdam Museum (inv. TA 10273).
FURTHER LITERATURE/REMARKS: Amsterdam, 1863, p.37, no.159; Gram, 1863, p.340; Vosmaer, 1868, p.511 (‘sept feuilles’, no.a); Gower, 1875, p.126; Vosmaer, 1877, p.596, no.a; Havard, 1879, p.10, repr.; Dutuit, 1885, p.92; Michel, 1893, p.591; Hofstede de Groot, 1906, no.1225; Kleinmann, III, no.2; Wurzbach, 1910, p.415; Honderd Teekeningen, 1934, no.80; Benesch, 1935, p.28 (1637; perhaps related to Rembrandt’s painted Passion series); Benesch, II, 1954/73, no.372, repr. fig.421/447 (c.1637; compares lower head with Benesch 0141, Benesch 0152 and Benesch 0373); Exh. Cologne-Bremen, 1955, no.72; Exh. Assen, 1956, no.28; Exh. Warsaw, 1956, no.27; Exh. Belgrade, 1960, no.60; Exh. Jerusalem, 1960, no.60; Exh. Budapest, 1962, no.60; Exh. Amsterdam, 1963, no.25e of drawings section, repr.; Amsterdam, 1981, no.4, repr. (c.1635; as Benesch, 1935 and compares Benesch 0097); [Not in Schatborn, 2019].
PROVENANCE: Willem Baartz; his sale, Rotterdam, Lamme, 6-8 June 1860, lot 100: ‘Rembrandt van Rijn. Six têtes d’études. Crayon noir, sanguine et bistre’, bt Lamme, f 7; C.J. Fodor, by whom bequeathed to the Museum Fodor (L.1036), 1860; acquired by exchange by the present repository in 1937.[2]
[1] The mat was removed when the drawing was restored in 1980 (according to Amsterdam, 1981, p.36).
[2] The provenance is identical to Benesch 0346.
First posted 30 July 2018.
Benesch 0373
Subject: An Old Woman with a Stick and Other Sketches of Women, one carrying a child
Medium: Black chalk; watermark: Posthorn in a shield with letters WR
133 x 231.
COMMENTS: Many sketch-sheets of this type have been divided into smaller drawings for sale, so the present example once belonged to a larger category (compare in this regard Benesch 0340). It may also have formed part of the album of drawings related to the lives of women and children mentioned under Benesch 0194.
The central figure of an old woman walking to the left with both hands on a stick has been related to key figures in two etchings by Rembrandt, the 1639 Presentation in the Temple (Bartsch 49; NH 184) and the etching of two women known as La Preciosa, of c.1642 (Bartsch 120; NH 205). However, in both cases the similarities are only generic and the costume in both etchings is considerably richer, so any relationship with these works is at one or two removes: we cannot be certain that the drawing came first. A comparable figure also appears in Benesch 0737.
Rembrandt’s black chalk figure sketches are often difficult to date and in the present case the evidence is contradictory. For style one might compare the documentary drawing, Benesch 0749 recto, of c.1647, although the geometrical sense – the building blocks of the figures – is there more apparent. This suggests an earlier date for the present drawing, and the peripheral figures (the three heads on the extreme right apparently rehearse that of the woman on the far left) resemble Benesch 0309 of around 1636-37. Yet on balance, the links seem just as strong with the large group of black chalk drawings that Rembrandt seems to have made in the late 1640s and early 1650s, including Benesch 0665 and Benesch 0666.[1] In the latter, the parallel hatching in the feet closely resembles that in the centre of the walking woman. On balance, therefore, the present drawing could belong to the latter part of the 1640s and perhaps even the 1650s: a posthorn watermark with WR below is also found on the drawing in Oslo (not in Benesch) of The Ruins of the Church at Sloten of c.1650-52.
Condition: Good.
Summary attribution: Rembrandt.
Date: c.1647-50?
COLLECTION: NL Amsterdam, Museum het Rembrandthuis.
FURTHER LITERATURE/REMARKS: Lippmann, II, no.48B; Hofstede de Groot, 1906, no.316; Freise, Liulienfeld and Wichmann, III, 1925, no.124; Benesch, 1935, p.28; Münz, 1952, under no.210 (relates to 1639 etching The Presentation in the Temple, Bartsch 49; NH 184); Benesch, II, 1954/73, no.373, repr. (c.1637-38; compares Benesch 0374 and heads on right to Benesch 0372; compares pen drawings for Hundred Guilder Print [e.g. Benesch 0183; Benesch 0185; Benesch 0188; Benesch 0543]; rejects Münz, 1952, association with Bartsch 49; NH 184); Slive, 1965, no.273 (c.1637-40); Amsterdam, 1972, no.IV, repr. (c.1637-40; as Münz, 1952; compares other study sheets, Benesch 0374-76, Benesch 0447 and Benesch 0457-58); Amsterdam, 1991, no.2, repr. (1640s; relates to Benesch 0737 of the same woman, associated with the Preciosa etching Bartsch 120, and also compares Bartsch 176); Schatborn, 2019, no.392 and p.19, repr. (c.1647).
PROVENANCE: Friedrich Augustus II of Saxony, 1854 (L.971); with Wildenstein & Co., New York, 1950 (their catalogue, no.31); with A. and R. Ball, New York, from whom purchased by the present repository in 1958, with the support of the Rembrandt Society.
[1] Benesch 0666 is included by Robinson, 1998, p.43, n.20 among drawings of the period around 1647-1652.
First posted 31 July 2018.
Benesch 0374
Subject: Seated Woman, resting her head on her left hand
Medium: Black chalk.
124 x 87.
COMMENTS: Though known only through old photographs, the drawing appears to be a characteristic figure sketch by Rembrandt of the mid-to-later 1640s. The woman appears to be a domestic and similar figures frequently appear in the work of Nicolaes Maes, Rembrandt’s pupil at this period.
Condition: Uncertain (not seen).
Summary attribution: Rembrandt.
Date: c.1646-48.
COLLECTION: Present whereabouts unknown.
FURTHER LITERATURE/REMARKS: Michel, 1893, p.582; Exh. Amsterdam, 1898; Exh. London, 1899, no.129; Hofstede de Groot, 1906, no.1010; Heseltine Drawings, 1907, no.49; Benesch, 1935, p.28; Benesch, II, 1954/73, no.374, repr. (c.1637-38; compares Benesch 0385 for subject and Benesch 0346, Benesch 0373 and Benesch 0375 for style); Sumowski, 1979 etc., VIII, under no.2003x; Schatborn, 2019, no.377, repr. (c.1645).
PROVENANCE: Jan de Vos, Jbz.; John Postle Heseltine; his sale, Amsterdam, Muller, 27 May, 1913, lot 6.
First posted 31 July 2018.
Benesch 0375
Subject: A Pregnant Woman and a Man Holding a Violin
Verso: Laid down
Medium: Black chalk (softer in the left figure; parts of the violinist, which may be in graphite, rubbed, indented and erased).
165 x 119. Watermark: none visible; chain lines: 25-30[?] h.
COMMENTS: The head and torso of the woman should be compared with the figure on the extreme left of Benesch 0373, while the reinforcement in her legs is a characteristic also found in the arms of the woman in Benesch 0308. The latter drawing also has hatching that compares closely with the shading in the centre.
Hofstede de Groot followed by Benesch thought the violinist a later addition in graphite, but this does not seem to be the case. However, this figure does appear to have been partly erased (especially towards the right) and some of the lines have been indented, perhaps by someone tracing it harshly (possibly to make a print after it). The violinist was drawn lightly, like such drawings as Benesch 0715 and Benesch 0746, but the rubbed condition of the present sheet as a whole undermines the quality of what was never one of Rembrandt’s more alluring sketches. But in the compiler’s opinion there are insufficient grounds for rejecting it.
Condition: Generally rubbed (see also under medium above) and discoloured; some brown spotting, mostly near the edges.
Summary attribution: Rembrandt.
Date: c.1645-50
COLLECTION: A Vienna, Albertina (L.174; inv.8838).
FURTHER LITERATURE/REMARKS: Hofstede de Groot, 1906, no.1457 (violinist a later addition in graphite); Benesch, II, 1954/73, no.375, repr. fig.426/451 (c.1637-38; comparisons as for Benesch 0374; as Hofstede de Groot, 1906); Exh. Vienna, 1956, no.36; Exh. Vienna, 1969-70, no.17, repr.; This Catalogue Online, 1 August 2018; Exh. Dresden, 2019, under no.31 (compares Benesch 0720); [Not in Schatborn, 2019].
PROVENANCE: Prince de Ligne;[1] Herzog Albert von Sachsen-Teschen
[1] The Prince de Ligne provenance is given on the Albertina website but not by Benesch (http://sammlungenonline.albertina.at/#51f742cb-37d6-4da9-9458-bede43e141c6 retrieved 1 August 2018).
First posted 1 August 2018.
Benesch 0376
Subject: A Seated Woman, Stripped to the Waist
Verso: A Standing Woman, seen from behind
Medium: Black chalk, on the recto only corrected and heightened with white.
199 x 153. Watermark: Cross of Lorraine (interlinked letter Cs).[1]
COMMENTS: Studies of the female model or the nude, worked up to this degree of finish, are rare in Rembrandt’s work (see under Benesch 0137). In the present case, it seems that the model may have been posed for a particular purpose – she crouches on a low support and holds what appears to be a cushion in front of her. She suggests a woman bearing gifts in a historical or biblical scene, for example, or even a woman nursing a child, but no related work is known. These factors complicate efforts to date the drawing. In style, the darker lines and contours around the figure’s lower back resemble the treatment of the figure on the left of Benesch 0403 verso, a drawing we date c.1633-35; the resemblance between the standing woman on the verso (presumably the same model and perhaps also bearing gifts) and Rembrandt’s Leiden period studies on this scale (eg. Benesch 0033) also speaks for an earlier date, in the first half of the 1630s, than later years of that decade as is usually thought. The muting of some darker passages with thinly-applied white bodycolour is characteristic of several chalk drawings of the 1630s, including Benesch 0137. A date c.1633 is perhaps argued by the watermark (see n.1.), although the Cross of Lorraine can also appear later, in works of the 1640s (Benesch 0567) or even the 1650s (Benesch 0862, Benesch 1175 and Benesch 1283).
Condition: Generally good.
Summary attribution: Rembrandt.
Date: c.1633-35?
COLLECTION: NL Rotterdam, Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen [on loan from the Stichting Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen since 1940, from the former Koenigs collection] (R 81 [PK]).
FURTHER LITERATURE/REMARKS: Exh. Amsterdam, 1929, no.254; Exh. Berlin, 1930, no.323; Benesch, 1935, p.28; Benesch, 1947, no.86, repr.; Benesch, II, 1954/73, no.376, repr. figs 424-25/452-53 (c.1637); Exh. Rotterdam-Amsterdam, 1956, no.69; Exh. Stockholm, 1956, no.69; Exh. Vienna, 1956, no.33; Drost, 1957, p.176, repr. fig.184; Exh. Washington-New York-Minneapolis-Boston-Cleveland-Chicago, 1958-59, no.59; Rotterdam, 1969, p.24, repr. figs 21-22; Exh. Chicago-Minnepolis-Detroit, 1969-70, no.105, repr. p.209; Bernhard, 1976, p.213; Sumowski, 1979 etc., I, under no.4 and VIII, under no.2003x; Rotterdam, 1988, no.14, repr. (c.1637); Exh. Edinburgh-London, 2001, no.70, repr.; Exh. Istanbul, 2005, no.10, repr.; Exh. Rotterdam, 2005-6, no.10, repr.; Slive, 2009, p.113, repr. fig.9.8 (c.1637); Paris, 2010, p.10, repr. fig.6, and p.36, n.27; Exh. Amsterdam, 2016, no.??; The Present Catalogue online, 2018; Schatborn, 2019, nos 287 [recto] and 288 [verso], repr. (c.1637); Exh. Rotterdam, 2019-20.
PROVENANCE: P. Bureau; his sale, Paris, Petit, 20 May, 1927, lot 12, repr.; N. Beets; acquired in 1927 by Franz Koenigs (L.1023a); D.G. van Beuningen, by whom presented to the Stichting Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen, 1940.
[1] A poor tracing of the mark is repr. Rotterdam, 1988, p.348, cat.14; Hinterding, 2006, II, p.100, places comparable marks in 1633. Yet compare also Laurentius, 2007, no.246 (1646).
First posted 1 August 2018.
Benesch 0377
Subject: A Woman Carrying a Child with a Man in a Fur Hat
Medium: Pen and brown (iron-gall) ink with later wash on paper prepared brown; ruled framing lines in pen and brown ink.
140 x 118.
COMMENTS: The flat application of the wash over the main figure group, as well as the indifferent quality of the more ‘drawn’ additions using the tip of the brush on the male figure, point to the fact that all the wash is a later addition.
Hofstede de Groot (1906) had the charming inspiration that the figures were en route to the child’s baptism, an idea that the richness of the clothes would support. That the pen work is by Rembrandt seems likely but uncertain: the lines are unusually splintery in quality and, in general, the sketch lacks the fluency and authority normally associated with Rembrandt’s rapid sketch notations. Yet, thinking away the wash, there are links to Rembrandt’s drawings in iron-gall ink of c.1638-39, including the documentary sheets, Benesch 0161 and Benesch 0168, and to Benesch 0194 verso, a (for Rembrandt) somewhat timid drawing. Yet there are also similarities in style to Benesch 0121, now attributed to Govert Flinck, and another drawing at Besançon, Benesch 0238a.
Overall, the present writer believes that Rembrandt is the more likely author of the drawing, but an attribution to Flinck remains a distinct possibility.
Condition: Some spotting and overall discolouration.
Summary attribution: Rembrandt? Govert Flinck??
Date: c.1638-39?
COLLECTION: F Besançon, Musée des Beaux-Arts et d’Archéologie de Besançon
FURTHER LITERATURE/REMARKS: Hofstede de Groot, 1906, no.568 (c.1635; figures perhaps on way to a baptism); Benesch, 1947, no.96, repr.; Benesch, 2, 1954/73, no.377, repr. (c.1638; compares Benesch 0378); Berlin, 2018, under no.138 (school; compares Benesch 0306 verso); [Not in Schatborn, 2019].
PROVENANCE: Jean Gigoux (L.1164), by whom bequeathed to the present repository in 1894.
First posted 2 August 2018.
Benesch 0378
Subject: Bust of an Old Woman in a Turban, profile to left
Medium: Tip of the brush in brown, with brown wash; ruled framing lines in pen in brown ink.
67 x 68.
COMMENTS: At first sight, the drawing resembles a number of Rembrandt drawings: the same oyster-like configuration of the eye and the squaring off of the bottom of the nose is seen in Benesch 0219 (for example, the figure in the bucket hat in the top left segment) and Benesch 0158. Generically there are similarities to later drawings, such as Benesch 0677-0678. However, on inspection of the original,[1] it becomes clear that even the slimmest lines are all drawn with the tip of the brush (very unusual for Rembrandt), the modelling is flat both in the outlines and the wash, and the touch, apart from the stabs of wash in the drapery, is slow and hesitant – all characteristics of a copy. The passage describing the front of the turban where it loops back makes it appear detached. Set next even to Benesch 0220-21 the stark contrast in quality is clear. But the drawing may have been made in Rembrandt’s studio in the later 1630s or earlier 1640s.
Condition: Generally good though slightly spotted and with nicks at all but the lower right corners.
Summary attribution: School of Rembrandt (after Rembrandt?)
Date: c.1638-45?
COLLECTION: Formerly Tobias Christ, Basel.[1]
FURTHER LITERATURE/REMARKS: Bauch, 1933, p.220; Exh. Basel, Kunstmuseum, 1937, no.183; Benesch, II, 1954/73, no.378, repr. (c.1638; compares Benesch 0377); Kaczanowska, 1961, p.358, n.15; [Not in Schatborn, 2019].
PROVENANCE: Private collection, Basel; Dr Tobias Christ, Basel; his sale, London, Sotheby’s, 9 April, 1981, lot 26; Private Collection [offered London, Sotheby’s, 4 July, 2012, lot 104 (withdrawn)] ; New York, Sotheby’s, 30 January, 2019, lot 87, repr..
[1] The compiler saw the drawing at Sotheby’s in London, June 2012.
First posted 4 August 2018.
Benesch 0379
Subject: A Sleeping Boy
Verso: Sketch of a Woman in Bed (Saskia?)
Medium: Pen and brown ink with brown wash and some white bodycolour; verso: red chalk; ruled framing lines in pen and brown ink (recto only).
Inscribed recto, lower right, by Van Rijmsdijk in pen and brown ink (crossed out and now removed):[1] “Rymsdyk’s M.” (L.2167); inscribed verso, lower centre (with the sheet turned upside down), in graphite (all removed in 1984, according to Schatborn 1985a, no. 12): “14”, “A4520”, “525” [the lot number in the 1895 Pitcairn Knowles sale] and “1190” [the Hofstede de Groot, 1906, catalogue number]
130 x 175. Watermark: none; chain lines: 27-28v.
COMMENTS: The sketch of a child on the recto resembles in style a number of Rembrandt’s drawings of the mid-1630s. The rather dense hatching denoting shadows down the right side of the child is especially comparable to the shading in the central and lower left figures in Benesch 0340, for example (see Fig.a, not least in the sleeve of the former and the hair of the latter); and for the loops describing the pillow analogies abound with the many sketches of Saskia in bed, such as Benesch 0289. The more delicate, parallel hatching under the child’s nearer elbow has links with the pockets of hatching seen in Benesch 0281, as does the description of the bed drapes. Although the sketch has been described as a copy, these lively passages undermine that theory. In the face it is true that the artist has not always hit the mark with Rembrandt’s characteristic aplomb: the touch seems unusually stiff and the lines become ‘detached’ from what they describe. Perhaps the model moved or Rembrandt had a momentary lapse of concentration. But the evidence provided by the remainder of the sheet speaks firmly in favour of an attribution to Rembrandt himself and reveals that this is not a copy but an original sketch, an opinion bolstered by the autograph status of the drawing on the verso. See further below on the child’s identification.
The verso, of a woman in bed, also belongs to the mid-1630s, alongside some of Rembrandt’s other red chalk sketches of Saskia (and other subjects) of that period. The tentative style reveals Rembrandt’s often surprisingly delicate style when initiating a drawing, as also seen in the documentary drawing, Benesch 0161 verso. Compare especially Benesch 0280a (in which the fingers are similarly pointed), Benesch 0280d (again, for the fingers) and Benesch 0308 (for the hatching).
Given the date, Saskia was probably the model again here, although the identification must be somewhat tentative for lack of detail. It is tempting to identify the child on the recto as Saskia and Rembrandt’s son, Rumbartus, who was born on 15 December 1635. But he died just two months later on 15 February 1636 and the child looks older.[2] Perhaps Rembrandt drew one of the children of Hendrick Uylenburgh, Saskia’s uncle, and Maria van Eyck, in whose house Rembrandt lived until 1635 (see under Benesch 0342).
The drawing could have formed part of the album of drawings of the lives of women and children mentioned under Benesch 0194.
Condition: The recto is light-struck and discoloured, with staining especially near the edges; a diagonal crease, upper right.
Summary attribution: Rembrandt
Date: c.1635.
COLLECTION: NL Amsterdam, Rijksmuseum (L.2228; inv. RP-T-1901-A-4520)
FURTHER LITERATURE/REMARKS: Lippmann, II, 29B; Bode and Valentiner, 1906, p.66, repr. (c.1636); Hofstede de Groot, 1906, no. 1190; Saxl, 1908, p.337 (c.1645); Freise, Lilienfeld and Wichmann, 1912, p.8 and no.34; Neumann, 1918.I, no.4; Benesch, 1925, p.31 (reprinted 1970, p.89); Van Dyke, 1927, p.76, repr. pl.XV, fig.60 (Flinck); Exh. Amsterdam, 1932, no.265 (c.1642); Paris, 1933, under no.1171 (c.1638-42); Byam Shaw, 1933-34, p.44; Valentiner, II, 1934, no.686, repr. (c. 1636; Rumbartus);[2] Benesch, 1935, p.22 (1634-35); Wichmann, 1940, p.16, no.21 (c.1645); Amsterdam, 1942, nos. 22-23, repr. pl.14 (c. 1638; agrees with Valentiner); Poortenaar, 1943, p.48, no.85; Schinnerer, 1944, no.15; Von Alten, 1947, no.18 (c.1636); Exh. Rome-Florence, 1951, no.66 (before 1642); Benesch, 2, 1954/73, no.379, repr. fig. 430-31/456-57 (c. 1638; Rumbartus on his Death-Bed?; compares verso to Benesch 0376 verso); Exh. Vienna, 1956, no.40 and p.450 (c.1638; not Rumbartus); Sumowski, 1956-57, p.263; Haverkamp-Begemann, 1961, p.26; Sumowski, 1961, p.6; Van Gelder, 1961, p.150; Descargues, 1965, repr. p.205; Slive, 1965, no.248 (c.1638); Bonnier, 1969, p.18, repr. (c.1638); Hamann, 1969, p.53, repr. p.454; Schatborn, 1975, p.9; Bernhard, 1976, p.241 (1638); Sumowski, 1979 etc., under no.865; Vogel-Köhn, 1981, no.39, pp.16 and 42 (c.1637-38); Amsterdam, 1985, no. 12, repr. (rejects recto as a copy and calls the verso the recto, dating it c.1635);[3] Exh. Dresden, 2004, pp. 184 and 214, under no. 103; Exh. Amsterdam, 2006, p.44, verso repr. fig.37 (c.1635-36); Exh. London-New York, 2012-13, under no.25, repr. fig.54 (c.1635; compares Benesch 0280a); Schatborn, 2019, no.269 [verso only], repr. (c.1636).
PROVENANCE: Jan van Rijmsdijck (L. 2167); William Esdaile; Edward Cheyney; his sale, London, Sotheby’s, 29 April – 4 May, 1885, lot 865 (‘A child asleep; from the Esdaile collection’), bt Thibaudeau, £14; Alfred Ritter von Franck; his sale, Frankfurt-am-Main, Prestel, 4 December, 1889 and following days, lot 187, DM 131; William Pitcairn Knowles (L. 2643); his sale, Amsterdam, Muller, 25-26 June, 1895 and following days, lot 525, repr., bt Roos, fl. 180; purchased for fl. 207 for the present repository with the support of the Vereniging Rembrandt.
[1] The Rijksmuseum appears to have had a policy of removing what it deemed to be unsightly marks and inscriptions in the 1980s (the inscriptions on the present drawing were removed in 1984, according to Amsterdam, 1985).
[2] The date of Rumbartus’s death was unknown until Van Eeghen, 1956. Benesch argued that the child was clothed and propped up for view, showing a child on its death-bed, its face disfigured and with signs of decay.
[3] Repeated online, 2017 at https://www.rijksmuseum.nl/nl/collectie/RP-T-1901-A-4520(R)/catalogus-entry (retrieved 54 August 2018).
First posted 6 August 2018.
Benesch 0380
Subject: A Woman Lying in Bed
Verso: a few lines in red chalk; see also Inscriptions
Medium: Pen and brown ink, the broader lines perhaps with a reed pen; ruled framing lines in a darker ink; verso: a few lines in red chalk.
Inscribed in pen and brown ink (seventeenth or eighteenth century), lower right: “Rembrant:”; verso, below, in pen and brown ink, in Esdaile’s hand: “1835 WE Rembrandt”
125 x 165. Watermark: fragment, with letters “WR”; chain lines: 26/27v.
COMMENTS: Doubted as Rembrandt’s work for the first time in 1985,[1] the drawing displays only superficial stylistic analogies with the several undoubted pen and ink studies of his wife, Saskia, in bed, made c.1635-40.[2] In comparison, the lines in the present sheet lack both fluency and verve, appearing considerably more tentative, while the volumes seem flatter. Nevertheless, the quality of this neat sketch is high. Its affinities with some of Rembrandt’s etchings of the same subject, in particular with one of the two reclining figures in the “Sheet of Studies” of c.1641-42 (see detail, Fig.a; Bartsch 369; NH 177), have often been remarked.[3] It shows Saskia in much the same pose but with her further hand holding her nearer arm. Most of the etchings depict the motif in reverse and, unlike the drawings, they show the light falling from the right. Here it also comes from the right and it seems likely that the draughtsman – probably a pupil – based his work on the prints. The evenness of all but the most emphatic lines might also support such a theory. Benesch quite reasonably compared the nearer hand to that in Benesch 0167 and the surroundings with Benesch 0169, both drawings now thought or known to be by Ferdinand Bol, and Bol may also have been the draughtsman here.
Stylistically, the closest drawings in Rembrandt’s oeuvre are from around 1640, in particular the documentary Study of a Man Kneeling, now in Bayonne (Benesch 0477), with its fine lines, as well as Benesch 0479. These are drawn in a more fluid style and the lines are simultaneously more reticent and yet more suggestive of the forms depicted.
A later copy, which omits the extension of the pillow in the upper centre, is in the Rijksmuseum (Amsterdam, 1985, no.93, repr.).
Condition: Not fresh: stained yellowish and spotted surface from old foxing and/or adhesive; minor abrasions at edges and corners.
Summary attribution: School of Rembrandt (Ferdinand Bol?).
Date: c.1641-45.
COLLECTION: GB London, British Museum (inv. 1891,0713.8).
FURTHER LITERATURE/REMARKS: Exh. London, 1835 (ex. catalogue); Exh. London, 1899, no.A27 (c.1638-9; perhaps Saskia; compared to etching Bartsch 369; NH 177 and Bartsch 359; NH 228); Kleinmann, IV, no.18; Bell, c.1905, repr. pl.XV; Hofstede de Groot, 1906, no.935; Hind, 1912/24, I, under no.163 (compares, with other drawings, to etching Bartsch 369; NH 177; see also n.3 above); London, 1915, no.54 (c.1635-40; follows Exh. London 1899; Rijksmuseum copy – see above – noted as similar but inferior); Van Dyke, 1927, p.77 (Flinck, as also the etching Bartsch 369, NH177); Valentiner, II, 1934, no.692 (c.1639; study for etching Bartsch 369; NH 177); Benesch, 1935, p.22 (c.1634-5; groups with other drawings of the same subject); Exh. London, 1938, no.54 (follows London, 1915); Amsterdam, 1942, p.49, under no.99, and p.57, under no.117 (notes Amsterdam version as a copy; compares Raising of Jairus’ Daughter, Amsterdam, Benesch A1 [Amsterdam, 1985, no.84, as school]); Münz, 1952, II, p.74, repr. pl.III, fig.6 (contemporary with the etching, Bartsch 369; NH 177); Benesch, II, 1954/73, no.380, repr. fig.432/455 (c.1638-9); Biörklund and Barnard, 1955, p.71, under no.BB 38-2 (relates to etching Bartsch 369; NH 177); Exh. London, 1956, p.19, no.9 (study for etching Bartsch 369; NH 177); Haverkamp-Begemann, 1961, p.26 (notes Benesch’s failure to mention Rijksmuseum version); White, 1969, I, pp.54 and 159, repr.II, fig.234 (as Hind, 1912/24; see further n.3); White and Boon, 1969, I, p.162, under no.B369 (compared to the etching Bartsch 369; NH 177); Exh. Vienna, Albertina, 1970-71, p.74, under no.118 (c.1638-9; related to etching Bartsch 369; NH 177); Bernhard, 1976, II, repr. p.250; Amsterdam, 1981, p.48, under no.9; Amsterdam, 1985, p.198, under no.93, repr. fig.93a (not Rembrandt, but by a follower, based on authentic drawings and etching Bartsch 369; NH 177; copy in Rijksmuseum); Exh. Paris, 1986, p.133, under no.64 (not related to etching); Exh. London, 1992, no.90, repr. (school of Rembrandt, c.1640-45); White, 1992, p.268 (probably Rembrandt); London, 2010 (online), no.117, repr. (anonymous Rembrandt school); [Not in Schatborn, 2019].
PROVENANCE: Thomas Lawrence (L.2445); William Esdaile (L.2617; see cat. no.19); his sale, London, Christie’s, 17 June, 1840, lot 8, bt Woodburn, 7s; Samuel Woodburn sale, London, Christie’s, 7 June, 1860, lot 768: ‘A female lying in bed – subject etched by the artist – pen’, bt Enson, £2-10s; purchased by the present repository from Colnaghi’s, 1891.
[1] By P. Schatborn in Amsterdam, 1985 (see Lit. below), who expresses surprise at the position of the curtain indicated at the foot of the bed, yet this occurs on the upper study in the ‘Sheet of Studies’ etching (Fig.a).
[2] E.g. Benesch 0255, Dresden, Benesch 0281A, Oxford, Benesch 0282, Groningen, Benesch 0283, Paris (Dutuit), and Benesch 0286. Benesch compared the present drawing to Benesch 0167 (‘Tobit (?) sleeping beneath a Tree’, Paris, Lugt collection) and Benesch 0169 (‘Saskia (?) in Bed’, Washington), but the attribution of both these drawings is open to question and the stylistic analogies are not persuasive.
[3] Since Colvin in Exh. London, 1899 (see Exhibition, 1899, above); he also compared the etching of the Sick Woman with a large white headdress [Saskia] (Bartsch 359; NH 228) and White, 1969, also compared the Death of the Virgin (Bartsch 99; NH173). The etching of Joseph telling his Dreams of 1638, Bartsch 37; NH 167, also includes the motif of a woman in bed in the background.
First posted 6 August 2018.
Benesch 0381
Subject: Study Sheet with Three Women and a Boy
Medium: Pen and brown (iron-gall) ink on paper prepared brown.
Inscribed verso, in graphite, lower centre: “B64”
220 x 164.
COMMENTS: The sketch was first published by Benesch, who saw a foreshadowing of Rembrandt’s etching of The Angel Departing from Tobit and his Family, of 1641 (Fig.a; Bartsch 43; NH 189): the uppermost and right-hand figures’ raised hands may denote the surprise of Anna and the crossed arms of the boy the submissiveness of the young Tobias. The connection seems correct, although the drawing seems likely to date from around two years before the etching, when Rembrandt’s other drawings in iron-gall ink all appear to have been made (see under Benesch 0157).
For the style, compare the upper figure with those in the centre and the right of Benesch 0301; also Benesch 0300, where the outlines have a comparable breadth to the figure at the lower left. Benesch 0190 (probably another drawing related to Tobit) is comparable in this respect, especially the angel on the left. Benesch 0115 has similar pockets of vertical shading in the drapery, as in the upper figure here and again in parts of Benesch 0199 and behind the upper figure in Benesch 0197.
Condition: generally good, though with some iron-gall ink burn.
Summary attribution: Rembrandt.
Date: c.1639.
COLLECTION: USA New York, The Metropolitan Museum of Art (inv. 2005.330.16).
FURTHER LITERATURE/REMARKS: Benesch, II, 1954/73, no.381, repr. fig.441/459 (c.1638-39; from life but with a biblical subject in mind and figures foreshadow characters in the 1641 etching of The Angel Departing from Tobit’s Family, Bartsch 43; NH 189; compares Benesch 0423 verso and Benesch 0143); Exh. New York-Cambridge, 1960, no.35, repr. pl.30 (c.1638-41; as Benesch, 1954/73); Sumowski, 1979 etc., II, under no.369; Plomp, 2006, p.7, repr. fig.10; Orenstein, 2006, pp.36-37, repr. (late 1630s; iron-gall ink; as Benesch 1954/73); [Not in Schatborn, 2019].
PROVENANCE: Adalbert Freiherr von Lanna; Paul Mathey; his sale, Paris, Drouot, 13 February, 1939, lot 68; Frits and Rita Markus; bequeathed by Rita Markus to the present repository, 2005.
First posted 7 August 2018.
Benesch 0382
Subject: A Seated Woman with a Child on her Lap
Verso: The Adoration of the Magi
Medium: Pen and brown ink, rubbed with the finger; ruled framing lines in pen and brown ink (partly cut away); verso: black chalk; framing lines in black chalk.
162 x 128. Watermark: part of a foolscap? (unclear); chain lines: 22-23h.
COMMENTS: The recto and verso are so wholly distinct in style and technique that they demand separate discussion, at least initially. Which side was drawn first is uncertain, but because the ink of the recto now so strongly affects the verso it has been supposed that the verso came first.[1]
The recto is comparable in style to many of Rembrandt’s more liquidly-handled pen drawings of the later 1630s until the mid-1640s. Among the documentary drawings of c.1635-40, one might point to Benesch 0292 (c.1635) and Benesch 0482 recto (c.1640), the latter with similarly strong corrective lines and loops like the one denoting the ‘fulcrum’ of the present composition, where the weight of the woman is concentrated. A similarly fluid approach occurs in Benesch 0423 verso (c.1638-39), while the documentary drawings of the mid- to later-1640s appear still more energetically and broadly handled, for example Benesch 0736 (c.1645-47), Benesch 0763 (c.1646) and Benesch 0767 (c.1647). The present drawing appears to conform somewhat more with drawings of the earlier 1640s, such as Benesch 0115, in which the arm of the worshipper is configured similarly to the nearer arm of the woman. Something of the speed and verve of the execution is apparent in the splitting of the nib in the lower part of the drawing, as well as from the strong lines correcting the position of the woman’s upper body, initially drawn slightly further from the child.[2] To judge from the clothes, the woman may have been a domestic, although the possibility that Saskia modelled is possible if the drawing dates from before her death in 1642.
The verso is difficult to read, partly because the chalk is lighter in tone than usual and could possibly be graphite, rare in Rembrandt’s oeuvre. It shows the Virgin (presumably holding the child) on the extreme left and again somewhat nearer the centre; a tall figure, possibly Joseph, stands behind the latter version while one of the Magi kneels before her in profile to the left. A second Magus stands erect behind the first, also turned to the left. Beyond him is an elephant, viewed from the side with its head to the right, carrying a rider,[3] the arch of the animal’s back echoing on a smaller scale the arched top of the whole design. Towards the right there are multiple shorthand indications of further figures, with what is perhaps a dog in the lower right corner, turned to the right with its front legs higher than its hind legs. As Benesch noted, the verso resembles two drawings of the Adoration of the Shepherds now in Munich (Benesch 0578-79, qqv), of which the former also has an arched top. This suggests that Rembrandt may have planned to include this subject in the series of seven so-called ‘Passion’ paintings made for the Stadholder between 1632 and 1646, all of which have rounded tops and one of which depicts the Adoration of the Shepherds.[4] This last painting shows the Virgin on the right, and would, therefore, have made a balanced pendant to the present design. One of the Munich drawings, Benesch 0578, is dated 1644 on the verso, apparently in Rembrandt’s own handwriting, and this could also be a pointer to the date of the present work.[5] Even more suggestive is the date of 1641 on another drawing in Munich, not in Benesch but published here (Not in Benesch tab), which also shows the Adoration of the Magi, with an elephant in the background.[6]
Having studied both sides of the sheet, it should be pointed out that there is a connection between them: the woman and child on the recto and the Virgin and child on the verso. As we have seen, both the recto and the verso are not easy to date, whether from the point of view of the style or from the connection with the ‘Passion’ series for the Stadholder, but the iconographic connection suggests that they were probably made at around the same time. The early- to mid-1640s seems likely, in which case the child could possibly be Rembrandt’s son, Titus van Rijn, who was born on 22 September 1641, and the woman his nurse, Geertje Dircx. Although impossible to verify, the idea that Rembrandt sometimes used them as models seems likely. Titus, if it is he, seems to be putting something in his mouth and looks to be approximately 5-10 months old, which would place the drawing in 1642.
Condition: Generally good; the ink from the verso has with time become very apparent on the verso.
Summary attribution: Rembrandt.
Date: 1641-45?
COLLECTION: F Paris, Fondation Custodia, Frits Lugt Collection (inv. 2143).
FURTHER LITERATURE/REMARKS: Exh. Haarlem, 1931, no.234; Exh. Rotterdam, 1938, no.438, repr. fig.248 (recto); Benesch, II, 1954/73, no.382, repr. figs 435-36/460-61 and under no.423 (c.1639; compares Benesch 0425; verso either Adoration of Magi or Shepherds and compared with Benesch 0578-79); Exh. Paris, 1957 (no catalogue); Exh. Paris, 1965, no.90; Exh. Cambridge, 1966, under no.11, n.2; Munich, 1973, I, p.66, under no.1143 (c.1639); Exh. Paris, 1974, no.77, repr. pls 24-25 (c.1639); Exh. Leningrad-Moscow-Kiev, 1974, no.84, repr. (c.1639); Vogel-Köhn, 1981, pp.225-26, no.68, recto repr. (c.1639-43); Van Berghe-Gerbaud, 1997, p.70 and 104, repr. p.71; Exh. Paris-Haarlem, 1997-98, no.12, repr. pp.xiv and xx (c.1645-50); Royalton-Kisch, 1998, p.622, under no.12 (early 1640s; because of 1644 date on Benesch 0578; perhaps Geertje Dircx with Titus); Starcky, 1999, p.13, repr. (c.1646-47); Exh. Edinburgh-London, 2001, under no.205, repr. p.190, fig.138 (c.1646); Exh. Paris, 2004, no.71, repr. and pl.348 (c.1645-50); Blanc, 2006, p.70, repr. fig.10 (c.1639); Exh. Amsterdam, 2006, p.86, repr. fig.90 (c.1639); Schwartz, 2006, p.79, repr. fig.133 (c.1646); Exh. Paris, 2006-7 (no catalogue); Paris, 2010, no.12, repr. (later 1640s; see above and notes 1-3; notes the major pentimento, the loop where the woman sits; the verso related to five drawings in Munich for which it may have served as an example: Benesch 0578, 0579 after the 1646 painting of the Adoration of the Shepherds; Benesch A43 and A43a depicting the Circumcision; and Benesch A42 of Christ and the Woman Taken in Adultery – all school works; verso has links to Van den Eeckhout painting in Moscow of 1665 [Sumowski, Gem., no.454] for which there is a sketch in the Morgan Library [Sumowski 648]; and to a painting in Wernau attrib. to Van den Eeckout [by Sumowski, Gem., 391]; and to a painting in the Royal Collection, London, which Bauch attrib. to Eeckhout [Bauch, 1966, no.88]; Eeckhout drew an Adoration of the Magi [Benesch 0160] as did Rembrandt [Benesch 0115]; Virgin first shown on left, then moved nearer the centre; loose handling and strong contrasts point to later 1640s, cf. Benesch 0763 and Benesch 0767); Exh. New York, 2011, p.90, repr. (c.1645-49); Exh. Paris, 2011, no.16; the present catalogue, 2018; Schatborn, 2019, nos 84 [verso] and 378 [recto], repr. (c.1646 [recto]; c.1647 [verso]); Fondation Custodia, 2021 (https://www.fondationcustodia.fr/39-Rembrandt-Harmensz-van-Rijn; text by Maud van Suylen; accessed 1 March 2021); Schatborn, 2019, nos 84 [verso] and 378 [recto], repr. (c.1646 [recto]; c.1647 [verso]); later also at: https://collectiononline.fondationcustodia.fr/bronnen/drawings/detail/d8cde0b0-322b-e71c-c803-9c7d91cb4ab8/media/d9934570-654d-27fb-5387-9938bdefe7e6?mode=detail&view=horizontal&q=rembrandt%20Benesch&rows=1&page=13&sort=order_s_preferred_artist%20asc [accessed 6 August 2022]
PROVENANCE: Chevalier de Damery (L.2862 and Suppl.; his sale, Paris, Regnault-Delalande, 18-19 November, 1803, probably part of lot 67 (‘Cinquante-deux dessins […]’); Baron Nicolas de Platyer; Lucien Huteau & Max Bine; acquired from them in February 1925 by Frits Lugt (L.1028).
[1] Schatborn in Paris, 2010. The question is whether the ink initially came through so strongly or only after a passage of time.
[2] Schatborn, loc. cit., suggests that a reed pen may have been used, but the taper of the lines argues otherwise.
[3] The animal was deciphered by Schatborn, loc.cit..
[4] The paintings, all in the Alte Pinakothek in Munich except the last-named below, are The Raising of the Cross of 1633 (Bredius 548; Corpus A69, vol.VI, no.106); The Descent from the Cross of 1632-33 (Bredius 550; Corpus A65, vol.VI, no.107); The Ascension of 1636 (Bredius 557; Corpus A118, vol.VI, no.145); The Entombment of c.1635-39 (Bredius 560; Corpus A126, vol.VI, no.162); The Resurrection of 1639 (Bredius 561; Corpus A127, vol.VI, no.163); The Nativity: Adoration of the Shepherds of 1646 (Bredius 574; Corpus, V, 11, vol.VI, no.211a) and the Circumcision of c.1646, known only through an old copy in Braunschweig (Corpus, V, 10, vol.VI, no.211b). It does seem logical that an Adoration of the Magi might have been included as a pendant to the painted Adoration of the Shepherds, and the composition of Benesch 0382 verso literally mirrors that of Rembrandt’s various sketches for and the final version of the Adoration of the Shepherds.
[5] As noted by Royalton-Kisch, 1998, p.622, under no.12.
[6] Munich, 1973, no.1293, repr. pl.349 (as Rembrandt school).
First posted 8 August 2018.
Benesch 0383
Subject: Three Studies of a Man Turned to the Right
Verso: Laid down
Medium: Pen and brown ink; ruled framing lines in a darker ink.
Inscribed in pen and brown ink, lower right: “1871./217” [the latter number by Mariette ansd crossed out]; a further number below this, outside the framing line and partly obscured by an added margin (“14”?)
135 x 114 (partly obscured by added margins); Watermark: none visible.
COMMENTS: To judge from the increasing detail, Rembrandt may have begun work with the sketch to the left, then the one lower right, finally drawing the more fully realised figure at the top.
The drawing conforms closely in style with a number of sketches made between around 1635-40, including Benesch 0095-0096. The costume, with a cummerbund, may be oriental (Benesch thought possibly Balkan). The rather rigidly vertical arms and solemn expression give the man the demeanour of a prisoner, which means a thematic relationship with Benesch 0479 (and with the other drawings related to it) is possible.
Condition: Good; a slight green spot, lower left.
Summary attribution: Rembrandt.
Date: c.1637-40.
COLLECTION: S Stockholm, Nationalmuseum (L.1638; inv. NMH 2072/1863).
FURTHER LITERATURE/REMARKS: Hofstede de Groot, 1906, no.1604 (c.1632); Stockholm, 1920, no.IV;27; Benesch, 1935, p.28; Benesch, II, 1954/73, no.383, repr. fig.429/462 (c.1638-39; compares Benesch 0172 and Benesch 0452; figure an eastern type, Greek or Balkan); Exh. Stockholm, 1956, no.71; Exh. Rotterdam-Amsterdam, 1956, no.73; Exh. Vienna, 1956, no.41; Exh. Stockholm, 1992-93, no.136, repr. (c.1635; compares Benesch 0095); Schatborn, 2019, no.359, repr. (c.1639).
PROVENANCE: Roger de Piles?; Pierre Crozat (Mariette, p.101); C.G. Tessin (List of 1739-42, f.46v; 1749 catalogue, livre 15, no.12); Swedish Royal Library (1790 cat., no.1871); Royal Museum, Stockholm, from which transferred to the present repository in 1866.
First posted 9 August 2018.
Benesch 0384
Subject: Head of an Old Woman, turned to right
Medium: Pen and brown ink.
34 x 30.
COMMENTS: This diminutive sketch is not easy to judge. The quality is high and the characterisation successful, even on this small scale. But the somewhat harsh and scratchy handling combined with a geometrical approach to form seems to reflect Rembrandt’s work of the 1650s more than the 1630s, despite superficial links to Benesch 0140 of c.1633-34 and Benesch 0445 of 1635. The scratchy hatching in the top of the head is reminiscent of both the Carel Fabritius group (see under Benesch 0500, n.1) and to a lesser extent, of Willem Drost (cf., for example, Benesch 0955 verso and Benesch 1080).
Condition: Fragment, but otherwise good.
Summary attribution: School of Rembrandt (Rembrandt??).
Date: c.1650-55?
COLLECTION: D Berlin, Staatliche Museen Berlin, Kupferstichkabinett (inv.5792).
FURTHER LITERATURE/REMARKS: Michel, 1893, p.576 (in Beckerath collection; mounted with HdG 110 [inv. 5795] , 113 [inv.5791], 127 [inv. 5793]); Hofstede de Groot, 1906, no.126; Freise, Lilienfeld and Wichmann, 1914, no.114 (not Rembrandt); Berlin, 1930, I, p.232, inv.5792 (c.1650); Benesch, 1935, p.29; Benesch, II, 1954/73, no.383, repr. (c.1638-39; compares Benesch 0174, Benesch 0178 and Benesch 0180); Exh. Berlin, 1956, no.128 (c.1650); This Catalogue Online, 2018; Berlin, 2018, no.144, repr. (school of Rembrandt, c.1648-50; cut from a model sheet; compares model in sketch in Munich, 1973, no.1250, which is likely by another hand; dates on basis of Benesch 0731, esp. the head lower left); [Not in Schatborn, 2019].
PROVENANCE: Adolf von Beckerath (1834-1915), with whose collection acquired in 1902 by the present repository in return for a lifetime annuity.
First posted 9 August 2018 (Fabritius suggestion added August, 2021).
Benesch 0385
Subject: A Woman Reading
Verso: Fragment of a sketch by another hand
Medium: Pen and brown ink with brush and brown wash; ruled framing line in pen and brown ink.
67 x 88. Watermark: none; chain lines 27/28h.
COMMENTS: Compare for style Benesch 0272A. The deft use of both the pen and the wash, which lacks Rembrandt’s variety and descriptive power, resembles the work of both Gerbrand van den Eeckhout and Ferdinand Bol. For the latter, compare for example The Angel Appearing to Hagar, in the Rijksmuseum (Sumowski 89) with its comparably lively touch with the pen and the brush. The pen lines also resemble Benesch 0742. However, the use of the tip of the brush to add extra details, as in the cap and the chair, is more characteristic of Van den Eeckhout – cf. Benesch 0108, Benesch 0128, Benesch 0138 and Benesch 0147. On balance, therefore, an attribution to him seems preferable and the drawing was probably made during his apprenticeship with Rembrandt in the second half of the 1630s. Compare the composition with that of Benesch 0385a, perhaps made at the same sitting, and the etching of a Woman Reading, dated 1634 (Bartsch 345; NH 137). Note that at the lower centre margin there are a few lines perhaps depicting the cap of the same figure.
Condition: Generally good; some surface dirt; cut from a larger sheet.
Summary attribution: Gerbrand van den Eeckhout?
Date: c.1635-40.
COLLECTION: USA New York, The Metropolitan Museum of Art (Rogers Fund, 1926; inv. 26.208)
FURTHER LITERATURE/REMARKS: Lippmann, II, 69A; Michel, 1893, p.512 and 1894, p.254; Exh. New York, 1985; Hofstede de Groot, 1906, no.1009; Benesch, 1935, p.23; New York, 1942-44, no.7, repr. fig.7; Benesch, II, 1954/73, no.385, repr. fig.440/464 (c.1639-40; compares Benesch 0380 and Benesch 0386); Exh. New York, 1995-96, no.72, repr. (school of Rembrandt; records doubts given by Rosenberg orally in 1942); [Not in Schatborn, 2019].
PROVENANCE: Sir W. W. Knighton; John Postle Heseltine (L.1507); A. de Robiano; his sale, Amsterdam, Muller, 15-16 June, 1926, lot 443; Purchased from Colnaghi, New York, by the present repository in 1926 with the Rogers Fund.
First posted 9 August 2018
Benesch 0385a
Subject: A Seated Young Woman Reading
Medium: Etching after a drawing presumably in pen and brown ink, with ruled framing lines in pen and brown ink.
Inscribed in the plate, upper right: “R.” and lower right: “St.” [for Stieglitz]; further below, under the framing line: “D’apres le Dessein de Rembrand qui est a Leipsic”
100 x 104.
COMMENTS: The drawing is known only through an etched copy, reproduced here, by Carl Ludwig Stieglitz (1727-1787), who also made an etching after Benesch 0415 (and may have made Benesch 0287). The composition is close to Benesch 0385 (qv), but whether the original drawing, said to be in Leipzig at the time it was etched, is by Rembrandt is impossible to say. The loop describing the gathering of the book is so close to Benesch 0385 that it may have been by the same artist. Compare also the etching of a Woman Reading, dated 1634 (Bartsch 345; NH 137). More than Benesch 0385, there is a resemblance to Saskia.
Summary attribution: Carl Ludwig Stieglitz (1727-1787) after Rembrandt??
Date: c.1635-40.
FURTHER LITERATURE/REMARKS: Benesch, II, 1954/73, no.385a, repr. (after a Rembrandt drawing of c.1639-40; relates to Benesch 0385); Exh. New York, 1995-96, under no.71 (relates to Benesch 0385 and the 1634 etching noted above); [Not in Schatborn, 2019].
First posted 10 August 2018.
Benesch 0386
Subject: Four Studies of the Head of a Woman; A Seated Old Woman; A Standing Man
Medium: Pen and brown ink; ruled framing lines in pen and paler brown ink (at the sides only).
Inscribed verso in graphite, centre: “146” and lower left: “X”; inscribed on the verso of the card backing: “146”
145 x 133. Watermark: none; chain lines: 23/24h.
COMMENTS: In the heads in the upper right of the sheet, the draughtsman has repeated many of the main outlines so often that the effect departs from anything else we know in Rembrandt’s sketch-sheets (cf. Benesch 0340 and Benesch 0402). Despite several attempts, we are uncertain whether his model was a girl or a somewhat older woman. The looping lines in the central upper bust and in the old woman also appear overly hesitant and depart from the incisiveness of Rembrandt’s drawings of the later 1630s (cf. Benesch 0230, with its greater variety of pressure on the pen, Benesch 0360 recto and Benesch A10 [here as Not in Benesch]), the period to which the drawing appears to belong. The small zig-zag flourishes and curling strokes used for shading also seem unusual for Rembrandt and the overall effect of the drawing is more ‘painterly’ (especially in the hair of the female heads). Yet the standing figure on the left compares well with Benesch 0223 verso and also with the woman at the lower left of Benesch 0226 – analogies that are closer than those with Benesch 0228, and for this reason the drawing is retained here under Rembrandt’s name with an ‘attributed to’ designation. Overall, the somewhat slack modelling and ‘looped’ handling is more reminiscent of Ferdinand Bol than his teacher, and is comparable to Bol’s Shepherdess in the Rijksmuseum (RP-T-1889-A-2060; Sumowski 179x) and to the background figures in Benesch 0480 of c.1640.
Condition: Probably trimmed (see lower left corner); generally discoloured with stains and areas of foxing chiefly near the edges (apparently much worse since Benesch’s photograph was taken although it could be that some old restorations, covering the blemishes, have been removed).
Summary attribution: Ferdinand Bol? (Rembrandt??).
Date: c.1638-40.
COLLECTION: Private Collection.
FURTHER LITERATURE/REMARKS: Lippmann, III, 33; Hofstede de Groot, 1906, no.806 (c.1635); Benesch, 1935, p.23; Benesch, II, 1954/73, no.386, repr. fig.428/465 (c.1639-40; compares Benesch 0385); [Not in Schatborn, 2019].
PROVENANCE: Paul Mathey; F. Wauters (L.912); his sale, Amsterdam, Muller-Mensing, 15-16 June, 1926, lot 146.
First posted 11 August 2018.
Benesch 0387
Subject: Bust of a Figure Carrying a Child on its Back
Medium: Pen and brown ink.
62 x 80.
COMMENTS: There is an impressive strength in the draughtsmanship of this diminutive sketch that is comparable to another drawing in Besançon, Benesch 0238a (though the provenance is different). Yet the open apex of the skull and the somewhat scratchy lines in the child are unusual for Rembrandt (though see the cranium of the child in Benesch 0222) and make an attribution to him somewhat uncertain, as they are not easily paralleled in his authentic drawings. Among the closest works is surely Benesch 0391 verso and on balance the drawing is included here as authentic, with only a minor degree of hesitation. An etching was made after the drawing by the Chevalier De Claussin, on the same plate as a number of other etchings after Rembrandt drawings.
Condition: Good.
Summary attribution: Rembrandt (?).
Date: c.1638-40?
COLLECTION: F Besançon, Musée des Beaux-Arts et d’Archéologie (L. Suppl. 238c; inv. D.560).
FURTHER LITERATURE/REMARKS: Hofstede de Groot, 1906, no.562; Benesch, 1954/73, no.387, repr. (c.1638-40; compares Benesch 0186-87); [Not in Schatborn, 2019].
PROVENANCE: Jonathan Richardson, sen., (L2183); Joshua Reynolds (L.2364); Jean Gigoux (L.1164), by whom bequeathed to the present repository in 1894.
First posted 12 August 2018.
Benesch 0388
Subject: Two Studies for the Sick Woman in the “Hundred Guilder Print”
Verso: See Inscriptions (otherwise blank)
Medium: Pen and brown ink.
Inscribed verso in graphite, top: “f” and lower left: “d”; in pen and brown ink, below: “Samuel de Festetits 1850.”
79 x 108. Watermark: none; chain lines: 26h. (laid lines c.20/cm).
COMMENTS: A documentary drawing, being a sketch for the sick woman seated on the ground below Christ in Rembrandt’s etching of Christ Healing the Sick: The Hundred Guilder Print (Bartsch 74; NH.239). Another, more elaborate sketch for the figure is Benesch 0183 (qv also for a discussion of this drawing) but it was probably made before the present sketch, which is somewhat closer to the figure in the etching. The small head to the right was probably drawn first as in general terms it follows the right-hand figure in Benesch 0183. For a general discussion of the preparatory drawings for the etching, see the composition sketch for this and other figures, Benesch 0188, in which the pose of the right leg of the present figure is repeated.
Condition: A fragment, but otherwise good; a few yellowish foxmarks on the recto; some verso debris and associated glue stains.
Summary attribution: Rembrandt*
Date: c.1645-48.
COLLECTION: PC USA New York, Clement C. Moore II.
FURTHER LITERATURE/REMARKS: Österreichische Kunsttopographie, Vienna, 1907, p.225, repr. fig.242; Tietze, 1908, p.225, no.6, repr.; Benesch, 1935, p.16; Münz, 2, 1952, under no.217, repr. pl.ix and fig.19 [in reverse] Benesch, 2, 1954/73, no.388, repr. fig.438/468 (c.1638-40; closely connected with studies for Hundred Guilder Print, especially Benesch 0183); Haverkamp-Begemann, 1961, p.15; Benesch, 1964, p.121 (reprinted 1970, p.256); Boon, 1964, p.87, repr. fig.4; Exh. London, 1969, p.9, under no.1; White, 1969, pp.59-60, repr. fig.69; Exh. Vienna, 1970-71, p.112, under no.186; Amsterdam, 1972, under no.B74; Amsterdam, 1985, pp.48-49, under no.21, n.3; Exh. Berlin-Amsterdam-London, 1991-92, p.244, under no.27; Royalton-Kisch, 1993.1, pp.80 and 191, n.12; White, 1999, p.59, repr. fig.73; Exh. Amsterdam-London, 2000-2001, under no.61, repr. fig.e; Exh. New York, 2006, repr. fig.12; Berlin, 2006, pp.142-3, under no.40, n.6, repr.; Exh. Paris, 2006-7, p.205, n.6; Slive, 2009, p.205, repr. fig.15.13 (shows figure praying, an idea discarded in the print); Schatborn, 2011, pp.314 and 316, repr. fig. 57; Royalton-Kisch and Schatborn, 2011, p.341, no.62, repr. fig.57 (c.1648; documentary drawing); Exh. New York, 2012, no.31, repr. (the first known drawing for the etching); Exh. New York, 2016, p.50; Exh. Denver, 2018, no.91, repr. (c.1648); Exh. Dresden, 2019, no.50.5, repr.; Schatborn, 2019, no.89 and pp.17 and 143, repr. (c.1648; example of a drawing made during the search for a composition; shows Rembrandt usually began with the head).
PROVENANCE: Samuel Graf von Festetits (L.926 – see verso inscription); probably acquired from him by Philipp Drechsler [Drächsler von Carin]; J.C. Ritter von Klinkosch; his sale, Vienna, Wawra, 15 April, 1889, lot 732, repr.; Moriz and Elsa Kuffner, and subsequently their Stiftung; their sale, London, Sotheby’s, 26 November, 1970, lot 17, repr., bt Johnson, £10,000; Walter J. Johnson; his sale, London, Christie’s 1 July, 1997, lot 208, repr.; British Rail Pension Fund; private collection, New York, from which acquired in 2005 by the present owner.
First posted 13 August 2018.
Benesch 0389
Subject: Standing Man with a Leather Bag, turned to left, half-length
Verso: Beginnings of a Sketch of a Beggar
Medium: Pen and brown ink; ruled framing lines in pen and brown ink.
105 x 84.
COMMENTS: The style is readily comparable to a number of drawings that may be attributed to Willem Drost with some confidence, including Benesch 1092, with its similar oblique parallel hatching, even-tempered outlines and occasional lapses in modelling (in the right arm here, in the left in Benesch 1092); and, compared with Rembrandt, somewhat shallow or wooden characterisation. Cf. also Benesch 0896 and Benesch A94 (Sumowski 557x; London, 2010 [online], Drost no.1).
From the pose and chiaroscuro it seems possible that the drawing was a study towards an Adoration of the Shepherds, with the light emanating from the child or another light source to the left.[1]
Condition: Good.
Summary attribution: Willem Drost?
Date: c.1650-55?
COLLECTION: NL Amsterdam, Rijksmuseum (inv. RP-T-1889-A-2061)
FURTHER LITERATURE/REMARKS: Lippmann, II, 29a; Hofstede de Groot, 1906, no.1183 (c.1635; represents a beggar); Freise, Wichmann and Lilienfeld, 1912, no.27; Stockholm, 1920, p.72, repr. fig.87; Exh. Amsterdam, 1932, no.249; Benesch, 1935, p.32; Amsterdam, 1942, no.19; Benesch, II, 1954, no.389, repr. (c.1639-40; a beggar; compares studies for Hundred Guilder print [Bartsch 74; NH.239], especially Benesch 0184-85); Schatborn, 1985, pp. 101-102, repr. fig.19 (by Willem Drost); [Not in Schatborn, 2019].
PROVENANCE: Jacob de Vos, Jbzn ; his sale, Amsterdam, Roos et al., 22-24 May, 1883 (like many drawings, not individually described); purchased with the support of the Vereniging Rembrandt, 1889.
[1] Although not directly related to the present sheet, a number of drawings of the subject have been attributed to or associated with Drost: one now in Brussels (Sumowski 566x) another in the Morgan Library, New York (Sumowski, p.1190, no.6 [as not by Drost] and New York, 2006, no.242) and a third in Washington Sumowski, p.1190, no.7 [as not by Drost] and Benesch A117).
First posted 14 August 2018.
Benesch 0390
Subject: An Artist in his Studio
Medium: Pen and brown ink; remnants of ruled framing lines in pen and a slightly darker brown ink.
Inscribed in brown ink, lower right: “Rt” [?] (see under Benesch 0113)
205 x 170. Watermark: none; chain lines: 25/26v; c.16 laid lines per cm.
COMMENTS: This drawing, known to the compiler in the original since the mid-1980s, has always troubled him.[1] This catalogue entry is an attempt to articulate why and to amass as many arguments as possible on both sides of the attributional question, as well as to touch on the iconography. It is therefore on the long side.
The drawing, since its first publication in 1925, has become something of an icon, apparently giving a glimpse into Rembrandt’s studio. It has also been related in general terms with Rembrandt’s earlier and celebrated painting of An Artist in His Studio of c.1628, now in the Boston Museum of Fine Arts (Bredius 419; Corpus A18, vol.VI, no.24). Both depict a painter, often identified as Rembrandt himself, sometimes as Jan Lievens, contemplating his work from a distance (rather than actually at work painting it), standing near his pigment grinding-stone, with a comparable placement of the easel and the picture, seen only from the back, with a corner of the room to the right. It is, however, generally agreed that the drawing is later than the painting. This is confirmed by the style, which fits ill with the Leiden period before 1631.
The iconography of the Boston painting has inspired much debate. Rather than a documentary snapshot of the studio, the fact that the artist is standing away from the easel has led to speculation that the artist is depicted as he formulates his pictorial ‘idea’.[2] The lack of a chair in the oil gives this theory some credence, but on the other hand, the invisibility of the painted surface of the work on the easel in both the painting and the drawing undermines it. On a less theoretical and more practical level, artists need to stand back and critique their work from a distance.
In the case of the drawing, the rounded arched top of the painting depicted led Benesch (1954) to speculate that it is one of the panels from Rembrandt’s Passion series commissioned by the Stadholder.[3] Their sizes, approximately 93 cms high, supports the hypothesis but it is impossible to confirm. Work seems to be in progress as there is a pot of paint (or thinner) hanging from one of the easel’s pegs and the artist is still holding his brushes and maulstick (on which see further below).
Also of iconographic interest are the thin lines of perspective leading to a vanishing point to the right of the drawing. There are obvious echoes of Albrecht Dürer’s celebrated woodcuts in his ‘Unterweysung der Messung’ of 1525, but any juxtaposition reveals clearly that the link is weak (see fig.a): in the drawing, the approach seems entirely informal, the lines added so lightly that one could believe that the artist hoped they would not overly disturb the image.
Stylistically, there are several unusual characteristics to the drawing. The nib of the pen in much of the drawing seems to have been cut remarkably finely, creating atypical effects, especially in the shading, both in the background and on the panel on the easel, where numerous approximately parallel lines are employed (crossed by zigzags is some parts), an uneconomical method of creating shadow; and the shadows in general do not produce the exactitude of optical illusion or information normally encountered in Rembrandt’s own work. Perhaps the fineness of the nib meant that it was less rigid than usual and thus more difficult to control.
The standing figure is drawn with a wider and firmer nib. In part he is difficult to ‘read’: he holds brushes and a long maulstick but his forearms are unclear – either his nearer arm is divided into two distinct parts, with a closed loop for the forearm; or else his right forearm and hand are resting on the back of the chair, in which case he is holding his brushes and his palette (if the loop is read as the latter) in his left hand, which would be more logical. But neither hand seems to hold the maulstick, which is precariously balanced of the back of the chair. His clothes are roughly sketched in splintery lines and include a somewhat gravity-defying fold in shadow before him (immediately behind the chair). The furniture – chair, easel and grinding stone – all appear rickety in construction, drawn without the fluency or deft accuracy that is usually a Rembrandt hallmark. There seems to be a well-worn cushion or some drapery on the chair, the wicker-work indicated by a carefully judged series of short parallel strokes on the nearer edge of the seat. The chair-back is elaborated with a rather spikey zigzag, a type of description or shading also found twice, though more incipiently, in the lower part of the painting on the easel.
The lines in the figure and chair are not much differentiated in strength. Neither are the thinner lines of shadow on the back of the picture and the wall behind. The easel and painting, too, are delineated scratchily, not to say insecurely. The lower edge of the painting stands proud of the easel at the nearer end but not at the farther, but the supports at the top are not aligned with such a differential. The arch of the panel is hesitantly conveyed. The grinding-stone’s construction seems especially insecure, but this is partly because the artist was sketching around the previously drawn easel. Some of the thinnest lines show two paintings stacked against the back wall, delicately applied but without much accuracy or authority; some of the thickest lines are reserved for the shadows, including the calligraphic horizontal tone spread energetically across the lower foreground, perhaps just a long shadow but possibly suggesting that the artist is standing on a low platform; the shading on the chest and lower part of the figure, and the shadows to the right of the easel and the grinding stone (where there is a passage of looping zigzags) also have this calligraphic character. The shadow of the figure on the floor (immediately to his right, under the chair) is drawn with two distinct sets of parallel lines and zigzags but each set at different angles. The nearer set creates a somewhat illogical shadow and the further set interrupts the optical flow of the receding space. Indeed, almost all the shadows have a calligraphic aspect that undermines the illusion. Rembrandt’s customary sense of the direction of the light seems lacking. Finally, there are the spindly lines of perspective emanating from a vanishing-point just outside the right edge of the sheet. Although gingerly and somewhat inaccurately drawn, they serve to reveal that the perspective is incorrect: neither the lower edge of the painting aligns with them, nor the tops of the two supports of the easel, nor its feet and lower cross-bar. As a result, the whole composition veers towards instability.[4]
All the above qualities give cause for concern about the attribution to Rembrandt, yet there are links in style with Rembrandt’s own drawings of the period between c.1633-38. Among the documentary drawings, two of the sketches for the grisaille of St John the Baptist Preaching provide analogies (Benesch 0141 in Berlin and Benesch 142 recto at Chatsworth). Perhaps the closest is the full-length scribe at the lower right of Benesch 0141, drawn in a comparable fashion to the figure in Benesch 0390, only with considerably more verve and confidence, so that the figure emerges as one unit rather than being splintered into parts. This unifying characteristic also pertains to the other figures on the same Berlin sheet, including the more pensive figure at the top left. The Chatsworth drawing (Benesch 0142 recto) is similar in this respect, but provides analogies in the horizontal shadow below the main figure, although there it appears more controlled and less calligraphic than here (as also in Benesch 0148, where the shading describes a step). Among non-documentary drawings, Benesch 0139, despite its poor condition, has some vertical shading in the upper left and right background that provides a comparison with the shading behind the figure in Benesch 0390, but it is more fluently applied. Compare also in this respect Benesch 0351 verso. For the zigzag shading one might point to Benesch 0293 recto, where again the verve and energy suggest another hand at work, while the verso reveals how accurate and economical Rembrandt usually is when drawing a figure, in stark contrast to what we see here: the parallel shading in the main figure’s cap stops precisely at the border, whereas in Benesch 0390 it extends above the arched top of the painting and across the right profile of the chair, while the vertical parallel shading in the background is only vaguely suggestive of any shadow or wall surface. The outlines of the grinding-stone sometimes cut across the easel supports as well. These factors inevitably have a detrimental effect on the illusion and flatten or harden the forms. The comparably thin lines in Benesch 0120 and Benesch 0128 also contrast sharply in their precision and disciplined execution with what is seen here, only a few zigzags in the former (in the lower centre of the table-cloth; in the figure’s knee) making a connection with what is found in the Artist in his Studio.
Benesch 0074a (by Gerbrand van den Eeckhout?) shares something of the splintered quality of form in the figures and the broad, rather uncontrolled shading. There is also a zigzag in the tower to the right that resembles those in the present sheet. Benesch 0294 (also Gerbrand van den Eeckhout?) again reveals somewhat unwieldy shading, although less scratchy than the present drawing, and in the stiff modelling of the figure and undisciplined shading there are links with Benesch 0108 (also now attributed to Van den Eeckhout). The British Museum’s Study of Three Beggars (Benesch 0327) serves again to highlight more the contrast than the similarity of the figure-style in Benesch 0390, perhaps especially in the disciplined parallel hatching and the outlines of the more sketchily indicated figures at the extreme left and right. A further contrast in this regard is provided by Benesch 0360, and for the security of the modelling of the figure, Benesch 0383.
The compiler hopes that this catalogue entry will adequately explain the doubts he has harboured for so long. Perhaps their longevity has distorted his view. But the spikey and often ineffective and inaccurate draughtsmanship creates so many insecurities that the distance from Rembrandt’s authentic drawings appears considerable, not to say unbridgeable. Out of deference to the opinions of most if not all other scholars, the drawing is here retained in the ‘attributed to Rembrandt’ section of the catalogue. Of course, I may be wrong. But it may have been noticed that many of the drawings with which it has been compared above are by, or thought to be by, Gerbrand van den Eeckhout. Any attribution to him must remain tentative, however, but it is at least a plausible idea that one of Rembrandt’s pupils sketched his teacher in his studio, and that this was perhaps done while Rembrandt was working on a painting from the Passion series. Van den Eeckhout was in Rembrandt’s studio from around 1635-40. And it should be remembered, as discussed under Benesch 0113, that many of the drawings bearing the enigmatic paraphe of the type seen at the lower right of the drawing seem to be his work.
In summary, if the right questions are asked of this drawing, the answers are negative – for example: (a) is the style and the mise-en-page commensurate with other drawings by Rembrandt, especially the documentary drawings? (b) is it drawn with authority – by an artist who seems to know and understand what he is doing so that the lines tend to suggest the forms correctly in three dimensions? (c) can the drawing be dated reasonably convincingly by comparing other Rembrandt drawings of reliable attribution (documentary works if possible)? (d) does the iconography and the psychological characterisation of the figure conform to what is encountered in Rembrandt works of reliable attribution (documentary works if possible)? In the compiler’s opinion, Benesch 0390 fails to convince at almost every turn.
Condition: Some overall staining and discolouration, with spots, especially towards the edges of the sheet.
Summary attribution: Gerbrand van den Eeckhout?; Rembrandt?
Date: c.1635.
COLLECTION: USA Los Angeles, The J. Paul Getty Museum (inv.86.GA.675).
FURTHER LITERATURE/REMARKS: Hind, 1926, p.9, repr. pl.15 (c.1627-30; relates to Boston painting, Bredius 419; Corpus A18, vol.VI, no.24; a self-portrait); Benesch, 1935, p.28 (c.1637-39); Benesch, 1947, no.33, repr.; Benesch, II, 1954/73, no.390, repr. (c.1632-33; compares Benesch 0061; relates to Boston painting; arched shape of painting resembles Rembrandt’s Passion series for the Stadholder; for perspective lines, compares Benesch 0445 and Benesch 0489); Sumowski, 1961, p.6; Slive, 1964, pp.485; Exh. London, 1959 and Exh. Edinburgh, 1965, no.42; Exh. Leiden, 1976, pp.26-31; Exh. Paris-Antwerp-London-New York, 1979–80, under no.68; Corpus, I, 1982, p.211, under no.A18 (may show the artist taking inspiration from the shapes emerging on his canvas, as opposed to the Boston painting of the subject in which he imagines a scene before painting it); Exh. Amsterdam, 1984-85, no.9, repr.; Bonafoux, 1985 (unpaginated); Alpers, 1988, p.59; Chapman, 1990, pp.85 and 158, n.29; Exh. Berlin-Amsterdam-London, 1991-92, p.29, repr. fig.39 (c.1630; probably depicts Lievens; grinding stone next to easel); Exh. Leiden, 1991-92, pp.41-42, repr. fig.7 (c.1630; probably depicts Lievens); Exh. London, 1992, under no.10 (compared to Benesch 0148 recto); Malibu, 1992, no.103, repr. (relates to perspective of Boston painting, with vanishing-point to the right); Van de Wetering, 1997, pp.166-67, repr. fig.230 (c.1630; represents Lievens); Exh. Sydney, 1999-2000; Exh. Los Angeles, 2001; Exh. Kassel-Amsterdam, 2001-2, p.25, repr. fig.6 (c.1630; shows Lievens); Exh. Los Angeles, 2002; Exh. Boston-Chicago, 2002-3, no.19, repr. (early to mid-1630s; Exh. Los Angeles, 2005; Schwartz, 2006, p.68, repr. fig.107 (c.1633-35; depicts Lievens?); Exh. Los Angeles, 2009-10, p.6, repr. fig.2 (c.1630; perspective lines drawn after the main elements of the composition, perhaps as a demonstration to pupils); London, 2010 (online), under no.8 (as Exh. London, 1992); Giltaij, 2015, p.457, repr. fig.4 (a possible model for other drawings of artists’ studios); This Catalogue online, 20 August 2018 (Eeckhout?/Rembrandt?; c.1635); Schatborn, 2019, no.243, repr. (c.1636); Exh. Leiden-Oxford, 2019-20, no.115, repr. (c.1630).
PROVENANCE: John Bouverie (L.325); by descent to Edward Bouverie; his sale, London, Christie’s, 20 July, 1859, lot 124; Lewis Huth Walters; Franz Sprinzels/Francis Springell and Mrs Springell; their sale, London, Sotheby’s, 30 June, 1986, lot 41, where acquired by the present repository.
[1] My earliest surviving notes, with an attribution to ‘Eeckhout?’, date from 29 April 1986.
[2] Summarised in Corpus, V, pp.162-63 and Vol. VI, no.24.
[3] For the Passion paintings, see under Benesch 0097, n.4 and Benesch 00382, n.4.
[4] Benesch compared the perspective lines with Benesch 0445 and Benesch 0490. The former uses a grid of lines to copy from another, elaborate composition; the latter does have some equally thin perspectival lines, but the drawing does not appear to be by Rembrandt (and provides some interesting parallels with Benesch 0390, especially in the parallel and zigzag hatching).
First posted 20 August 2018.
Benesch 0391
Subject: Two Women Teaching a Child to Walk; A Woman Seen from Behind
Verso: Two Small Sketches of the Head of a Man, profile to left
Medium: Pen and brown (iron-gall) ink with brown wash, rubbed with the finger and touched with white heightening, on paper prepared brown; verso: pen and brown (iron-gall) ink, rubbed with the finger, on paper prepared brown.
Inscribed verso, in graphite, lower left: “Marquis de Lagoy / et P. Mathey”
162 x 146. Watermark: none; chain lines: c.23h.
COMMENTS: For the subject of a child being taught to walk, one of almost perennial interest to Rembrandt, see Benesch 0421-22 (c.1635-37), Benesch 0706 (c.1638-39) and Benesch 1160 (c.1656), as well as the background of the etching of c.1646, Nude Man Seated and Another Standing (Bartsch 194; NH.233). In the latter, it has been suggested that the idea of learning may connect the child with the figures modelling for Rembrandt and his pupils as they learn or hone their skills in the studio.[1] Some of the sketches may have been kept in the album of drawings of the lives of women and children recorded in 1680 in Jan Van de Cappelle’s inventory (see under Benesch 0194).
In style and technique, the drawing on the recto conforms closely to many others made in iron-gall ink in c.1638-39, to judge from the datable examples (see under Benesch 0157). Of the documentary drawings in this technique, perhaps the closest are Benesch 0168 (c.1638) and Benesch 0423 (c.1639), the confidence and breadth of the wash being marginally closer to the latter. Also similar in Benesch 0197, with its combination of broad, confident and looping lines with pockets of disciplined hatching. The use of the finger to rub and soften the shadows or even, as on the verso, perhaps to erase, is found in other drawings in the iron-gall group (cf. Benesch 0237a and Benesch 0253), as are touches of white bodycolour to add highlights and correct the effect of overly strong lines by reducing or covering them (cf. Benesch 0158, Benesch 0168 and Benesch 0207). The older-looking woman in the foreground may have been drawn after the ‘mother’ with the child, as her hands cross over the profile of the younger woman’s dress. The thinly drawn figure at the top left, with its breathtakingly controlled and precise hatching in the face and neck, may be compared for style with Benesch 0223 verso and with the figure standing outside the door in Benesch 0406.
The small heads on the verso, rubbed with the finger as if to erase them as false starts, have been compared with Rembrandts portrayals of the actor, Willem Barthelsz. Ruyter (1587-1639), on whom see Benesch 0120.[2] They resemble the head on Benesch 0387 in style and help to bolster the attribution of that slight sketch. Cf. also the head of Ruyter on the left of Benesch 0230. Yet the two heads here are unusual and help reveal that Rembrandt’s drawings will not always show a neat consistency of style, as is argued in the Introduction.
Condition: Generally good but with some damage from the iron-gall ink’s acidity.
Summary attribution: Rembrandt.
Date: c.1638-39.
COLLECTION: F Paris, Fondation Custodia, Frits Lugt Collection (L.1028; inv.5447).
FURTHER LITERATURE/REMARKS: Exh. Paris, 1911, no.205; Dayot, 1912, p.159, no.205, repr.; Exh. Paris, 1922, no.5; Exh. Amsterdam, 1932, no.343 (c.1637); Benesch, 1935, p.16 (c.1632-33); Benesch, 1947, p.17, no.34, repr. (c.1632-33); Exh. Haarlem, 1951, no,154; Benesch, II, 1954/73, no.391, repr. fig.449/471 (c.1632-33; compares Benesch 0197, Benesch 0199 and Benesch 0394, as well as Benesch 0217, Benesch 0394, Benesch 0455 and Benesch 0462); Exh. Paris, 1957 (no catalogue); Exh. Paris, 1965, no.93, repr. pl.xxxv; Exh. Amsterdam, 1969, no.31, repr. (c.1633-34); Exh. New York-Boston-Chicago, 1972-73, no.82, repr. (c.1634-35); Exh. Amsterdam, 1973, no.82, repr. pl.xviii (c.1634-35); Vogel-Köhn, 1981, p.206, no.1, repr. (c.1634-35); Amsterdam, 1985, under no.63, n.2; Starcky, 1985, p.260, repr. fig.13 (c.1638-39); Exh. Paris, 1986, under no.84, repr. fig.110 (c.1640); Rotterdam, 1988, under no.6 (c.1632-33); Paris, 1988, under no.273 (c.1638-39); Exh. London, 1992, under no.60 (c.1639); Broos, 1996, p.161 (c.1635); Berge-Gerbaud, 1997, p.70, repr. p.66 (c.1639); Haarlem, 1997, under no,324 (c.1637-38); Exh. Paris-Haarlem, 1997-98, p.xx/xxi [French/Dutch eds] and no.5, repr. (second half of 1630s); Exh. Amsterdam, 1999, p.86 (late 1630s); Exh. Edinburgh-London, 2001, no.60 and p.141, repr. p.138, under no.56 and p.191, under no.106 (c.1635-39); Van Eck, 2001, p.586; Berlin, 2006, under no.14, n.4 (c.1638-39); Exh. Paris, 2006-7 (no catalogue); Exh. Paris, 2006-7.I, p.66, repr. fig.3 (c.1632); London, 2010 (online), under no.53 (c.1639); Paris, 2010, no.6, repr.. (c.1638; verso reminiscent of the actor, Willem Ruyter, seen in Benesch 0230 and 0235, for example); Exh. New York, 2011, p.89, repr. (late 1630s); Exh. Paris, 2011, no.10; Schatborn, 2019, no. 312 and pp.19, 143 and 144, repr. (c.1638; many depictions of this subject; relates to iconography of the etching with a Nude Seated and Standing, with a child learning to walk in the background, which has been interpreted as referring to practice, Bartsch 194; NH 233; women and children common in genre studies); Fondation Custodia online: https://collectiononline.fondationcustodia.fr/bronnen/drawings/detail/d404cdea-d6d6-74a7-7fb6-681a7063a3c6/media/8566e976-1e16-c8bc-4d65-159203f50cf6?mode=detail&view=horizontal&q=rembrandt%20Benesch&rows=1&page=22&sort=order_s_preferred_artist%20asc [last updated March 2021; accessed 8 August, 2022].
PROVENANCE: The Marquis de Lagoy (L.1710 and Suppl.); Victorien Sardou (L.2262); his sale, Paris, 27-29 April, 1909, lot 119, bt Strölin, FF.2000; Paul Mathey (cf. L. Suppl. 2100b); Eduard August Veltman from whom purchased 13 April 1938 by Frits Lugt (L.1028).
[1] As proposed by Emmens, 1968, pp.154-59 and noted in the context of this drawing by Schatborn in Paris, 2010, no.6.
[2] Schatborn, loc. cit..
First posted 21 August 2018.
Benesch 0392
Subject: An Interior with a Spiral Staircase, a man seated to the right
Medium: Pen and brown ink with brown wash.
Inscribed verso in graphite: “Inv. nr. 18010”
152 x 181. Watermark: fragment, part of a lily; chain lines:
COMMENTS: For the motif, the closest comparison among works traditionally attributed to Rembrandt is with Benesch 0113 verso. Both show a basket hanging under the winding stairs, as does a painting in the Louvre of an Old Man in an Interior of 1632 (Bredius 431; Corpus, III, 1986, no.C51; vol.VI, no.86, where reaffirmed as by Rembrandt). However, neither composition is divided into four roughly equal segments, like the present drawing, where the overall aspect resembles a doll’s house. Benesch 0113 verso is a slighter sketch, which only shows a staircase with a cupboard to the right, but stylistically not irreconcilable with Benesch 0392, especially in the handling of the wash. The Louvre painting, which in the past led to an early dating of the drawing, has no central pillar to support the stairs (which spirals in the opposite direction) and the lack of structural support appears more removed from reality. Other works with comparable staircases are the etching of St Jerome in a Dark Chamber of 1642 (Bartsch 105; NH 212), in which the staircase resembles that in the Louvre oil, the paintings of The Parable of the Labourers in the Vineyard, of 1637 (St Petersburg, Bredius 558; Corpus, III, 1989, no.C88, vol. VI, no.151 as by Rembrandt), in which the stairs begin on the right but are hard to see, and The Healing of Tobit, probably a pupil’s work (Stuttgart, Bredius 502; Corpus, C86), in which the structure is unclear but which shares with the present work the presence of a barrel under the stairs, and the lightly sketched Benesch 351 verso. In the drawing, the rooms appear small – smaller than those in the Rembrandthuis in Amsterdam. The neat but often modest homes so often depicted by Quirijn Gerritsz. Van Brekelenkam come to mind.
In style the drawing is generally confident, displaying exceptional ease with broadly swept but rather even pen lines as well as assured and deftly-handled brown wash. The evenness of the pen lines give little sense of the lively exploration of the space – they fall rather pat – but in general the space is easily read. The wash is more varied and describes well the fall of the light in the lower left segment with light percolating into the space from a shuttered window. At times the individual strokes of the brush are discernible, for example, in this segment, in the shutter and at the left edge of the image, in the upper left quartile where some darker touches of the brush attempt to model the space (not entirely convincingly), in the upper right quartile, where three distinct horizontal strokes of the brush are visible (again, without much descriptive force), and at the lower right, where as well as the touches describing the shadow on the figure and under the stairs (above the barrel), some perspectival strokes of the brush suggest a receding wall beyond the table. While the overall balance of the composition is clear, the space to the right of the staircase is not entirely easy to read: the figure may be seated at or just beyond the table by a fireplace, but the flue in the upper right quartile appears to back directly onto the stairs, an improbable configuration because of the immediate fire-risk. The even style is somewhat reminiscent of drawings attributed to Ferdinand Bol (see the background of Benesch 0529, where the present drawings is included as Fig.c) and the figure itself is drawn slackly and without emphasis, and seems to have been added after the lines that bisect him vertically.
Nevertheless, while there are unusual aspects for Rembrandt, the drawing does have some links with a few of his secure drawings. The documentary sheets of the Artist Drawing from the Model (Benesch 0423) and Maria Trip (Benesch 0442), while drawn in iron-gall ink, which tends to spread and flatten the lines, nonetheless have similarities. The pen lines are generally somewhat even, unvaried and even harsh, especially in the depiction of the interiors (and in Benesch 0423, their contents, such as the bust in the left background). The passages of parallel hatching (to the lower left in Benesch 0423, the right in Benesch 0442) resemble the hatching in the upper centre of the Copenhagen drawing. The wash in the documentary drawings is generally more solidly blocked in, but there are moments, as at the top left of Benesch 0423, where individual strokes are discernible. The difficulty with these comparisons is that both the documentary drawings were made after work had already begun on the etching and painting to which they are related. Thus Rembrandt was essentially copying or adapting a design that already existed. The Copenhagen drawing does not appear to have been based on another prototype; and the comparisons with the two documentary sheets are not wholly persuasive. The same pertains to comparisons with other, non-documentary drawings, such as the sketches of riders and musicians of c.1638 now in the Morgan Library and the British Museum (Benesch 0365-68). These also surprise with their even outlines; and the application of the wash also seems comparable, with blocked-out areas as well as individual strokes that contribute to the modelling. The same is true of Benesch 0313.
The difficulty is that some of these qualities are equally apparent in the work of several of Rembrandt’s pupils, not just Bol but also Gerbrand van den Eeckhout. As well as Benesch 0113 verso, already mentioned, Benesch 0074, Benesch 0122, Benesch 0316 and Benesch 0320 tend towards even outlines (especially in any architectural motifs) and wash that at times also models the forms. Closer still, perhaps, are the town views, Benesch 0790-91, the attribution of which to Rembrandt is much disputed and at best uncertain. On balance, however, the links with drawings still considered to be by Rembrandt himself are persuasive enough to retain the Interior with a Winding Staircase under his name.[1]
Condition: Generally good; some foxing, especially to the left and below; possibly trimmed on the right; small hole upper centre; lower right corner made up.
Summary attribution: Rembrandt.
Date: c.1635-39.
COLLECTION: D Copenhagen, Statens Museum for Kunst (L.1636; KKS18010)
FURTHER LITERATURE/REMARKS: Michel, 1893, p.165; Lippmann, III, 28; Hofstede De Groot, 1906, no.812; Exh. Paris, 1908, no. 456; Exh. Copenhagen 1952, no.424 (probably 1630s); Benesch, II, 1954/73, no.392, repr. fig.450/472 (c.1632-33; compares figure to Benesch 0205; also compares Benesch 0393, Benesch 0113 verso and Benesch 0351 verso; sees the motif as the inspiration for the Louvre painting); Slive, 1963, pp.124-25, repr. fig.7 (early 1630s); Slive, 1965, no.360 (c.1633; compares staircase with Bredius 431); Bredius-Gerson, 1969, under no.431 (related in style and composition to Louvre painting, of c.1631-32); Exh. Paris, 1970, p.171; Bernhard, 1976, p.49, repr. (c.1632-33); Fischer, 1977, p.108, repr. (c.1632-33); Bailey, 1978, no.1, repr. p. 17 (c.1633); Corpus, 2, 1986, p.642, under no.C51 (attribution ‘approximate’; related to ‘studio’ painting in Louvre); Exh. London, 1992, under no.11 (related to Benesch 0113 verso, the attribution of which to Rembrandt accepted with hesitation; notes other staircases by Rembrandt and pupils); Schatborn, 1994, p.21 (clearer than the interior in Benesch 0113 verso); Exh. Copenhagen, 1996, pp.16-17, repr. (later 1630s; rejects association with Louvre painting; compares Benesch 0113 verso, viewed as possibly preparatory to Benesch 0392; see n.1 below); Exh. Copenhagen, 2006, no.59; London, 2010 (online), under Eeckhout no.19; Schatborn, 2019, no.296 and p.144, repr. (c.1637; genre study in a category of its own).
PROVENANCE: Paul Mathey; by descent until his sale, Paris Drouot, 22 March, 1937, lot 84; Paul Cassirer from whom acquired by Gustav Falck, from whom acquired by the present repository with the support of the Ny Carlsberg Foundation, July 1948.
[1] In Exh. Copenhagen, 1996, p.16 I am on record (with Peter Schatborn) as supporting the attribution of the drawing to Rembrandt.
First posted 24 August 2018.
Benesch 0393
Subject: A Cow in a Shed, with a wheelbarrow and a figure
Medium: Pen and brown (iron-gall) ink, with brown wash (and in the sky, posthumously added grey wash) and touched with white bodycolour (in the cow’s mouth and on the pail), on paper prepared with brown wash; ruled framing lines in pen and brown ink.
Inscribed verso, in graphite, lower left: “du Cab. de / D Muilman 1773” ; and lower right: “1305” [the number in Hofstede de Groot, 1906].
154 x 182. Watermark: Flail within a chaplet, close to Churchill, no.544 (1640); Voorn 1960, no.26 (1641); chain lines: 24-25h.
COMMENTS: This farm subject strikes a somewhat unusual note in Rembrandt’s oeuvre, showing a bull munching hay in a barn, with a wheelbarrow, pitchfork and pail in the foreground, and a man in a cap, probably leaning on an open door or shutter on the left.[1] Most of Rembrandt’s depictions of farm buildings are not close-ups of this type. Yet the study would lend itself to development in a Nativity of Christ and it is conceivable that the painting of this subject Rembrandt delivered to the Stadholder in 1646 as part of the so-called Passion Series was already in commissioned and thus in the artist’s mind (Bredius 574; Corpus, VI, no.211a).[2] The painting includes birds high up in the interior, a motif seen in different form here. The drawing was probably made from life, as were all the sketches Rembrandt kept in an album of “beesten nae ‘t leven” (animals from life) recorded in the 1656 inventory of his possessions.[3] Rather later, Rembrandt made an etching of a tethered bull (known as The Bull, Bartsch 253; NH 259).[4]
In style the drawing varies from the detail of the wheelbarrow, where Rembrandt seems to describe the grain of the wood in fine striations, to the sweeping, broad lines at the top. Parallel shading is vigorously employed in distinct blocks and varying directions to help give a sense of the forms and the space, while the wash is also confidently and forcefully handled, without hesitation. The same variety of touch is encountered in Benesch 0462, with which Benesch compared it. Like all the iron-gall ink drawings, it appears to have been made in c.1638-39 (see under Benesch 0157). The watermark appears to be identical to that on Benesch 0246 and the Rijksmuseum’s Boy with Stick (see the Not in Benesch tab), so the drawings may have originated in the same sketchbook.[5] There seem to be no reasons for the doubts that have occasionally been expressed about the attribution (see Literature below).
Condition: Generally good but trimmed at the sides and with some thin spots; light foxing throughout (though mostly near the bottom) and some iron-gall ink acidic ‘burn’; the grey wash in the sky is a later addition; there are traces of an old oatmeal backing on verso, where there are also some messy off-sets of ink.
Summary attribution: Rembrandt.
Date: c.1638-39.
COLLECTION: NL Amsterdam, Rijksmuseum (L. 2228; inv. RP-T-1930-59).
FURTHER LITERATURE/REMARKS: Exh. London, 1903, no.28; Exh. London, 1904, no.135; Lippmann, III, 98; Exh. Leiden, 1906, no.82; Hofstede de Groot, 1906, no.1305 (early); Exh. Paris, 1908, no.454; Exh. Hofstede de Groot, 1909, no.9; Amsterdam, 1913, no.91; Exh. Leiden, 1916, no.5 (c.1633); Seidlitz, 1917, p.253 (by Saftleven?, c.1633); Amsterdam, 1942, no.111 (not Rembrandt); Exh. Rome, 1951, no.56; Benesch, II, 1954/73, no.393, repr. fig.451/473 (c. 1633; compares Benesch 0462); Exh. The Hague, 1956, no.10 (c.1633); Exh. Vienna, 1956, no.10 (1633); Slive, 1965, no.438 (c.1633); Bernhard, 1976, p.77 (c.1633); Schatborn, 1977, no.6, repr. fig.9 (beesten nae’t leven); Amsterdam, 1985, no.15, repr. (c.1640; from life; notes etching Bartsch 253; NH 259 but dates it to the 1640s); Exh. London, 1992, under no. 29 (watermarks the same as Benesch 0246, Benesch 0226 and Rijksmuseum’s Walking Boy [Not in Benesch]); Exh. Bremen, 2000-2001, p. 112, repr. fig. c; Exh. Amsterdam, 2006, p.52, repr. fig.48 (c.1638-40; perhaps not done from life); London, 2010 (online), under no.26 (same watermark on Benesch 0246 and Rijksmuseum Boy with Stick [Not in Benesch]); Hamburg, 2011, under no. 853 (records Bevers’ doubts concerning the attribution, preferring Van den Eeckhout); Amsterdam, 2017 (online).[6]; Schatborn, 2019, no.472 and p.285, repr., detail repr. p.287 (c.1638; relates style to Benesch 0455).
PROVENANCE: Dionys Muilman; his sale, Amsterdam, de Bosch, Ploos van Amstel and de Winter, 29 March, 1773 and following days, possibly Album X, nos. 1595-1611 (‘Waarin verscheide Tekeningen’); Heneage Finch, 5th Earl of Aylesford (L. 58; effaced);[7] perhaps his sale, London, Christie’s, 17-18 July, 1893, no. 254 (‘Various Sketches, in pen and ink’), bt J.C. Robinson, £1.5.0; purchased from Paul Mathey with three other drawings, through the mediation of the dealer P. Roblin, Paris, by C. Hofstede de Groot, by whom presented to the museum, 1906, with usufruct; transferred to the present repository, 1930.
[1] Schatborn describes the figure as bearded, but he might also be wearing a ruff (Amsterdam, 1985, no.15). There is also a scimitar-like shape within the door, as if the figure were holding a weapon, although this does seem improbable.
[2] For a discussion of the series and its chronology, see Corpus, V, 11 and pp. 284-295. There is no mention of The Nativity in Rembrandt’s letters to Constantijn Huygens but the series was begun in 1632-33 and terminated in 1646 – see under Benesch 0382, n.4. Rembrandt also sketched out ideas for an Adoration of the Magi (as in Benesch 0115 and Benesch 0382 verso, qqv.).
[3] Strauss and Van der Meulen, 1979, 1656/244, 256, 1656/249 and 1656/261. See Schatborn, 1977.
[4] As remarked by Schatborn (Amsterdam, 1985, no.15), who dates the etching to the 1640s, although it is generally dated c.1650-52. The last digit of the date on the print is unclear, but on the fine impression in the British Museum (inv. F,5.229) the third digit does seem to be a ‘4’.
[5] See London, 2010 (online), under no.26.
[6] hdl.handle.net/10934/RM0001.COLLECT.28136 (consulted 24 August 2018).
[7] See under Benesch 0379, n.1.
First posted 25 August 2018.
Benesch 0394
Subject: Tavern Scene, with a Lascivious Man Fended Off by a Woman
Medium: Pen and brown (iron-gall?) ink with brown wash, touched with white bodycolour, on paper prepared light brown; traces of ruled framing lines in pen and brown ink. Inscribed verso, in pen and brown ink, in an eighteenth-century hand: “Rude sketch with a / pen by Rembrandt / J. Cranch / 1789”
180 x 193.
COMMENTS: The couple in the centre were rehearsed in the sketch at the top of Benesch 0100 verso (qv). Yet the pentimenti and revisions in the middle of the sheet make it hard to read; it appears that the man has lascivious intentions towards the woman: he reaches with his left hand towards her chest while his right hand lifts her skirt (an action she tries to prevent with her left hand). A pentimento between them suggests that his head was originally closer to the woman’s (though other readings may be possible). Four figures look on with varying degrees of interest and the man in the right background at a table grins at the spectacle. A three-legged stool has been toppled (captured extraordinarily well in perspective) and a pair of shoes(?) lies abandoned in the centre.
The compiler has not seen the drawing, but it may well have been executed in iron-gall ink on paper prepared brown, like many others of c.1638-39 (see under Benesch 0157). The touch throughout appears lively, both the pen lines and the wash. Among the documentary drawings, there are some analogies with the sketch of Joseph Expounding the Prisoners’ Dreams (Benesch 0423 verso), both in the economical description of the background, the general sense of energy and the diagonal hatching, for example near the bottom of the door. The zigzag shading in the leg of the man in the centre is close to the style used on the stomach of the upper right figure in Benesch 0659, an undoubted drawing. One could wish for more comparables, but the type of drawing, a rough-out of a genre design, is unusual, though greater similarities might have been expected with, for example, Benesch 0391 and with slightly earlier works of this kind, such as Benesch 0409 and Benesch 0411.
Notes of caution are sounded by analogies of style with such drawings as Benesch 0074, in both the depiction of the background and the shading. The hair of the man seated on the left is also comparable to the figure in the centre background of Benesch 0074 and to the man on the right of Benesch 0299 verso. But in general, Benesch 0394 seems authoritative enough and sufficiently persuasive in its characterisations to be retained in Rembrandt’s oeuvre with little or no demur. As a low-life tavern scene it adds significantly to the small body of Rembrandt’s work devoted to this type of subject (see also Benesch 0100 verso, Benesch 0398). Sketching out such scenes would have been grist to his mill when composing paintings or prints with crowds of everyday figures.
Condition: Uncertain.
Summary attribution: Rembrandt.
Date: c.1638-39.
COLLECTION: R Moscow, Pushkin Museum (under dispute), formerly NL Rotterdam, Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen (Franz Koenigs Collection; inv.R 20).
FURTHER LITERATURE/REMARKS: Valentiner, II, 1934, no.770; Benesch, 1935, p.16; Exh. Berlin, 1930, no.324; Exh. Rotterdam, 1934, no.78; Exh. Rotterdam, 1938, no.312; Benesch, II, 1954/73, no.394, repr. (c.1633-34; refers to genre studies Benesch 0218 and Benesch 0391); Schatborn, 1977, p.50 (as Benesch, 1954/73; the kind of drawing possibly copied by the young Lambert Doomer); Sumowski, Drawings, VI, 1982, under no.1521bxx): Elen, 1989, no.499; Exh. Moscow, 1995-96, no.281, repr.; Schatborn, 2019, no. 313, repr. (c.1638).
PROVENANCE: ‘Cranch’ (see verso inscription); J. Richardson, jun. (L.2170); W. von Bode; Leo Lewin (Breslau/Wroclaw); Franz Koenigs (L.1023a, presumably); purchased by D.G. van Beuningen with the Koenigs collection for the Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen in Rotterdam but sold to Nazi Germany, whence confiscated by the Russian state.
First posted 25 August 2018.
Benesch 0395
Subject: A Woman Having her Hair Done (Saskia)
Verso: Laid down on a brown, Albertina mat.
Medium: Pen and brown (iron-gall) ink with brown wash on paper prepared pale brown; with (later?) grey wash; ruled framing lines on the surrounding mat, which touch the drawing, in pen and a different brown ink.
Apparently inscribed in the lower centre of the grey wash area, with the tip of the brush in brown wash: “6” (perhaps accidentally; see the top right corner of the illustration of an enlarged detail of the drawing).
235 x 180. Watermark: none visible (laid down), but the laid lines are fine.
COMMENTS: An outstanding example of Rembrandt’s studies from nature made in iron-gall ink in c.1638-39 (see under the documentary drawing, Benesch 0157). The strongly dark area of wash to the right of the seated figure resembles another documentary drawing, Benesch 0423 recto. Characteristic of these works is the sense of change or impermanence, even in a sedentary subject, many of the lines replete with movement rather than anchoring the forms precisely. For example, in Benesch 0395, the hooked line that runs diagonally across the seated figure’s nearer upper arm, or the line that reverses sharply on itself over her nearer thigh, are not purely descriptive but rather suggestive of patterns in the fall of the light and its interaction with the folds of drapery. They are not literal transcriptions. This revolutionary approach allows the lights to flicker and the forms to live and breathe in a state of movement through a kind of alchemy, in which the marks become tokens, more evocative than descriptive, creating a lively effect that sidesteps any pedestrian or fixed solidity in the forms. The success of this approach, seen in many drawings of this period and in this technique (and perhaps earlier, as in Benesch 0292), such as Benesch 0253, Benesch 0391 and Benesch 0659, was hard won: Benesch 0396 appears to be a rather less effective rehearsal of the same compositional idea and technical approach prior to creating Benesch 0395, a complete composition, with changes to the costume.
The standing woman could be a maid from North Holland (cf. Benesch 0314), while the seated woman, holding an unusually long braid of her hair near her lap was modelled by Saskia, if Benesch 0250 is she, a drawing that is comparable in every stylistic and technical respect (apart from the grey wash in the present sheet, on which see below). The maid braids a second plait as Saskia, who is wearing a night-rail or peignoire (nachthalsdoek) over her shoulders (as in Benesch 0427), casts a glance in Rembrandt’s direction.[1]
The subject has connections with the painting of 1633 in Ottawa of a Woman Attended by her Maid (Bredius 494; Corpus A64, vol.VI, no.100; the connection first noted by Hofstede de Groot, 1906), but the drawing is certainly later. Other comparable Old Testament women who exercised Rembrandt’s imagination (and may also be the subject of the Ottawa painting) were Bathsheba, as in the Rembrandt and workshop painting of 1643 in New York (Bredius 513; not in Corpus) and the 1654 painting in the Louvre (Bredius 521, Corpus, VI, 231), and Esther, thought to be represented in the etching of 1635, The Great Jewish Bride (see Benesch 0292) and in the painting of c.1655-65 in Moscow of Esther, Ahasuerus and Haman (Bredius 530; Corpus V 29 and VI, no.283).[2] But none of Rembrandt’s treatments of either theme depends on Benesch 0395, despite the similarity of the motifs. Thus the notion that Rembrandt had such a subject in the back of his mind when he made the drawing must remain speculative, despite the possibility that the maid’s costume and hair are given a slightly historicising twist.[3] An entry (no.39) in Rembrandt’s inventory of 1656 is also brought to mind: “Een cortisana haer pallerende van denselven [Rembrandt]” (A Courtesan doing her hair, by the same [i.e. Rembrandt]).[4] Also speculative is whether the drawing ever formed part of the album listed in 1680 in the inventory of Jan van de Cappelle (see under Benesch 0194), which is of course possible.
Benesch (1954/73) states that the grey wash at the upper right lies under the brown wash and must, therefore, be authentic. It should be remembered that iron-gall ink begins life as black or grey and only turns brown with time, so that the contrast we see now would not originally have existed. The application of the grey wash seems so confident and uninhibited – unlike most posthumous interventions of this kind – that Benesch may have been correct (see Fig.a, which shows the drawing in black and white to simulate the original effect).
Condition: Generally good (the grey wash possibly later but not necessarily so – see the previous paragraph).
Summary attribution: Rembrandt.
Date: c.1638-39.
COLLECTION: A Vienna, Albertina (L.174; inv.8825).
FURTHER LITERATURE/REMARKS: Michel, 1893, p.220, repr.; Schönbrunner and Meder 1896-1908, 2, no.215, repr.; Hofstede de Groot, 1906, no.1453 (c.1633; study for Ottawa [then Liechtenstein] painting, Bredius 494; Corpus A64, vol.VI, no.100); Stockholm, 1920, p.59, repr. fig.68; Meder, 1923, pl.21; Valentiner, II, 1934, no.682, repr.; Benesch, 1935, pp.16 and 22; Exh. Amsterdam, 1935, no.36; Exh. Brussels, 1937-38, no.68; Benesch, 1947, no.37, repr.; Exh. London, 1948, no.59; Exh. Vienna, 1949, no.100; Exh. Paris, 1950, no.103; Benesch, II, 1954, no.395, repr. fig.445/475 (c.1632-34; from life; sitter presumably Saskia, therefore likely after 1634 but otherwise might be a study for the Ottawa painting, in which case the sitter perhaps Saskia’s sister, Lisbeth; grey wash authentic and under the brown); Exh. Stockholm, 1956, no.75; Exh. Rotterdam-Amsterdam, 1956, no.33, repr. fig.12; Exh. Vienna, 1956, no.11, repr. fig.1; Rosenberg, 1956.I, pp.65 and 69 (critical of Benesch’s dating criteria); Benesch, 1960, no.6, repr.; Benesch, 1964, no.XVII, repr.; Rosenberg, 1964, p.212, repr. fig.280; Exh. Vienna, 1969, no.346; Exh. Vienna, 1969-70, no.3, repr.; Sumowski, I, 1979, under no.186x; Amsterdam, 1983, under no.14, n.3; Corpus, II, 1986, p.273, under no.A64; Exh. Vienna-Amsterdam, 1989-1990, no.39, repr. (c.1639); Exh. Edinburgh-London, 2001, no.30, repr.; Schröder, 2003, fig.43; Exh. Vienna, 2004, no.75, repr. (c.1635; pigtails being braided; not directly related to earlier Ottawa painting); Exh. Milwaukee, 2005, no.26, repr.; De Winkel, 2006, p.61 (1634; Saskia wears a ‘nachthalsdoek’ – night-rail or peignoire – as in Benesch 0427); Bisanz-Prakken in Schröder, 2008, no.88; Exh. Vienna, 2009, no.59; Slive, 2009, pp.66-68, repr. fig.6.4 (c.1635-38); Paris, 2010, under no.5, repr. fig.3; Exh. Vienna, 2013, no144, repr; Exh. Vienna, 2014, pp.154-155; Verdi, 2014, p.3, fig.4 (in general terms related to Bathsheba); Schatborn, 2019, no.298, repr. (c.1637).
PROVENANCE: Kaiserliche Hofbibliothek, Vienna; Herzog Albert von Sachsen-Teschen (L.174).
[1] On the costumes, see Exh. Edinburgh-London, 2001, no.30 and De Winkel, 2006, p.61.
[2] There is also a Rembrandt workshop version now in Bucharest (Bredius 522; Corpus B9, discussed in Corpus, VI, under no.320, repr. fig.1.
[3] As argued in Exh. Edinburgh-London, 2001, no.30.
[4] Strauss and van der Meulen, 1979, no.1656/12.
First posted 26 August 2018.
Benesch 0396
Subject: A Woman having her Hair Combed
Medium: Pen and brown (iron-gall) ink on paper prepared light brown.
107 x 98. Watermark: none; chain lines: 23v.
COMMENTS: See the comments to Benesch 0395. The present drawing is in the same technique but was presumably made first, being a more informal sketch in which Saskia appears to be preparing a shock of her hair for braiding. The maid, who may be wearing a North Holland costume, holds a rake comb, the handle of which protrudes near her little finger. The hatching both in the figures and in the shadow to the right is unusually scratchy and dense, at times even somewhat laboured – not a general characteristic of Rembrandt. The drawing nonetheless creates an exceptional sense of movement, not least as Saskia’s hands move through her hair. The style and hatching (as in the maid’s nearer sleeve) accord with what is seen, for example, in the nearer sleeve of the figure in Benesch 0253. In the more finished drawing, Benesch 0395, the costumes undergo considerable change and clarification, possibly with a historical or biblical subject in mind.[1]
An etching after the drawing was made by Johann Daniël Laurentz (1729-c.1810) and a drawn copy after the etching is in Weimar.[2] Both suggest that the drawing has been trimmed.
Condition: Good; probably trimmed from a larger sheet (see further above).
Summary attribution: Rembrandt.
Date: c.1638-39.
COLLECTION: F Paris, Fondation Custodia (collection Frits Lugt; L.1028; inv.805).
FURTHER LITERATURE/REMARKS: Knuttel, 1914, p.143, repr. p.140; Exh. Amsterdam, 1932, no.239 (c.1636); Valentiner, II, 1934, no.683, repr. (c.1635); Benesch, 1935, p.22 (1634-35); Benesch, 1947, no.42, repr. (c.1634); Benesch, II, 1954/57, no.396, repr. fig.443/477 (c.1634; shows Saskia; compares Benesch 0218, Benesch 0253; style more advanced than Benesch 0395); Exh. Paris, 1957 (no catalogue); Exh. Paris, 1965, no.89, repr. pl.xxxv; Exh. New York-Boston-Chicago, 1972-73, no.81, repr. (after 1631); Bernhard, 1976, II, p.95, repr. (c.1634); Exh. Washington-Denver-Fort Worth, 1977, p.35, under no.32; Starcky, 1985, p.263, n.21 (c.1637-38); Exh. Paris, 1988-89, p.31, under no.20 (c.1635-38); Van Berge-Gerbaud, 1997, p.68, repr. (c.1634); Exh. Paris-Haarlem, 1997-98, no.2, repr. (c.1634); Exh. Edinburgh-London, 2001, no.29, repr. (c.1634; shown in Edinburgh only; maid wearing N. Holland costume and a cord for a necklace); Exh. Brussels, 2005, under no.11, n.6; Exh. Paris 2006-7 (no catalogue); Slive, 2009, pp.66-68, repr. fig.6.3 (c.1635-38); Paris, 2010, no.5, repr. (c.1638; quotes Lugt’s archive for his opinion – ‘echt’ and c.1636; notes Victors’ painting with child having its hair combed, in the Amsterdam Museum; could be Saskia having her hair done with a servant from N. Holland because of the costume); Slive, 2009, p.66, repr. fig.6.3; Exh. New York, 2011, p.88, repr. (c.1637-38); Schatborn, 2019, no.323, repr. (c.1638).
PROVENANCE: P.A. Cheramy; his sale, Paris, Lair-Dubreuil, Mathey et al., 14-16 April, 1913, lot 440, Fr.4,600; Mme. F. Kleinberger, Paris; acquired by Frits Lugt, 21 April, 1922 (L.1028).
[1] Schatborn, in Paris, 2010, no.5, refers to a painting by Jan Victors, Clothing the Orphans, in the Amsterdam Museum (Sumowski, Gem., no.1821), in which an orphan is having her hair combed; and a drawing by Abraham Bloemaert of a Shepherdess Combing her Hair (Bolten, 2007, no.652).
[2] Inv. KK 5514/ID 447188, repr. Paris, 2010, under no.5, fig.4; I am grateful to Thomas Ketelsen for clarifying that the Weimar drawing copies the etching (e-mail to the compiler, 8 April 2020).
First posted 28 August 2018 (and see n.2).
Benesch 0397
Subject: A Man and a Woman Seated at a Table
Medium: Pen and brown ink with brown[?] wash; some later additions to right (see below).
Inscribed verso: “Rembrand van Rein f.”
152 x 186.
COMMENTS: The subject of the drawing, which I have not seen, is uncertain. The woman wears a veil and might be a widow, but it has been pointed out that the Virgin wears a veil in Benesch 0115, as does the woman in Benesch 0254. The man’s headgear is not completely clear but may be of the ‘beret with a feather’ variety, which might make a biblical or historical story somewhat less likely. Valentiner thought of ‘A Declaration of Love’ while Benesch suggested ‘The Matchmaker’ (see Literature below). The latter also pointed out that the zigzag lines and wash extending the shadow to the right of the chair are probably additions by a later hand.
In style the drawing is for the most part even-tempered in its outlines and somewhat flat in the application of the wash. There are also inaccuracies or uncertainties: in the further arm of the man, or the nearer, left hand of the woman, whose hand may (or may not be) gloved. Her right arm is drawn in an unusually straight line with the elbow articulation unclear. The table cloth is also drawn pat, without a sense of exploration, and all the main elements have rather unvaried and closed outlines, where Rembrandt habitually employs open gaps and a delicate touch that contrast with firmer and darker strokes to suggest the fall of the light. A comparison with the documentary drawing, Benesch 0500a of 1641, is instructive: where the lines in the latter are energetic, exploratory and varied, in Benesch 0397 they appear more timid, drained of character and personality. The Jacob and Esau in the British Museum (Fig.a; Benesch 0606), which also depicts two figures at a table, on a similar scale , reinforces these impressions. However, there are some darker touches, especially in the hands of the man, in the faces – especially the woman’s profile – and in the veil and back of the woman, passages which are so fluid and accurate that they suggest a possible intervention by Rembrandt himself. The handling here comes close not only to Benesch 0500a but also to Benesch 0092 of c.1635 (another documentary drawing) and to the Satire on Art Criticism, probably made in 1644 (Benesch A35a).
The more evenly handled parts of the drawing resemble a number of works by Ferdinand Bol, including Benesch 0167, a documentary drawing for Bol (note the ‘gloved’-looking hand), The Angel Appearing to Hagar in the Rijksmuseum, in which the shading is especially similar (Sumowski 89; inv. RP-T-1930-27) and his Tobias in the House of Raguel (Sumowski 184x).[1] An attribution to Bol seems more than reasonable and, if corrected by Rembrandt, he may have made the drawing at the end of his apprenticeship, in c.1640-41, the date most often assigned to the drawing by previous commentators.[2] However, some of these drawings by Bol also show darker accents close to Rembrandt’s manner. The composition has been related to Benesch 0528a (qv), which also has similarities in style.
Condition: Uncertain; photographs show foxing.
Summary attribution: Ferdinand Bol (retouched by Rembrandt?).
Date: c.1640-41.
COLLECTION: Presumably with the heirs of Dr George Baer of New Rochelle, N.Y. (d.2009).
FURTHER LITERATURE/REMARKS: Hofstede de Groot, 1906, no.1510; Schönbrunner and Meder, no.418b; Freise, Lilienfeld and Wichmann, 1914, p.144 (De Gelder; relates to De Gelder’s painting in Dresden of Esther and Mordechai Writing the Letters to the Jews); Valentiner, II, 1934, no.777 (c.1640; “The Declaration of Love”); Benesch, II, 1954/73, no.397, repr. (c.1633-34; compares Benesch 0396; section to right of chair a later addition); Rosenberg, 1956.I, p.69 (prefers Valentiner’s date c.1640); Exh. Cambridge (Mass.), 1958, no.29; Exh. Middeltown (Conn.), 1959; Exh. New York-Cambridge, 1960, no.36, repr. pl.31 (c.1640; pace Benesch, the passage on the right not a later addition; compares Benesch 0528a and the woman to Benesch 0254); Amsterdam, 1985, under no.9, n.8 (Bol cannot be excluded); Exh. Atlanta-Washington etc., 1985-87, no.37, repr. (as Benesch; figure possibly pregnant; cf. Virgin with a veil in Benesch 0115; man might be a young St Joseph); repr. The New York Times, 11 August, 1985;[3] [Not in Schatborn, 2019].
PROVENANCE: Samuel von Festetics; J.C. Klinkosch; his sale, Vienna, Wawra, 15 April, 1889, lot 724, repr.; The Prince of Liechtenstein; Curtis O. Baer; his son, Dr George Baer.
[1] Sold London, Sotheby’s, 6 July, 2010, lot 66.
[2] In Amsterdam, 1985, under no.9, n.8, Schatborn wrote: “An attribution to Ferdinand Bol cannot be excluded”. If by Bol, it is also possible that the passage on the right of the drawing is by him as well.
[3] See https://www.nytimes.com/1985/08/11/arts/one-man-s-love-for-art-is-shared-in-exhibition.html (consulted 1 September 2018).
First posted 4 September 2018.
Benesch 0398
Subject: Tric-Trac Players
Verso: Laid down on 18th-century card (but there may be a slight pen sketch, partly visible at the top of the recto).
Medium: Pen and brown ink, touched with white bodycolour (especially in the hand in the centre), on paper probably prepared with brown wash (though possibly discoloured); ruled framing lines in pen and a different brown ink.
Inscribed on the backing, top right, in pen and brown ink: “434” [the inventory number]; and in blue chalk: “Rembrandt” [both inscriptions 19th-20th century).
175 x 162 Watermark: none visible; chain lines: horizontal, distance apart uncertain; 13/14 laid lines per cm.
COMMENTS: The iconography is somewhat unusual for Rembrandt, but as Benesch pointed out, he may have had the Parable of the Prodigal Son, and his inheritance dissipating activities, in mind. While the theme was common among the Utrecht Caravaggeque painters, Rembrandt’s more forceful, approach and intense, individualised characterisations stand apart from their work.
Benesch compared Benesch 0100 verso, both for the subject and the style, which seems correct. The more energetic approach here, not least in the shading, is close to the documentary drawings, Benesch 0141 and Benesch 0445, as well as to Benesch 0293. See also under Benesch 0399.
Condition: Somewhat stained and faded; on balance the overall brown tone appears to be a preparation rather than just staining; the left vertical strip, about 10mm wide, is separated but on the same backing; the vertical ‘cut’ down the centre, to judge from the penwork, is probably a pre-existing crease or fault in the paper rather than a cut.
Summary attribution: Rembrandt.
Date: c.1634-35.
COLLECTION: I Venice, Gallerie dell’ Accademia (L.2; inv. 434).
FURTHER LITERATURE/REMARKS: Hofstede de Groot, 1906, no.1156 (early); Ricci, 1918, p.67; Benesch, 1935, p.22; Valentiner, II, 1934, no.772; Benesch, II, 1954/73, no.398, repr. (c.1635; Utrecht Caravaggesque concept; compares Benesch 0100 verso and Benesch 0263; possibly related to theme of ‘Prodigal Son’); Robinson, 1967, p.170, n.14; Schatborn, 2019, no.296 and p.144, repr. (c.1637; genre study in a category of its own).
PROVENANCE: Uncertain.
First posted 10 September 2018.
Benesch 0399
Subject: Four Men Around a Table, One Playing the Flute
Verso: Inscriptions only (see below).
Medium: Pen and brown ink with brown wash on paper prepared brown (the tone is slightly paler on the verso); ruled framing lines in pen and a different brown ink.
Inscribed verso in graphite, lower left: “777” and lower right: “44 [in a circle] / L” [??]
136 x 154. Watermark: none; chain lines: 25v; 13 laid lines/cm.
COMMENTS: In technique the drawing resembles Benesch 0398 closely, especially in the brown tone of the paper. The subject could be a group of musicians although the three figures without an instrument, at least three of whom hold books, would presumably be singers, making the combination with solo flute unusual.
In style there are areas of shading which might cause concern for an attribution to Rembrandt, for example, the vertical, parallel hatching in the back of the chair and the flautist’s left arm, which appears somewhat pedestrian, and the rather flat, somewhat zig-zag shading in the same figure’s right calf. These are reminiscent of the style of Govert Flinck and difficult to compare with Rembrandt’s documentary drawings, although the vertical shading does resemble that in the inscribed drawing, Benesch 0145 and in Benesch 0313 recto (and the diagonal shading in Benesch 0400).
The remainder of the drawing displays many similarities with Benesch 0145 and with other Rembrandt drawings: for example, the head of the standing figure, highly characterised with fine parallel shading, resembles that of Eve in the documentary drawing Benesch 0164 (see detail of the latter, fig.a) and the child at the left of Benesch 0343; and the leg of the figure seated on the table at the left resembles the nearer leg of the drummer in Benesch 0365. The wash in the shadows to the right may be compared with Benesch 0339, Benesch 0401 and Benesch 0405, as well as the Setead Old Man now in the Fondation Custodia, Paris (Not in Benesch; Lugt collection inv. 4502).
Overall, the connections with Rembrandt are strong enough to suggest that Benesch 0399 is indeed his work and datable, like Benesch 0398, c.1635.
Condition: Generally good though a little worn and faded; diagonal crease towards the lower right; numerous spots and stains, mostly near the edges; verso bears traces of glue from an old mount, together with traces of an older backing.
Summary attribution: Rembrandt.
Date: c.1635.
COLLECTION: GB Norwich, Castle Museum (inv.1978.184).
FURTHER LITERATURE/REMARKS: Exh. London, 1835, no.90; Robinson, 1869, no.777; Gathorne-Hardy, 1902, no.97; Hofstede de Groot, 1906, no.983 (c.1635); Exh. London (Agnew’s), 1925, no.120; Hind, 1926, no14, repr. (c.1635-40); Bauch, 1933, p.205, repr. fig.112; Benesch, 1935, p.21; Valentiner, II, 1934, no.769, repr. ; Exh. London, 1938.I, no.563; Benesch, 1947, no.53, repr.; Exh. London, 1953, no.305, repr. pl.10; Benesch, II, 1954/73, no.399, repr. (c.1635; Utrecht-school subject; compares sketches of actors, Benesch 0293-97 and Benesch 0398); Benesch, 1955 (reprinted Benesch, 1970, p.186); Exh. Amsterdam-Rotterdam, 1956, no.24, repr. pl.10; Benesch, 1964 (reprinted Benesch, 1970, p.254); Benesch, 1970, pp.186 and 254, repr. fig.255; Exh. London-Oxford, 1971-2, no.47; [Not in Schatborn, 2019].
PROVENANCE: Thomas Dimsdale; Samuel Woodburn; Thomas Lawrence (L.2445); William Esdaile (L.2617); Mendes de Leon; his sale, Amsterdam, 20 November, 1843, lot 5; Gijsbert Verstolk van Soelen; his sale, Amsterdam, 22 March, 1847, lot 38; Gerard Leembruggen; his sale, Amsterdam, Roos, Engelberts, lamme and Roos, 5 March, 1866 and following days, lot 471; John Malcolm of Poltalloch (L.1489); Capt. G.M. Gathorne-Hardy; by descent to Robert Gathorne-Hardy; sold by the executors, Amsterdam, Sotheby Mak van Waay, 3 Ma, 1976, lot 14 accepted in lieu of inheritance tax by H.M. Government and allocated to the present repository in 1978.
First posted 12 September 2018.
Benesch 400
Subject: Two Butchers at Work
Medium: Pen and brown ink; ruled framing lines in pen and brown ink.
Inscribed in pen and brown ink by Rembrandt, left: “t’ vel daer aen / ende voorts de rest / bysleependen” [the skin on it and furthermore the rest trailing]; upper left, in graphite: “+”; inscribed verso in graphite, lower left: “früher als Gelder”
149 x 199. Watermark: the crown of a shield with balls.
COMMENTS: In style the drawing fits well in the mid-1630s, comparable to the documentary drawings for the grisaille of St John the Baptist Preaching of c.1633-34 (Benesch 0140-42 and Benesch 0336). The figure-style also resembles Benesch 0398, while the head of the butcher on the left comes close to the top figure in Benesch 0383. The somewhat deliberate and widely-spaced diagonal parallel hatching in many areas has links with Benesch 0145, Benesch 0313 and Benesch 0363 recto. Many of these works are a little later than the drawings related to the grisaille, suggesting a date of c.1635-36 for the present work.
For the subject, compare the much later drawing in Berlin, Benesch 1160, as well as the celebrated painting in the Louvre, The Slaughtered Ox, of 1655 (Bredius 457; Corpus, VI, no.240). Inspired by an overlap in the iconography with an engraving after Maerten van Heemskerck (1498-1574) that Rembrandt may have owned (fig.a),[1] which refers in the image and the engraved text below to the Prodigal Son, the present drawing has also been associated with the same topic.[2] Van Heemskerck’s design includes butchers at work, one of them with a knife between his teeth (as here, but so much more powerfully characterised by Rembrandt), and the well-known painted Self-Portrait with Saskia as the Prodigal Son (Bredius 30; Corpus A111 and vol.VI, no.135) dates from this period, c.1635. These links suggest that the drawing could have been made with the iconography of the Prodigal Son in mind.
Summary attribution: Rembrandt.
Date: c.1635-36.
COLLECTION: D Frankfurt, Städel Museum (L.2356; inv.3626).
FURTHER LITERATURE/REMARKS: Hofstede de Groot, 1906, no.339 (early; carcasses are pigs; hitherto attributed to Aert de Gelder); Frankfurt, 1908, I, no.10; Valentiner, 2, 1934, no.764, repr.; Benesch, 1935, p.21; Benesch, 1947, no.60, repr.; Benesch, 2, 1954/73, no.400, repr. (c.1635; as Hofstede de Groot, 1906; looks forward to Louvre painting of a Slaughtered Ox [Bredius 457; Wetering 240]; realism characteristic of mid-1630s; compares Benesch 0263 and, for the subject, Benesch 1160); Exh. Frankfurt, 2000, no.58, repr. (late 1630s); Slive, 2009, pp.99-101, repr. fig.8.9 (c.1635); Corpus, 5, 2011, p.556 and n.6, repr. fig. 5 (connection with Heemskerck’s print [see main Comments above]); Schatborn and Dudok van Heel, 2011, pp.348-9, repr. fig.VI (inscribed by Rembrandt); Carroll, 2017, pp.347–369, repr. fig.1; Schatborn, 2019, no. 245 and p.143, repr. (c.1636; compares later drawing, Benesch 1160).
PROVENANCE: Johann Georg Grambs (1756–1817), by whom bequeathed to the present repository in 1817.
[1] Engraved by Phillips Galle after Maerten van Heemskerck (NH 364). Craig, 1983, brought the print into discussion of Rembrandt’s approach to the subject of the Prodigal Son, but without mentioning Benesch 0400, a connection first made in Corpus, 5, 2011, p.556 and n.6. That Rembrandt owned prints after Van Heemskerck is known from his later, 1656 inventory now in the Amsterdam Stadsarchief, inv. DBK 364, f.34v: “Een dito [boeck] van Heemskerck, sijnde ael ‘t werck van denselven” (see http://remdoc.huygens.knaw.nl/#/document/remdoc/e12722 (consulted 18 September 2018).
[2] See in particular Benesch, 1954/73 (without mention of the Van Heemskerck), Craig, 1983 (see n.1 above) and Exh. Frankfurt, 2000 (see Literature). Van de Wetering, in Corpus, VI, no.135, associates the painted Self-Portrait with Saskia as the Prodigal Son with the school drawing, Benesch 0529, which repeats motifs visible in the x-radiograph of the painting.
First posted 18 September 2018.
THE DRAWINGS OF REMBRANDT 