Drawings Not in Benesch

Not in Benesch
Rembrandt*, Two Studies of the Head of an Old Man 1626?
Pen and brown ink, with some white bodycolour.
90 x 150. The sheet torn into three sections and rejoined with 5mm overlaps.
A documentary drawing, related to the painting of 1626 in Moscow.
[Addition made 23 March 2020]: The head used in the painting may show the same model as an early etching, in my view by Rembrandt (Bartsch 296), which may date from around the same time. [2]
USA Los Angeles, J. Paul Getty Museum (inv. 83.GA.264)
LITERATURE/FURTHER REMARKS: Malibu, 1988, no. 113, repr.; Royalton-Kisch and Schatborn, 2011, no.1, repr. fig.77 (documentary drawing); This Catalogue online, March 2013; Exh. New York, 2016, p.64, n.29 (Bevers suspects the attribution and the connection with the painting may be wrong; compares Lievens, as in the Head of a Woman in Profile from the Abrams collection, Sumowski 1639x); Exh. Greenwich, 2011, no.15); Schatborn, 2019, p.17 and no.182, repr. (c.1626; influence of Lastman); Exh. Leiden-Oxford, 2019-20, pp.59 and 60, repr. fig.68, and under no.57 (c.1626; Rembrandt’s earliest drawing).
PROVENANCE: sale, Amsterdam, Christie’s, 16 November, 1981, lot 32 (attributed to Rembrandt);[1] art market, Boston, where acquired by present repository.
[1] At the sale the drawing was given to Rembrandt by Sumowski and to Jan Lievens by Schatborn.
[2] The etching was rejected by Hind, 1912/23 and all the literature since. Erik Hinterding agrees that it is by Rembrandt feels it likely to date from c.1629 (email to the compiler, 23 March 2020). Ernst van de Wetering similarly agreed with the attribution to Rembrandt (email 26 March 2020).

Fig.a. Rembrandt: Christ and the Money-Changers 1626. Oil on panel, 431 x 320mm. R Moscow, Pushkin Museum (inv. 1900)

Fig.b. Here re-attributed to Rembrandt, Head of an Old Man Looking Down, c.1626-27? Etching 46 x 46mm, Bartsch 296 i/ii (enlarged image below). NL Amsterdam, Rijksmuseum (inv. RP-P-OB-647). See: http://hdl.handle.net/10934/RM0001.COLLECT.39180

Not in Benesch
Rembrandt
Bust of an Old Man, turned to left 1626?
Red chalk with black chalk on paper prepared with pale yellow wash.
137 x 116 (added patch lower right)
Although most commentators maintain an attribution to Jan Lievens, the drawing style has always seemed incompatible to my eye with the signed Lievens Head of a Young, Bearded Man in the British Museum (see right, and London, 2010 [online], no.2, as Jan Lievens). The attribution to Rembrandt seems consistent if the Horse lying down in the British Museum is accepted as Rembrandt, as the two works appear to be by the same hand (see London, 2010 (online) no.73 (as “attributed to Rembrandt”). Further support for the attribution, as an early drawing, is provided by the relationship between the drawing and the X-radiograph image of the figure underneath the paint surface of the Bust of a Man in Gorget and Cap of c.1626-29 (see Corpus, I, 1982, p.125, fig.2). Very early – as well as very late – works are often the most contentious in any catalogue raisonné.
COLLECTION: NL The Hague, Private Collection
Further literature/remarks: Bauch, 1960, pp.176-77, repr. fig.161 (by Rembrandt); Exh. Amsterdam and Washington, 1981-82, p.50, repr. fig.1; Exh. Amsterdam, 1988-89, no.12, repr. (as Lievens); Royalton-Kisch, 1990, p.134; Royalton-Kisch, 1991.III, pp.413-14, repr. fig.5; Exh. Leiden, 1991-92, p.66, repr. fig.20; Exh. Kassel-Amsterdam, 2001-2002, pp.176-77, no.18 (Lievens); Exh. Washington-Milwaukee-Amsterdam, 2008-2009, under no.95, n.5; Royalton-Kisch, 2009, pp.509-10, repr. fig.2 (attributed to Rembrandt); Exh. Los Angeles, 2009-10, no.1.2, repr. and verso repr.fig.1c (Rembrandt, also attributed to Jan Lievens, arguing the case for Lievens, c.1629-30); London, 2010 (online), under no.73 (attributed to Rembrandt); Royalton-Kisch, 2011, p.99, repr. fig.25 (Rembrandt? c.1626-27); Seifert, 2011, p.229, repr. fig.252 (as Rembrandt or Jan Lievens; the verso especially close to Lastman and might even be Lastman’s work); This Catalogue online, March 2013; [Not in Schatborn, 2019]

COMPARATIVE illustration. Jan Lievens, Head of a Young, Bearded Man (Not by the same hand as the drawing to the left). GB London, British Museum

Not in Benesch
Govert Flinck? Rembrandt?
Seated Old Man, half-length, to left 1628?
Verso: Laid down
Red chalk with brown and grey wash, touched with white, monogrammed and dated in red chalk, top right: “RHL . 1628” (apparently very closely copied from a signature by Rembrandt, as detailed comparisons with Rembrandt’s own monograms and dates reveal. The chalk is identical to the chalk in the drawing itself, which is of a slightly unusual hue).
200 x 160.
Relates to a painting in Turin of 1631 by Jan Lievens (the attribution made by B. Schnackenburg; see Sumowski, Gemälde, no.1124, repr, as Salomon Koninck). The style of the drawing, which may be compared with Benesch 0015, also of c.1628, is nevertheless unusual for Rembrandt and for Lievens, and were it not for the monogram, the drawing might not be included here. Yet the inscription looks stilted and the form of the “8” is curious – more like a capital “S” and with no link between the lower left and upper right. Compare for style the drawing by Govert Flinck of “Isaac Blessing Jacob” in Rotterdam, which has many points in common in the handling of the red chalk, not least in the peripheral shading.[1] The motif with drapery over the back of a chair resembles a drawing by Ferdinand Bol at Windsor (Sumowski 134*); also Benesch 266, Benesch 0293, and the drawing by Rembrandt of a Seated Old Man, of c.1637, illustrated on this webpage and from the Lugt Collection, Fondation Custodia, Paris., inv.4502)

p.234, repr. fig. 2; Munich, 1967, p.61; Broos, 1970, pp.101-2, n.6 (as Haverkamp-Begemann, 1967); Kai Sass, 1971, p.78, n.61 (copy after a lost Rembrandt drawing, c.1629); Corpus, 2, 1986, under no.A69, repr. p.317, fig.6 (inclined to believe authentic; otherwise as Haverkamp-Begemann, 1961); Exh. Rotterdam, 1988, p.36, repr. fig. b, under no. 2 (copy); Haverkamp-Begemann, 2005, pp.38-46, repr. fig.1 (pace ibid., 1961, the drawing an original sketch by
Rembrandt of c.1628-29, when he was already
occupied with the painting in Munich); This Catalogue online, March 2013; [Not in Schatborn, 2019]
PROVENANCE: Pole Carew (see L.439 and 485); his sale,
London, Wheatley’s, 13-15 May, 1835, lot 247, bt Palser,
£2-5s-0d; Andrew J. Elliot, Canada by whom presented to
the present repository, 1948.
[1] For the series, see under Benesch 0382, n.4.
First posted 21 May 2019.

Not in Benesch
Rembrandt*, Self-Portrait in a Soft Hat and Patterned Cloak, 1633-34 [the etched head 1631]
Etching, Bartsch 7, 4th state, touched in black chalk in 1633-34
144 x 99.
See the note to Benesch 57; like that sheet, this is a reworked impression of Rembrandt’s etching of 1631 (B. 7.IV), this time of the fourth state, with his age similarly adjusted.

Benesch A20 Recto
Rembrandt??
Three Studies of an Archer 1633-34??
Pen and brown ink. Inscribed in pen and brown ink by a later hand, lower right: ‘Rembrant’; verso inscribed by Rembrandt with prices in black chalk: “.. lderij 2-0-[0]/3 [perhaps altered to “5”]-0-0″)
170 x 124 mm.
Related to Rembrandt’s grisaille painting of St John the Baptist Preaching (Bredius 555, Corpus A106); but the free, liquid style resembles Rembrandt at a later date, c.1640-45, rather than Benesch 0140-42 and Benesch 0336, so the drawing might be a derivation by a pupil – see further the verso, which again looks to be the work of a pupil, and compare for style Benesch 0094 and Benesch A34, which Sumowski ascribes to Nicolaes Maes (his no.2007**). The recto inscription may be by the same hand as the one on Cottage with a White Paling, Benesch C41 (also illustrated on this page, and also aligned to the right) and Benesch 1233 (on the verso). It may be associated with the early collector’s mark, here at the top right, thought to be that of a late seventeenth-century collector, Dr Johannes Fabritius.
S Stockholm, Nationalmuseum (inv. A2/2004)
Further literature/remarks: Corpus, 3, 1989, pp.84 and 86, repr. fig.19 (dubious attribution but perhaps a studio copy of a sketch by Rembrandt related to the grisaille); Exh. Berlin-Amsterdam, 1991-92, under no.7; Exh. Stockholm, 1992, no.135; This Catalogue online, March 2013; Exh. Washington-Paris, 2016-17, p.166, repr. fig.9; Schatborn, 2019, p.17 and no.28, repr. (c.1635; example of a drawing made during the search for the final composition).

Benesch A20 Verso
School of Rembrandt (Willem Drost?)
Sketch of a Man, half length, to right, c.1652
Pen and brown ink.
170 x 124 mm.
The numbers may be in Rembrandt’s handwriting (the ‘2’ is entirely characteristic) but the style of the verso sketch resembles drawings by later pupils, including Willem Drost, and does not seem to be by Rembrandt at all. This undermines the status of the recto (q.v.).
S Stockholm, Nationalmuseum (inv. A2/2004)

FURTHER LITERATURE/REMARKS: Exh. London, 1992, under no.8a, repr. fig.c; Broos, 1983.I, p.10 (on date change in inscription); Broos, 1984.I, p.38 (adjusted inscription confirms year of Rembrandt’s birth); Exh. Amsterdam-London, 2000-2001, under no.13, repr. fig.4; London, 2010 (online), under no.7.I; This Catalogue online, March 2013; Exh. Denver, 2018-19, no.23, repr.; [Not in Schatborn, 2019]; Exh.Leiden-Oxford, 2019-20, pp.63 and 69, repr. fig.87.
Paris, Bibliothèque Nationale (Réserve Cb-13 a boîte écu.)

Not in Benesch (original of Benesch 0124)
Subject: Study of a Prophet or Apostle (St Peter?)
Verso: Some scored lines, perhaps from an exercise in perspective
Medium: Pen and dark brown ink with brown wash; verso in stylus point.
Inscribed on verso of an old backing sheet, in a 17th-18th century hand, in pen and brown ink: “…[illegible] Rembrandt” [the ‘d’ not fully legible and now resembling an ‘e’]
210 x 130 (at highest and widest points); torn irregularly. Chain lines: horizontal, perhaps 17-18mm apart.
COMMENTS: The drawing, brought to my attention in November 2018, is clearly the original on which Benesch 0124 is based. The sheet is in poor condition, which hampers any assessment of it, but the marked fluency of line throughout indicates that it is not another copy. It is notable that the drapery study at the lower right of the copy, Benesch 0124, appears here at the top left.
Whether the drawing is by Rembrandt or not may prove contentious. Perhaps the fact that it was copied at all implies that it might be. In style it is reminiscent of works by Govert Flinck; yet the latter’s Rembrandtesque drawings generally have a more hesitant or fragmented style, less fluid and confident than the approach here (cf. Benesch 0061-62 and Benesch 0079-80, as well as his Musketeer in Copenhagen, Sumowski 953x and Benesch 0656). Furthermore, there are analogies with Rembrandt’s own works, especially with the documentary drawing of 1634 in the Burchard Grossmann album, Benesch 0257: the zigzag hatching to the right of the figure’s feet resembles that in the right background of Benesch 0257; similarly, the hatching in the figure’s drapery is generally a close match between the two drawings (see the comparative detail illustrations, those from the newly discovered work on the left and and those from Benesch 0257 on the right). The effect of the shading is subtler and less harsh than the shading in Flinck’s drawings in Rembrandt’s manner (cf. Benesch 0002, Benesch 0048 and Benesch 0111-12). The hooked line around the back of the collar that runs over the nearer shoulder also resembles Rembrandt’s touch in the nearer sleeve of the Grossmann album drawing.
The latter also employs an unusual ‘blocking out’ of the facial features with bold touches of the pen, which is not unlike the approach in the present drawing, although in Benesch 0257 the light rakes across the face, highlighting the features clearly, whereas here the light comes from behind the head, casting the face as a whole into shadow. This dark chiaroscuro, with the face almost in darkness, is a bold experiment; and the similarly inky-black shadows in the shoulder and in the nearer, right sleeve also have their counterparts in Benesch 0257, in the nearer sleeve and in both edges of the collar. A comparable effect occurs in Benesch 0049. In the present drawing, the contrasts appear stronger – blotchier, even – perhaps because of the darkened overall condition of the paper as well as the use of a darker shade of ink. On close inspection, the artist has left some glimmer of light in the nearer eye, on the further brow, and in the tip of the nose (see the detail illustrated).
The drapery sketch at the top left should be compared with Rembrandt’s collar in Benesch 0432, which exhibits a similar approach with untouched areas firmly ‘closed’ by strong and clear penlines (though the chiaroscuro is lessened here because of the drawing’s condition).
In sum, the attribution of the present drawing to Rembrandt rather than Flinck appears to be more than adequately supported by the stylistic evidence.[1]
The sketch of drapery at the top left (see detail illustration) is not obviously connected with the same figure or composition. In the copy (Benesch 0124), shadow was added that alters the form. In the original, it seems as if drapery is hanging over a frame or support of some kind, with two deep triangles of shadow separated by a ‘strutt’, in the manner of a saddle, perhaps. The motif has a general resemblance to the collar on the left of the Self-Portrait, Benesch 0432, and to the drapery at the extreme right of Benesch 0154, although the medium there is oil.
For the iconography, the similarity of St Peter on the left in Benesch 0111 suggests that he may be represented. It is possible that, like Benesch 0124, Benesch 0111 may depend to some degree on a lost work by Rembrandt, who of course treated the subject in his etching of c.1629-30 (Bartsch 95; NH 15 – see under Benesch 0012).
The scored and ruled lines made with a stylus point on the verso may have been connected with a perspective exercise (see illustrations).
Condition: Poor: as well as being torn and with internal tears, which contain concentrations of dirt, the sheet has been subjected to water and is greatly stained, grubby and discoloured. There are also folds and scrapes.
Summary attribution: Rembrandt.
Date: 1634?
COLLECTION: USA, Private Collection.
FURTHER LITERATURE/REMARKS: None. [Not in

DETAILS, Enlarged, of the Head and the Drapery Sketch upper left

Fig.a Benesch 257 (the main part of the image only)

Figs b-c. Details of drapery and hatching from:
On the left: Not in Benesch, Study of a Prophet or Apostle
On the right: from Benesch 257

Figs d and e. Details of shading/hatching from:
Above: Not in Benesch, Study of a Prophet or Apostle
On the right: from Benesch 257. Note the spikey zigzags.

The Verso (above)

Schatborn, 2019]
PROVENANCE: From a ‘barn sale’ (‘vide-greniers’) in Plestin-Les-Grèves, Brittany, France, c.2016, where purchased by a dealer from Versailles; sold online by him (as “tmou6362”) on Ebay to the present owner, 24 September, 2018.
[1] I should stress that I have not seen the original drawing. In e-mail correspondence with the compiler concerning images of the drawing (15-18 November 2018), Peter Schatborn acknowledged that there were some good arguments for an attribution to Rembrandt but remained non-committal.
First posted 19 November 2018.

Not in Benesch
Rembrandt
Study of a Seated Dog 1635-37?
Black chalk; ruled framing line in pen and black ink. Inscribed above the drawing in pen on the old backing from a 1772 album (see below): “Roos” [Johann Melchior Roos]
82 x 99. Watermark: none.
COMMENTS: First published in 2016, with an attribution to Rembrandt, the drawing had traditionally been attributed to the German artist, Johann Melchior Roos (1663-1731) and kept in an album of his work.
Though a small sketch, it impresses through its many exceptional qualities: the firmness and confidence of the lines; the secure and compact pose and composition; the variety of touch, from the lightly sketched outlines on the dog’s back to the almost painterly dark patch on the crown of the head, with medium-tone shadows in between (e.g. the dog’s stomach and the shadow below); the successful description of details, from the eyes and nose to the spiked collar; and above all the animal’s characterisation, a sadly abused-looking creature, down-at-heel, laid low by wretched experience, hardly able to lift its head, and probably flea-bitten and wounded.
All these factors speak for Rembrandt himself as the draughtsman. The only problems with the attribution – apart from its odd provenance – arise if one attempts to date it or to compare it with the documentary drawings, of which the Vienna Elephant of 1637 is perhaps the closest in motif, style and technique (Benesch 0457). The Vienna drawing, though a work of greater ambition, does produce common qualities in its fluent and varying outlines and in the emphasis granted the feet – not enough, perhaps to secure

Enlarged

the attribution and date but sufficiently analogous to give the dog a foothold in Rembrandt’s oeuvre. A perhaps surprising feature of the Seated Dog is its similarities to much earlier black chalk drawings by Rembrandt, so that he would barely look out of place had he accompanied the figures in Benesch 12 or Benesch 30-32, even on the same sheet. On balance and pro tem, I am inclined to agree with Döring not only that the drawing is by Rembrandt, but that it dates from around the middle of the 1630s. A comparison with the Kneeling Man from the Abrams collection (Benesch 0058) further supports this assessment to some degree.
Condition: Apart from minor nicks to the upper left margin and a near-vertical scratch left of centre in the upper part of the sheet, apparently good (I know the drawing only through reproductions). The ink has run or smudged in the framing-line, lower right side.
Summary attribution: Rembrandt.
Date: c.1635-37.
COLLECTION: D Braunschweig, Herzog Anton Ulrich-Museum (inv.Z 719)
FURTHER LITERATURE/REMARKS: Döring, 2016, pp.369-78, repr. fig.1 (Rembrandt, c.1635); This Catalogue online, 23 October 2016; Exh. Braunschweig, 2017, no.47, repr. (c.1637); Schatborn, 2019, no.466a, repr. (c.1637).
PROVENANCE: From an album (Sammelband 13, folio 29) of “German drawings” first assembled in 1772 and inventoried in 1785. It had been acquired for Karl I, Duke of Braunschweig-Wolfenbüttel (1713-1796), possibly from Lieutenant von Schauroth.
First posted 23 October 2016.

Benesch A18
Rembrandt?
The Slaughter of an Ox 1635?
Pen and brown ink, rubbed with the finger and touched with white, on two conjoined pieces of paper; retouched by a later hand, especially below and in the right leg of the figure with the axe.
117 x 150
The zig-zag hatching (e.g. in the figure to the right) is very similar to Gerbrand van den Eeckhout (cf. Benesch 317, given to Eeckhout by Bevers, 2010, pp.60-61). Yet there are also links with Benesch 95. The butcher wielding the axe resembles the executioner in Benesch 0478, Benesch 0479, Benesch 0480 and Benesch 0482 recto and verso.

COLLECTION: D Munich, Staatliche Graphische Sammlung (inv.1441)
Further literature/remarks: Valentiner 763; Benesch A018; Munich, 1973, no.1109, repr. pl.305 (on two pieces of paper); Schatborn, 1978, p.134 (by Rembrandt); Exh. Munich-Amsterdam, 2001-2, no.31, repr. (Rembrandt, c.1635-40); This
Catalogue online, March 2013; Schatborn, 2019,
p.143, no.246, repr. (c.1636; cf. later drawing,
Benesch 1160).

Benesch A010
Rembrandt
Three Studies of a Child and a Profile Head of a Woman
1636-39?
Pen and brown ink with brown wash, heightened with white. Inscribed verso in graphite: “from the collection of Thomas Dimsdale, 1758-1823/6/yox zx[subscript]”
216 x 162. Chain lines 26v. Watermark: post horn in crowned shield, with the no. “4” and letters “WR” below; related to Laurentius 621 (1637) and 622 (1644) and Heawood 2715 (Amsterdam, 1668)[1]
COMMENTS: The drawing was strangely undervalued by Benesch but has been retained as by Rembrandt by most other writers. The top right head in profile may portray Margarethe de Geer (cf. Benesch 0757).[2] But the woman has also been identified as Aeltje Schouten, a godmother at Titus van Rijn’s baptism in 1641, and the child as Antje van Loo, daughter of Saskia’s former guardian, Gerrit van Loo.[3]

Watermark:

COLLECTION: USA Cambridge (Mass.), Fogg Art Museum (inv. 1949.4)
FURTHER LITERATURE/REMARKS: See the harvardartmuseums.org website for full details; Van Regteren Altena, 1955 (by Rembrandt); Hoetink, 1969, pp.150-51, repr. fig.1 (by Rembrandt and portrays M. de Geer); Exh. Washington-Denver-Fort Worth, 1977, no.302, repr.; Exh. Edinburgh-London, 2001, no.96, repr. (c.1640-45); Broos, 2009, p.14, repr. fig.7 (child could be Antje van Loo and the old woman Aeltje Schouten); This Catalogue online, March 2013; Alsteens, 2015, p.532, repr. fig.1; Robinson and Anderson, 2016, p.15 and cat. 69, pp.234-236, repr. p.235; watermark repr. p.380) Schatborn, 2019, no.363, repr. (c.1640).[3]
Provenance: Thomas Dimsdale (L.2426); Duveen; M.J Perry; Paul J Sachs.
[1] See Hoetink, 1969, pp.150-51 for the reference to Heawood.
[2] Broos, 2009, p.14.
[3] See also https://hvrd.art/o/303699

Benesch A003
Rembrandt
Saskia? A Woman Sitting by a Window, dressed as a kitchen maid
1638-39?
Pen and wash in brown ink, brush in white
on paper prepared light brown.
175 x 134. Chain lines: 22-24h. No watermark.
NL Amsterdam, Rijksmuseum (inv. RP-T-1930-51)
Provenance: T. Humphrey Ward; P. & D. Colnaghi;
Cornelis Hofstede de Groot; gift to the
Riksmuseum, 1906, transferred, 1930.
Further literature/remarks: Amsterdam, 1985,
no.14, repr.; Exh. Amsterdam, 2006, pp.39-40, repr. fig.34 (c.1638; dressed as a kitchen maid – if Saskia, then dressed in this role); Exh. Edinburgh-London, 2001, no.76, repr. (c.1638; exh. only in London); Müller-Schirmer, 2008, p. 63; This Catalogue
online, March 2013; Schatborn, 2019, no.309, repr. (c.1638).

Not in Benesch
Gerbrand van den Eeckhout?
King David and Retinue? 1639?
Pen and brown (iron-gall) ink, touched
with brown wash and white bodycolour.
167 x 102; an added strip of the same
paper down the left side.
Compare Benesch 0074, by Gerbrand van
den Eeckhout. Like that drawing, the style
and technique is especially close to
Rembrandt’s own in c.1637-39, warranting
the drawing’s inclusion in an “attributed
to Rembrandt” section. The subject is
uncertain.
COLLECTION: Private Collection.
LITERATURE/FURTHER REMARKS: This
Catalogue online, March 2013; [Not in
Schatborn, 2019]

Not in Benesch
Rembrandt? A Sledge on the Ice 1639?
Pen and brown (iron-gall) ink with (mostly later) brown wash on brownish paper.
168 x 196. Chain lines: 24v, with fine laid lines.
The drawing is sadly reworked, especially in the horse, and the signature is false; but the date it suggests, 1639, accords well with Rembrandt’s own use of iron-gall ink, and the style melds seemlessly with Benesch 300. Compare also the Youth Walking with a Pole in the Rijksmuseum (inv.RP-T-1984-119; not in Benesch), as well as the drawing of Two Couples on Horseback, also discussed here (Not in Benesch). Against the attribution speaks the Young Couple of Horseback, now in

Berlin, although the characterisations there are more rudimentary and the forms more crude and less securely proportioned.
D Munich, Staatliche Graphische Sammlung (inv. 1400)
Further literature/remarks: HdG 495; Munich, 1973, no.1133, repr. pl.318; Exh. Munich-Amsterdam, 2001-2002, no.28 (Rembrandt school, c.1640); This Catalogue online, March 2013; Berlin, 2018, under no.72 (C. Fabritius? relates to Berlin drawing, Couple on Horseback, KdZ. 3112); [Not in Schatborn, 2019]
[1] See under Benesch 0500, n.1; Berlin, KdZ. 3112; Berlin 2018, no.72, repr. as by Carel Fabritius.
Last sentence and fn. added 5 August 2021.

Not in Benesch
Rembrandt? Man at a Window 1638-39?
Pen and brown (iron-gall) ink with brown
wash and later grey wash, touched with red
chalk, on paper prepared with brown wash.
116 x 116
The poor condition of the drawing, combined
with the later grey wash, undermines the
drawing’s appeal, as does the unsatisfactory
delineation of the juncture between the right
shoulder and arm (for which compare the
drawing of Willem Ruyter, also Not in Benesch).
But the typical use of iron-gall ink on paper
prepared brown for a drawing of the late
1630s, and the high quality of the rendering of
the characterful face, make an attribution to
Rembrandt likely, if somewhat insecure,
although the incipient head at the lower right
also looks typical for him. Sumowski’s
comparison with Bol’s drawing of Minerva in

Berlin (Sumowski 166x) is not entirely
persuasive, as the structure and form is there
(typically for Bol) less secure.
For the use of the tip of the brush at the top, cf., for example, the figure at the lower left of Benesch 0339.
Further literature/remarks: Sumowski 167x (Ferdinand Bol, late 1630s; compares Minerva, Berlin, Sumowski 166x); Exh. Indiana, Notre Dame (Selections of [… Dutch Art from the Collection of Dr A.C.R. Dreesmann), 1982, no.17; This Catalogue online, March 2013; [Not in Schatborn, 2019]
Provenance: Sale, London, Sotheby’s, 21 March, 1973, lot 40 as Ferdinand Bol, purchased for Anton C.R. Dreesmann; his sale, London, Christie’s, 11 April, 2002, lot 652 (as “attributed to Rembrandt”) [£47,000]; New York art market, 2007; sale, London, Sotheby’s, 4 July, 2007, lot 72; New York art Market (Collins), 2007; sale, New York, Christie’s, 26 January, 2011, lot 281; sale, New York, Sotheby’s, 29 January, 2014, lot 141 ($75,000)

Not in Benesch
Rembrandt??
Recto: Sketch of Saskia (?) 1638-39?
Verso: Bust of a Woman, to left, holding a child (?)
Pen and brown (iron-gall) ink, with (on recto only) brown wash and white heightening, on paper prepared with brown wash.
70 x 64. Chain lines horizontal; distance apart uncertain.
Although I am inclined to discount an attribution to Rembrandt, when I first studied the drawing in 1984, I thought it might be at least partly his work. The possibility that it is a very rapid study remains conceivable, and some pen lines exhibit the necessary style and verve (e.g. in Saskia’s cap; compare Benesch 255); but the many poorly drawn lines (e.g. in the nearer shoulder and arm) and the fact that the recto was worked up with wash and white heightening, yet rather incoherently, speak against it. Nonetheless I feel the drawing merits

Not in Benesch
Rembrandt, Willem Ruyter as an Inn-Keeper 1638-39?
Pen and brown ink with brown wash, heightened with white, on paper prepared with brown wash.
139 x 175.
A highly characteristic iron-gall ink drawing of c.1638-39. For the sitter, see under Benesch 0120. Compare Benesch 0235, which shows Ruyter again.
NL Amsterdam, Rijksmuseum (inv.RP-T-1996-6)
Further literature/remarks: Burl Mag Acquisitions, 1996, repr. (c.1639); Schatborn and de Winkel, 1996 (shows Willem Ruyter (1587-1639) in a peasant role, as also in V&A sheet Benesch 0235, he also appears in

Benesch 0120 in Chatsworth as St Augustine and also in V&A sheet Benesch 0235, he also appears in Benesch 0120 in Chatsworth as St Augustine and in Benesch 0085 in the Rijksmuseum, the Oriental Prince; from memory he also appears in Benesch 0141; Ruyter was paid for the last time on 16 March 1639 and was buried on 22 April 1639); Exh. Melbourne-Canberra, 1997, p.329; Van Weele, 2001, pp.283-85; Chatsworth, 2002, III, under no.1463; Exh. Vienna, 2004, no.42; Exh. Amsterdam, 2006, pp.38-39, repr. fig.32 (c.1638); Exh. Los Angeles, 2009-2010, p.75; Broos, 2012, pp.76-78; this website, March 2013; Exh. Amsterdam, 2014, no.31, repr.; Schatborn, 2019, p.143, no.634, repr. (c.1638).

Not in Benesch
Rembrandt*
Johannes Wtenbogaert ‘The Goldweigher’ 1639
Counterproof of etching (Bartsch 281,i) touched with black chalk.
250 x 204.
Though strictly speaking a touched proof, this counts as a documentary drawing, the face being drawn in by Rembrandt in black chalk.
Baltimore, Baltimore Museum of Art, Garrett collection (inv. 1946.112.7730).
PROVENANCE: possibly Pieter de Haan sale, 1767, part of lot 503: ‘Dezelve [The Goldweigher] met de afgemaakte Tronie, mede fray van druk, benevens de overdruk. N.B. Is nog met kleine Correctie door Rembrand zelve ingetekent…’; sale (N. Smith?), London, T. Philipe, 16 etc. March 1801, lot 276 (£3-3-0);[1] George Hibbert (L.2849); Abraham Hume (according to Buccleuch sale cat.); Duke of Buccleuch (L.402); his, sale London, Christie’s, 19 April, 1887,

Detail, enlarged

lot 2022 (‘A counterproof of the first state; the face is drawn upon. From the Hume and Hibbert Collections), £4. Further literature/remarks: Middleton, 1887, pp.119-21; Ackley,1995, 25-27, repr.; Exh. Amsterdam-London, 2000–2001, under no.35, repr. fig. b; Royalton-Kisch and Schatborn, 2011, no.43, repr. fig.118 and 118a; Schatborn, 2019, p.403 (proof retouched to create the portrait from life).
[1] I am grateful to Paul Sternberg for this reference (e-mail 3/3/2015). For the catalogue, see:
http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k990308z/f19.image.r=8%20AND%20YD%20AND%2036%20AND%20277%20.langFR (accessed 4/3/2015) .

Not in Benesch
Rembrandt
Isaac blessing Jacob 1641?
Black chalk, heightened with white
182 x 126.
Compare Benesch 13.
D Munich, Staatliche Graphische Sammlung (inv. 1424)
Further literature/remarks: Munich, 1973, no.1113; Schatborn, 1978, p.134; Sumowski 1753xx (Lievens); Exh. Munich-Amsterdam, 2001-2002, no.54, repr. and under no.49 (Rembrandt, c.1640); Berlin, 2006, under no.25, n.6; This Catalogue online, March 2013; Exh. Amsterdam, 2017-18, p.38, repr. fig.37 (inspired Flinck’s version of the subject in the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam, but in reverse [inv. SK-A-110]); Schatborn, 2019, no.65, repr. (c.1641).

Not in Benesch
Rembrandt, Sketch of a Lioness, to left c.1640
Charcoal (?) and grey wash, heightened with white on brown prepared paper; ruled framing lines visible here and there in brown ink.
115 x 150.
Compare the drawings in the British Museum, Benesch 774-75.
COLLECTION: USA New York, private collection (the Leiden Gallery).
LITERATURE/FURTHER REMARKS: This Catalogue online, March 2013; Schatborn, 2019, pp.19, 305 and 286 and no.475, repr. (c.1637-31; perhaps made at the time of the Concord of State; similar medium as Benesch 813).
PROVENANCE: J.-J. de Boissieu; Robert Lebel (by 1968); art market, London and New York, from 2000 (Hazlitt, Gooden & Fox with Artemis Fine Art; Hazlitt, Gooden & Fox, New York, 2005; Otto Naumann Ltd., New York, 2005). Acquired from the latter by the present owner.

rendered mandatory by the apparently autograph signature and date,[1] but the attribution is likely to prove controversial. The date is suggestive for the elephant study, Benesch 0459 (qv).
D Munich, Staatliche Graphische Sammlung (inv.1668)
Further literature/ remarks: Vosmaer, 1877, pp., 558(?) and 606; Munich, 1973, no.1293, repr. pl.349 (Rembrandt school); This Catalogue online, March 2013; [Not in Schatborn, 2019]
[1] The only slightly unusual feature is the linkage of the ‘m’ to the ‘b’, yet this is also found in the signature on Benesch 815 of 1644. In every respect, whether from the point of view of the individual letters, their spacing and links/interruptions, there seems to be no reason to doubt its authenticity.

Not in Benesch
Not Rembrandt (Carel Fabritius?)
Half-Length Sketch of a Man, perhaps playing cards
Black chalk
127 x 102
SEE CAPTION TO CRYING BOY, BELOW
COLLECTION: USA New York, Private Collection (‘The Leiden Collection’)
Further literature/remarks: Sumowski, 1971, p.132, repr. fig.9 (Rembrandt); Exh. Paris-Philadelphia-Detroit, 2011–12, no. 32 (lent by the present owner); This Catalogue, March 2013; Exh. Amsterdam, 2014, under no.37, repr. fig.37a (Rembrandt, c.1648; ; shows same man as Amsterdam private collection version; model as in paintings of head of Christ, dated in Exh. Paris-Philadelphia-Detroit, 2011-12, 1648 and 1656); Schatborn, 2017, repr. (c.1647; compares sheet [here immediately below and as already written in this catalogue] in a private collection, Benesch 0700 and also Benesch 0590 and Benesch 1076; relates to paintings as Exh. Paris, 2011-12 [no mention of the present catalogue or the Crying Boy below]); Schatborn, 2019, no.375, repr. (c.1645).

Provenance: J.P. Heseltine, London, 1910
(as by Gerard ter Borch); sale, New York, Christie’s, 10 January 1990, lot 182, as
attributed to Rembrandt; sale, New York,
Christie’s, 24 January, 2008, lot 144 as
Rembrandt, bt O. Naumann (dealer) from
whom acquired by the present owner.

Not in Benesch
Not Rembrandt (Carel Fabritius?) Full-Length Sketch of a Man, perhaps playing cards or stuffing his pipe
Black chalk; ruled framing lines in pen and brown ink, on thin paper.
135 x 96. Watermark: fragment, the tip of a crescent and small cross. Chain lines 20/24/33v.
Small repair lower left
SEE CAPTION TO CRYING BOY, BELOW
NL Amsterdam, Private Collection
Further Literature/Remarks: Exh. Paris-Philadephia-Detroit, 2011-12, p.242, no.33, p.126; Schatborn, 2012 Habolt, no.39, repr.; This Catalogue online, March 2013; Exh. Amsterdam, 2014, no.37, repr. (Rembrandt c.1648; shows same man as New York ‘Leiden Gallery’ version; model as in paintings of head of Christ, which are dated in Exh. Paris-Philadephia-Detroit, 2011-12, between 1648 and 1656); Schatborn, 2019, no.374, repr. (c.1645).

Provenance: private collection, France;
sale, London, Christie’s, July 2003 lot 100,
bt Habolt.

Not in Benesch
School of Rembrandt (Carel Fabritius?)
A Crying Boy 1645-50?
Black chalk.
238 x 171
The drawing was first shown to me in late 2009, and comparisons with Rembrandt’s many black chalk drawings soon convinced me that this must be a pupil’s work (an assessment with which Peter Schatborn agreed soon afterwards). The forms are too blocked out, often with an uncharacturistic angularity not found it Rembrandt sketches in this vein, which are more gntly and subtly sketched out. In a lecture at the J. Paul Getty Museum in Feb. 2010, I argued that the drawing (a) cannot be by Rembrandt (b) is apparently by the same artist as the two drawings of seated men (New York ‘Leiden Gallery’ and Private Collection, Amsterdam) illustrated here, and Benesch 1076 and (c) that the artist might be Carel Fabritius. The hands in this and the squarer of the two New York drawings resemble those in the relief in Fabritius’s painting of a Sentry, dated 1654, which Schatborn (beginning in Amsterdam, 1985) has righty seen as providing a possible clue to Fabritius’s drawing style. See further under Benesch 0500. As the drawing can be connected with Rembrandt’s black chalk drawings of the later 1640s as well as with a painting of 1654, a date c.1645-50 is here suggested.
COLLECTION: F Private Collection
LITERATURE/FURTHER REMARKS: This Catalogue online, March 2013; [Not in Schatborn, 2019]

Not in Benesch
Attributed to Rembrandt (Rembrandt?)
A Figure Seated in a Chair, with a
Child 1647-52?
Black chalk.
88 x 92
This drawing appeared in 2005. Its
extreme faintness and slightness
make a definitive opinion difficult to
form. The draughtsmanship closely
resembles the Blind Beggar with a Boy
and Dog (illustrated below on this
page). The initially oddly shaped
further (right) arm of the seated figure
is configured like the hind leg of the dog!
This was subsequently ‘corrected’ with a
darker line which, along with the straight,

similarly darker line in the other arm, seems to have been drawn with a ruler, and thus to be a later addition. A few other touches are also in this darker toned chalk (by the nearer hand and the child’s left hand). Also unusual is the echo of the semi-circular shape around the shoulders in the back of the chair. But on balance it seems reasonable to accept the drawing under the ‘Attributed to’ rubric – there are links with Benesch 0717-0718 in London and with Benesch 0743 and 0746 in Munich, which are, however, not always accepted in the modern literature. Compare also the Woman Bending over a Child by a Chair which is also illustrated on this page, further below.
LITERATURE/FURTHER REMARKS: This Catalogue, March 2013; [Not in Schatborn, 2019]
PROVENANCE: Sale, Paris, Christie’s, 16 December, 2005, lot 201, as ‘Attributed to Rembrandt’; sale, Sotheby’s, New York, 28 January, 2016, lot 235, ‘Attributed to Rembandt’, sold for $17,500.

Not in Benesch
Rembrandt
Recto: Two Men Seated in Conversation
1647?
Verso: Three Sketches of the Heads of
Men wearing Hats 1647?
Black chalk.
118 x 98.
Berlin, Staatliche Museen Berlin,
Kupferstichkabinett (inv. KdZ.1148)
Further Literature/Remarks: Robinson, 1998, p.40; Berlin, 2006, no.32, repr.;

Verso

Exh. Paris, 2007 [Berlin dgs],
no.32; Exh. Amsterdam, 2007
[Berlin dgs], no.32; This Catalogue
online, March 2013; Exh.
Amsterdam, 2014, no.36, repr. (Probably
shows Ashkenazy jews); Royalton-Kisch,
2015, pp.452-53, repr. figs 3 and 4
(1640s); Exh. Dresden, 2019, p.188, n.35 (compares as another double-sided sheet, Benesch 0720 [which there dated c.1647]); Schatborn, 2019, p.19 and nos.
404 and 405, repr. (c.1647).

Not in Benesch
Rembrandt
Subject: Three Standing Men in Conversation
Verso: Two Figures in Greeting, one raising his hat (The Return of the Prodigal Son?)
Medium: Black chalk, with later brown wash; ruled framing lines in pen and brown ink. Inscribed lower right in pen and brown ink by a later hand: “siet d’ander s[…] / Van Rembran[t?]”
153 x 118. WM: uncertain (probably none); chain lines: 25v; 16 laid lines /cm.
COMMENTS: Previously unpublished before its inclusion here (on 27 March 2014), the drawing is not easy to judge because of the later wash and the generally worn condition. In style it seems inseparable from the Berlin drawing KdZ.1148, recto and verso, which is also not in Benesch (see above) and like that drawing belongs with Rembrandt’s many black chalk studies of the later 1640s.
The composition of the verso could have been intended to represent the Return of the Prodigal Son (cf., in very general terms, Rembrandt’s celebrated late painting of c.1666-1669 in St Petersburg, Bredius 598, Wetering 320 [as 1660-65]).
Summary attribution: Rembrandt.[1]
Date: 1648-50?
COLLECTION: London art market (2013-14)
FURTHER LITERATURE/REMARKS: This Catalogue online, 27 March 2014; Royalton-Kisch, 2015, passim, repr. figs.2-3 (late 1640s); Schatborn, 2019, nos 420b-c, repr. (c.1647)..
PROVENANCE: Delius Gallery (F. Delius Giese), New York, 1931;[2] Victor Koch, Vienna; his sale, London, Sotheby’s, 29 June, 1949, lot 95 (as Rembrandt), bt Clifford Duits; thence by descent.
[1] In an e-mail to the compiler of 27 April 2014, Peter Schatborn stated that he now also agrees with the attribution of this drawing to Rembrandt, which had previously troubled him.
[2] I am grateful to the late Erik Löffler, who added this New York provenance item from the photographic documentation in the Rijksbureau voor Kunsthistorische Documentatie (e-mail to the compiler, 4 March 2016).
First posted 27 March 2014. [See n.2]

Not in Benesch
Rembrandt
An Old Woman with a Stick 1647?
Black chalk. 120 x 74
A Vienna, Albertina (inv. 8840).
Further literature/remarks: HdG 1447; Robinson, 1998, p.38, repr. fig.2; This Catalogue
online, March 2013; Schatborn, 2019, p.19 and no.411, repr. (c.1647).

Not in Benesch
(HdG 1439)
Rembrandt
A Standing Old
Man with a Soft
Hat and a Stick
1647?
Black chalk.
78 x 48

COLLECTION: A Vienna, Albertina
(inv. 8842).
Further literature/remarks:
HdG 1439; Haverkamp-Begemann, 1961, p.14 (Rembrandt); Robinson, 1998, pp.38-40, repr. fig.4 (Rembrandt); This Catalogue online, March 2013; Schattborn, 2019, p.19 and no. 412, repr. (c.1647).

Not in Benesch
Rembrandt
Bearded Man in
a High Hat with
a Stick 1647?
Black chalk.
81 x 40.
A Vienna, Albertina (inv. 8843).

Further literature/remarks:
HdG 1438; Haverkamp-
Begemann, 1961, p.14 (Rembrandt); Sumowski,
1971, pp.127 and 129, repr.
fig.5; Robinson, 1998, p.40,
repr. fig.5 (Rembrandt); This Catalogue online, March
2013; Schatborn, 2019, p.19
and no. 413, repr. (c.1647).

Not in Benesch
Rembrandt? A Group of Jews in Discussion 1647?
Black chalk.
95 x 141.
From the Lawrence and Esdaile collections. Though a minor, thumbnail sketch, the style accords with drawings such as Benesch 595

(with a similar seated figure),
671-72, 714, 717, 720 and 725.
COLLECTION: Private Collection.
LITERATURE/FURTHER REMARKS:
This Catalogue online, March
2013. [Not in Schatborn, 2019]

Detail of the adjacent illustration,
Enlarged

Not in Benesch
Rembrandt??
An Old Peasant Couple Walking, full-length, to right 1647?
Black chalk.
137 x 95.
The discovery of the Blind Beggar with Boy and Dog (see above) makes the attribution of the present drawing uncertain: it resembles in style and quality the copy of that drawing in Berlin, also reproduced here (see also Berlin, 2006, no.31, repr.). All the hands,
for example, seem deficient, the
simplified nearer hand being especially similar to those of the main figure in the Berlin drawing. Yet the hatching seems more fluent than the outlines, which resemble those of the drawings in the Crying Boy group discussed above. Even allowing for the indifferent condition of the sheet, the drawing seems problematic enough to merit two question marks.

FURTHER LITERATURE/REMARKS: Vosmaer, 1887, p.600; Robinson, 2000, pp.303-4, repr. fig.2; Exh. London-Paris-Cambridge, 2002–3, p.120, repr. fig.2; This Catalogue online, March 2013; [Not in Schatborn, 2019]
PROVENANCE: C. Ploos van Amstel (cf. L. 3002-3004), with his inscription ‘Rembrandt f. b
5 1/2 1 3½’ (verso); Jacob de Vos Jbsz.; his sale, Amsterdam, Roos, Frederick Muller & Co., 22-24 May, 1883, lot 416; possibly K.E. Maison, Berlin, 1931; Dr Arthur Feldmann, Brno; His (anonymous) sale, Gilhofer & Ranschburg, Lausanne, 28 June 1934, lot 226 (unsold);
Victor and Hilda Haida, New York, before 1938, and by descent; their sale, New York, Christie’s, 26 January, 2011, lot 283, sold for $458,500.

Not in Benesch
Rembrandt, Three Orientals in Discussion
1647-52
Black chalk, touched with white; ruled framing lines in pen and black ink.
182 x 150
GB London, British Museum (inv. 1986,1213.2)
Further Literature: London, 2010 (online), no.44, repr.; This Catalogue online, March 2013; Schatborn, 2019, p.19 and no.408, repr. (c. 1647).

Not in Benesch
Rembrandt, A Woman Bending over a Child by a Chair 1647-52?
Black chalk on oriental paper; ruled framing lines in pen and dark
brown ink.
COMMENTS: Known to Sumowski only from a photograph in the RKD, the drawing resurfaced in 2012 and seems to be genuine.
80 x 70

Enlarged

NL Amsterdam, Private Collection
Further literature/remarks: Sumowski, 1971, p.129, repr. fig.6; This Catalogue online, March 2013; Schatborn, 2019, no.274, repr. (c.1635).

Not in Benesch
Rembrandt, The Sacrifice of Isaac 1655
Pen and brown ink, touched with white.
165 x 144
Comments: Related, in reverse, to the 1655 etching, Bartsch 35 (Fig.a). Although the style resembles that of Willem Drost, the attribution to Rembrandt seems more plausible, given its free, exploratory handling and the differences of detail with the etching (especially Abraham’s right and the angel’s left arms). Some of these changes are reflected in a pupil’s painting of the subject now in a private collection (Fig.b).[1]
The style of the drawing accords well enough with the documentary study, Benesch 1175.
F Compiègne, Musée Vivenel (INV. L.88)
Further literature/remarks: Sumowski, 1971, p.136, repr. fig.15 (Rembrandt, c.1655); Sumowski, Gemälde, IV, 1983, under no.1976 (Rembrandt); (Rembrandt c.1655); Bruyn, 1990, p.716, repr. fig.42 (by the pupil , perhaps Titus van Rijn, responsible for the privately-owned painting); Bruyn, 1995, p.111, n.21 (assistant of Rembrandt, perhaps Titus van Rijn); Exh. Amsterdam-London, 2000-2001, p.315, repr. fig.b (as ‘Rembrandt?); Exh. Dijon, 2003, cat..45, repr.; London, 2010 (online), under no.10, n.4; This Catalogue online, March 2013; [Not in Schatborn, 2019].
[1] Discussed by Bruyn, 1990.

Fig.b (right). Rembrandt studio, The Sacrifice of Isaac. Oil on canvas, 178 x 145 cm.
GB Private Collection

Not in Benesch
Rembrandt?? Medallion Portrait of an Indian Nobleman, possibly Muhammad Adil Shah of Bijapur (after a Mughal miniature)
1656-1661?
Pen and brown ink on oriental paper.
97 x 76.
As stated in my British Museum catalogue (London, 2010 [online]), I am far from convinced that the series of drawings after Mughal miniatures is by Rembrandt. An attribution to Aert de Gelder, who had a special interest in oriental costumes, seems more convincing (compare Sumowski 1052, inspired by these miniatures, as well as many of his painted and drawn compositions; De Gelder’s drawing of the Last Supper after Leonardo, now in Berlin, seems especially close, e.g. to Benesch 1188 and Benesch 1192).[2]
USA San Francisco, De Young/Legion of Honor Fine Art Museums of San Francisco, Achenbach Collection (inv.2000.70).
Further literature/remarks: Robinson, 1988, p.585, repr. fig.4a; Exh. London, 1992, under cat. no.65, fig.65a (c.1656-61); Exh. San Francisco, 1998, Interaction of Cultures: Indian and Western Painting

1780-1910, The Ehrenfeld Collection, no. 10; Exh. San Francisco, 2007, Rembrandt to Thiebaud, A Decade of Collecting Works on Paper, p.15; London, 2010 (online), under no.56, n.10; Exh. San Francisco, 2013, pp.44-45, repr. fig.41; This Catalogue online, March 2013; Schatborn, 2019, no.693, repr. (1656-1661).
Provenance: Jonathan Richardson, senior (L.2184); his sale, London, Cock’s, 18th night, 11 February 1747 (1746 old style), part of lot 70, ‘a book of Indian drawings by Rembrandt 25 in number’; Sir Joshua Reynolds (L.2364); anonymous French collection, sold Paris, Drouot, 24 April 1984, lot 6, repr.; Mrs. Christian Aall, New York; Dr. William K. Ehrenfeld, Marin; purchased by the present repository in 2000, Dorothy Spreckels Munn Bequest Fund and Partial Gift of Dr. William K. Ehrenfeld.
[1] I am grateful to William W. Robinson for referring me to the De Young/Legion of Honor collection and their website at:
http://art.famsf.org/rembrandt-harmensz-van-rijn/medallion-portrait-muhammad-adil-shah-bijapur-200070 (consulted 20 May 2014).
[2] Berlin inv. KdZ 1369, Berlin, 1918, no.85, repr..

Not in Benesch
Rembrandt?? Two Heads of Women after Indian/Mughal models
1656-62?
Verso: laid down on Richardson mat
Pen and brown ink with brown wash on Japanese paper; no framing lines. Inscribed on front of mat, in pen: “Rembrandt” and in graphite: “Colln. E. Utterson” and on verso of mat in pen and brown ink: “10.” and “this is one of those which a / called Rembrants Indian figur” (cut – mat must have been a little larger); in graphite: “Bt at Cosways (RA) Sale”; and “true/ A. Pond”
70 x 94
A slight but pretty – and not entirely typical – example of the copies after oriental miniatures (on which see further above). Of the series, it is

one of the least convincingly attributed to Rembrandt.
Condition: good, though a fragment and not fresh; slightly rubbed and spotted.
F Paris, Private Collection.
Further literature/remarks: Exh. Paris-Antwerp-London-New York, 1979-80, under no.75; London, 2010 (online), under no.56, n.10; This Catalogue online, March 2013; Exh. Los Angeles, 2018, repr. pl. 41; Schatborn, 2019, no.700, repr. (1656-1661).
Provenance: Jonathan Richardson, sen. (L.2184); Richard Cosway; E. Utterson; Anonymous collector (19th? century; blindstamp ‘NB’ lower on drawing, not in Lugt); Anonymous collector (19th? century; stamped ‘C.B.’ in a rectangle in blue, on the back of the Richardson mat; not in Lugt); Mme F. Lepage.

Enlarged

Benesch A071a
Rembrandt?? The Disobedient Prophet attacked by a Lion (I Kings XIII, 23-24)
Pen and brown ink, with some white heightening; inscribed with false ‘signature’, lower right: ‘Rembrant’ ; numbered ‘100’ by Mariette; inscribed by Crozat below: ‘Un prophete que St Jerome nomme Addon / est tué par un lion pour avoir desobei à Dieu quoyque par la supercherie d’un autre prophete Roys L. 3. c 19.’.
182 x 210
Benesch was, on balance, inclined to reject the drawing and I think he was probably right. The lack of a coherent structure is too evident in all parts except possibly the head and arms of the prophet. The many repeated outlines seem overdone compared with Rembrandt – one might say “a lot of lines for nothing” – and the mule looks almost as wooden as if it had come from a carousel. The highly suspect ‘signature’ may be in the same ink as the drawing itself; it seems to be written by the same hand as that on Benesch C41 (on which see below).
Date: 1660-65??
CH Private Collection, Geneva (Bonna)
Further literature/remarks: Exh. Basel 1948, no.25; Starcky, 1993, p.218, n.11

(inscribed by Mariette and presumably from Crozat’s collection); This Catalogue online, March 2013; [Not in Schatborn, 2019].
Provenance: P. Crozat (?); E. Habich (NL??), his sale, Amsterdam, Muller, 1910; Dr Bernhard Hartmann (Basel-Riehen); by descent until sale, London, Christie’s, 7 July, 2015, lot 39; acquired after the sale by the present owner.

Not in Benesch
Rembrandt?? Head of a Woman 1660?
Pen and brown ink .
43 x 27.
In style close enough to the Self-Portrait drawings in Rotterdam and Vienna of c.1660 to merit inclusion in the ‘attributed to Rembrandt’ section (see Benesch 1176-77). My own view is that is probably is not by Rembrandt but by a late pupil, perhaps Aert de Gelder.
GB London, Courtauld Gallery (inv.D.1978.PG.189).
LITERATURE/FURTHER REMARKS: This Catalogue online, March 2013; [Not in Schatborn, 2019]
Provenance: Count Antoine Seilern, Princes Gate; bequeathed by him to the present repository in 1978.

Enlarged

Benesch Ad 1061
Follower of Rembrandt?
The Conspiracy of Julius Civilis
Pen and brown ink with brown and grey wash; the colour of the washes is difficult to discern because of the condition, but a purplish tone is evident.
178 x 147 Watermark: Foolscap, with rather large horn-like embellishments to the top of the cap.
As pointed out by Eva Benesch, the style is close to that of a pupil’s drawing in Munich, Benesch Ad1045a (Sumowski 814** as Van den Eeckhout), but it may reflect a lost drawing by Rembrandt.
GB Edinburgh, National Gallery of Scotland (inv. D 2862)
Further literature/remarks: Wegner, Kunstchronik, xxiii, 1970, p.31 (reporting Haverkamp-Begemann’s discovery of the drawing, announced in a lecture in Chicago in October, 1969); Haverkamp-Begemann, in Simson and Kelch, 1973, pp.31-43 (Rembrandt); Exh. Berlin-Amsterdam, 1991-92, p.130 (not Rembrandt); Haverkamp-Begemann, 1992, p.461 (Rembrandt); Exh. Munich-Amsterdam, 1991-92, p.160 (school); This Catalogue online, March 2013; [Not in Schatborn, 2019].
Provenance: Thomas Lawrence (L.2445).

Not in Benesch
Rembrandt, Ideal Landscape with Bridge, River and Mountains, 1642
Black chalk, touched with white in various places; some charcoal, mostly lower left; ruled framing lines in pen an brown ink. Signed, lower left: ‘Rembrandt f 1642’.
154 x 277. Watermark: Basel staff in crowned shield with letters CHM below (similar to Laurentius and Laurentius 302 [used in The Hague 1642]); chain lines 26h (laid lines 15/cm).
The drawing has not been published (except by me in passing) as an authentic Rembrandt before (this text went online in March 2013), although I have considered it to be by him since studying the original in 1991. The signature seems entirely reliable[1] and the date, 1642, accords with the style and with Rembrandt’s use of charcoal (e.g. in Benesch 0813). The watermark is also one found in Rembrandt’s work of the 1640s (see Benesch 0183) and in a document of the same year, 1642 (see above). Some details of the drawing are illustrated here to exhibit its extraordinary quality, though the photographic images are unflattering. The style accords completely with Rembrandt’s informal sketches from nature in black chalk – compare the trees with those in Benesch 0811-12 (Figs.a-b), and Benesch 1255-56 (see Figs.c-d), for example, and the foreground with Benesch 1277 (Fig.e). A copy was made by Lambert Doomer (Fig.f). The Frankfurt original includes many details that Doomer omitted or carried over imprecisely, including the tiny figures and animals climbing the mountain at the upper left. This proves that the Doomer drawing, which in any case looks dry in handling, cannot have provided the template for the present drawing, as is usually supposed (which seems unlikely from every point of view of quality anyway).
Most of Rembrandt’s surviving landscape drawings were apparently made from nature; yet in his paintings and etchings it is clear that he was also interested in the ‘Ideal Landscape’, and there seems to be no reason to doubt that this drawing also reveals his interest in the genre. Indeed, it forms one of the most important – and earliest – examples of Rembrandt and the ‘Ideal Landscape’ with pastoral elements (especially in the centre) and no clear subject-matter. The attribution will prove controversial – for most of its recent history, it has been regarded as a late forgery – and the newly discovered Röver provenance renders this widely-held idea yet more difficult to sustain (though as always, any cogently-argued alternative ideas would be welcomed by the compiler). Of Rembrandt’s pupils, only Ferdinand Bol seems to have made set-piece landscapes in black chalk (just two are known, Sumowski 280-81) but he never approaches the quality of detail seen here.
D Frankfurt, Staedel Museum (inv.3085 [N. 17])
Further literature/remarks: Hind in London, 1931, p.xiii (18th century forgery); Keyes, 1977, p.61, under no.109; Sumowski, under no.481*, repr. fig.36 (publishing Doomer’s copy as perhaps based on a lost painting by Rembrandt, and as the inspiration for the present sheet, regarded as a forgery); Dumas and Plomp, 1998, pp.21-22, n.22 (as Sumowski); London, 2010 (online), under Doomer no.14 (Rembrandt); This Catalogue online, March 2013; [Not in Schatborn, 2019]; Exh. Frankfurt, Staedel, 2021 (without catalogue; as Rembrandt).
Provenance: Valerius Röver (Goll number in red denotes ex-Röver; perhaps Röver inv.8/26, ‘Een landschap met zwart krijt van Dezelve’ [i.e. Rembrandt; see Schatborn, 1981, p.38]); J. Goll van Franckenstein (his no.2929).
[1] Compare, for example, the signatures on Benesch 0433 and Benesch 0758, and on the etching, Bartsch 118 (which prints in reverse and therefore would have been written in the right direction).

Not in Benesch (HdG 811)
Rembrandt? A Windmill and Outhouses 1650?
Pen and brown ink with brown wash; framing-lines in a different pen and brown ink; extra framing lines in yet another pen and brown ink on the top corner additions; inscribed verso in graphite, lower right : ‘A9’
109 x 187; top corners cut. Watermark: fragment of the top of a Strasbourg lily . Chain lines: 28-30v.
The risk to the attribution of this drawing to Rembrandt is formed by the possibility that it is by Pieter de With, to whom Benesch 1250 has been attributed by Peter Schatborn (Paris, 2010, no.163). However, the comparisons with De With’s signed drawings are not convincing – his lines are broader and the details less refined. In the present work, the secure delineation of the structures and individual features (such as the sails of the windmill), the calligraphy of the foreground touches, the delicacy of the wash and the subtle treatment of aerial perspective and recession seem more like Rembrandt.
Condition: Good; some spotting and minor creasing have been removed since the 2002 sale.
COLLECTION: NL Amsterdam, Private Collection.
Further literature/remarks: HdG 811; Exh Paris, 1908, no.466; Exh. New York Met 1974-75, ‘The Grand Gallery’, no.110; Benesch, I, 1973, in the introduction by E. Benesch, p. xii (as one of four recently published drawings that ‘deserve mention’ and that Frits Lugt dated the drawing to the 1640s); This Catalogue online, March 2013; [Not in Schatborn, 2019]
Provenance: Paul Mathey; Ludwig Vogelstein Foundation; their sale, London, Christie’s, 27 November, 1973, lot 343, repr.; Schickman (dealer); sale. New York, Sotheby’s, 25 January, 2002, lot 49, repr..

Not in Benesch
Rembrandt
Landscape with Cottages, Meadows and a Distant Windmill 1650?
Pen and brown ink with brown wash on paper prepared with pale greyish-brown wash; framing lines in pen and brown ink.
98 x 212.
For a discussion of this drawing, the attribution of which is controversial, see London, 2010 (online), no.64.
Literature/further remarks: Royalton-Kisch, 2000, pp.158-59, repr. fig.32; London, 2010 (online), no.64; This Catalogue online, March 2013; [Not in Schatborn, 2019]
GB London, British Museum (1895,0915.1257)

Not in Benesch
Rembrandt
Farmhouse between Trees 1650-1652?
Pen and brown ink and brown wash (and later grey wash), on paper prepared light greyish-brown; ruled framing-lines in pen and brown ink.
108 x 176.
Compare the motif of Benesch 1249. Despite some weaknesses in the perspective and the unusual treatment

of the tree foliage to the right, there seem to be sufficient reasons to accept the attribution to Rembrandt.
D Cologne, Private collection.
FURTHER LITERATURE/REMARKS: This Catalogue online, March 2013; Schatborn, 2019, no.556, repr. (c.1650-1652).
PROVENANCE: Marquis of Lansdowne; his sale, Amsterdam, Christie’s, 14 November, 1994, lot 101 [f.345,000])

Not in Benesch
Rembrandt??
The Amstelveenseweg with a Gateway on the left 1650-52?
Pen and brown ink.
I do not remember having seen this drawing, but it depicts the same view as Benesch 1242-1243. Thus it could in theory be the work of a pupil seated next to Rembrandt, or possibly by Rembrandt himself, having moved his position a few yards. More probably, it is a copy based on Benesch 1242. An odd feature, or miscomprehension, is that the second post, in the centre of the drawing, has been shifted into the middle of the road where it would have blocked any wheeled traffic.
COLLECTION: NL Amsterdam, Private Collection, Paul Brandt.
Further literature/remarks: Sumowski, 1964.I, p.245, repr. fig.14 (Rembrandt, c.1648-50); Exh. Amsterdam-Paris, 1998-99, p.320, n.3 (copy by a pupil?); London, 2010 (online), under no.69 (copy of Benesch 1242); This Catalogue online, March 2013; [Not in Schatborn, 2019].

Not in Benesch
Rembrandt: A View of Sloten from the East 1650?
Pen and brown ink with brown wash; framing lines in pen and brown ink; inscribed on tyhe mount in brown ink: ‘Rembrandt-Van Rhin’ and verso, in graphite (by Klingsor?): ‘Rembrandt: Vue du village de Sloten […]’
100 x 164
Drawn from a vantage-point a little closer to the village than Benesch 1237. Compare also the Oslo drawing illustrated below.
COLLECTION: CH Geneva, Private Collection (Jean Bonna)

FURTHER LITERATURE/REMARKS: Sumowski, 2002, pp.240-42, repr. fig.2 (first publication; relates to other views of Sloten) ; Exh. Kassel-Leiden, 2006-2007, no.43, repr.; Exh. Paris, Institut Néerlandais, Dessins nordiques, 2008, no.25, repr.; Exh. New York-Edinburgh, 2009, no.49; Strasser, 2013, no.45, repr. (c.1650); This Catalogue online, March 2013; Schatborn, 2019, p.306 and no.555, repr. (same village as Benesch 1237).
PROVENANCE: Jan Pietersz. Zomer, Amsterdam?; Léon Leclère, called Tristan Klingsor, Paris; sale, Paris, Drouot Richelieu (Ader & De Maigret), 21 March, 2001, lot 59 (as Dutch School); David Lachenmann (dealer), Zurich, from whom acquired by the present owner.

The watermark (viewed with transmitted light)

Watermark

Not in Benesch
Rembrandt, Kostverloren House on the Amstel River 1652?
Pen brown ink with brown wash, touched with white bodycolour and red wash, on greyish paper; ruled framing lines in pen and brown ink; inscribed recto, lower right in pen and brown ink in an 18th century hand: ‘Rembrandt’.
133 x 230. Watermark: top of a crown (fragment; comparable to Benesch 0577);[1] chain lines: 24/25v.; an added strip on the left.
D Dresden, Staatliche Kunstsammlungen, Kupferstich-Kabinett (inv. C 1910-52).
Further literature/remarks: Freise, Lilienfeld and Wichmann, no.88; Exh. Dresden, 2004, no.110; This Catalogue online, March 2013; Exh. Dresden, 2019, p.27, no.14, repr. (c.1650-53; with watermark illustration used here); Schatborn, 2019, no.572, repr. (1650-1652).
[1] As noted in Exh. Dresden, 2019 (see Literature).

Not in Benesch
Rembrandt, A Ruinous Cottage 1650-52?
Pen and brown ink with brown was (and later grey wash); traces of framing lines.
103 x 207. Arched top. Watermark: Strasburg Lily.
Mentioned in Benesch, 1973, I, p.xii. According to the Christie’s lot description, the drawing was “first attributed to Rembrandt by Frits Lugt in a letter dated 16 November 1968. The attribution was subsequently confirmed by K.G. Boon, who dated the drawing to 1645-50, and by Professor Egbert Haverkamp-Begemann. The latter pointed out that “the gray wash was added to the drawing by a later hand.”
LITERATURE/FURTHER REMARKS: This Catalogue online, March 2013; Schatborn, 2019, no.540, repr. (c.1648-1650).
PROVENANCE: Sale, New York, Christie’s, 23 January 2002, lot 128 ($160,000).

Not in Benesch
Rembrandt
An Inn on a Dyke 1652-55??
Reed pen and brown ink and (later) grey wash.
104 x 201.
Somewhat comparable in style to Benesch 1336-37. The condition of the sheet somewhat hampers any judgement but there seem to be sufficient analogies to sustain the attribution to Rembrandt, rather than to a follower such as Pieter de With. The building is a farm used as an inn, the projection to the right being a barn. The pole to the left is a navigational aid and it has been suggested that the inn lay on the Spaarndammerdijk on the IJ river to the west of Amsterdam.[1]
LITERATURE/FURTHER REMARKS: This Catalogue online, March 2013; [Not in Schatborn, 2019]

PROVENANCE: From an album belonging to Archibald Keightley (Registrar of Charterhouse in the early 19th Century and friend and executor of Sir Thomas Lawrence); by descent to his daughter, Sarah, who married Sir Charles Nicolson; by descent to their grandson, Sir John Nicolson; his sale, London, Sotheby’s, 11 November, 1965, lot 64; sale, Amsterdam, Sotheby’s, 2 November 2004, lot 78, repr.; private collection; sale, London, Sotheby’s, 9 July, 2014, lot 108, repr..
[1] As proposed by B. Bakker and E. Schmitz in the 2014 Sotheby’s catalogue. They refer to drawings of this area made by Jan Van Goyen in c.1651-52 (see Beck, 1972, vol.I, no.847/162).

Not in Benesch
Rembrandt
Landscape with a Bear (after Titian) 1650-52?
Pen and brown ink, with some white heightening on brownish paper.
203 x 294.
Apparently a copy after a drawing by Titian, but the latter’s original is unknown.
F Paris, Fondation Custodia, Frits Lugt collection (inv. 6584).
FURTHER LITERATURE/REMARKS: Paris, 2010, no. 16, repr. (c.1650); Exh. New York, 2011, repr. p.91, (c.1650); This Catalogue online, March 2013; Schatborn, 2019, pp. 19, 306 and 435, and no. 674, repr. (c.1650; though original not known, most important example of Rembrandt copying Titian; his style influenced Rembrandt, eg. in Benesch 980 and Benesch 1243).

Not in Benesch
Rembrandt?? after Titian
Landscape with a Horse 1652-56?
Pen and brown ink. Inscribed in graphite lower left: ‘A CARATS’ [for Carracci]
199 x 298.
A copy after a drawing by Titian at Chatsworth.[1] Copies after other masters are often difficult to judge and this is no exception. While the attribution to Rembrandt seems possible, one to a pupil of follower, such as Willem Drost, seems more likely. Pieter de With’s name has also been invoked.[2] It seems rather too literal a copy for Rembrandt to have made in his later career, despite some simplification of the details in the original. Much of the drawing has been ‘gone over’ in a darker ink, exacerbating the difficulty of makiing a definitve assessment.
D Berlin, Staatliche Museen Berlin, Kupferstichkabinett (KdZ 17598)
Further literature/remarks: Exh. Venice, 1976, under no.47; Winner, 1979, pp.221-24 (Rembrandt); Exh. Washington, 1990, no.38; Exh. Paris-Haarlem, 1997-98, under no.18 (attributed to Rembrandt); Berlin, 2006, p.204, repr. p.205 (attributed to Pieter de With); This Catalogue online, March 2013; Berlin, 2018, no.113 (as Attributed to De With); [Not in Schatborn, 2019]
[1] Inv.751, see Exh. Washington, 1990, no.38a, repr.; Chatsworth, 1994, no.841, repr..
[2] By Bevers in Berlin, 2006, pp.204-205.

Not in Benesch
Retouched by Rembrandt?
A girl in Oriental dress
1647-52?
Black chalk, touched with pen and brown ink
118 x 72
COMMENT: The idea that some of the decorative strokes in the

dress, made with fluid confidence, could be retouches by Rembrandt never leaves me.
GB London, British Museum (inv.1935,0608.8);
LITERATURE/FURTHER REMARKS: This Catalogue online, March 2013; [Not in Schatborn, 2019]

Benesch C 49
Willem Drost?? Retouched by Rembrandt??
A Rider Asking Two Wanderers the Way 1655??
Pen and brown ink with brown wash; ruled framing-lines only on backing; inscribed right, in pen and brown ink (18th cent?): “Rem 1640” [?]
161 x 188 Laid down; chain lines 25h (visible, just, in raking light.
This is perhaps a studio copy, or pupil’s ‘satellite’ drawing, based on a Rembrandt or Rembrandtesque design. The style betrays similarities with Willem Drost’s but seems less competent. The forceful brown wash touches, especially in the horse, seem to be not inconceivably corrections by Rembrandt, the only reason for the drawing’s inclusion here. They greatly improve on the modelling of the pen-lines. When correcting pupils’ drawings, Rembrandt might sometimes have been, literally, leaning over their shoulders – not an ideal situation to produce his finest draughtsmanship, to say the least.
F Bayonne Musée Bonnat (inv. 1444).
LITERATURE/FURTHER REMARKS: This Catalogue online, March 2013; [Not in Schatborn, 2019]
Provenance: Léon Bonnat (1833-1922) (L.1714).