Portrait of a Gentleman with a Tall Hat and Gloves

c. 1656/1658

Rembrandt van Rijn

Artist, Dutch, 1606 - 1669

Shown from the hips up, a man with pale, peachy skin, dressed in a black suit and tall hat, looks at us from in front of a dark brown background in this vertical portrait painting. The man’s body is angled to our right, almost in profile, but he turns his head to look at us from the corners of his eyes under lifted brows. He has rounded nose, a thin mustache over wide, pink lips, and a deep cleft in his chin. His face is fleshy under his eyes and along his jawline, and he has a slight double chin. The wide brim of his tall black hat casts a shadow across his eyes. Shoulder-length, brown, curly hair falls on a wide, lace-edged bright white collar, which lies flat across his chest and shoulders. Light glints off his black jacket, suggesting a sheen. Wide white, disk-like cuffs encircle his wrists over puffs of voluminous white sleeves that gather on his forearms. A black, velvety cape drapes from the shoulder closer to us and down across his waist. He points to our right with his right arm, closer to us. The fawn-brown glove or pair of gloves he holds in his other hand by his far hip is cut off by the bottom edge of the canvas.

Media Options

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After learning the fundamentals of drawing and painting in his native Leiden, Rembrandt van Rijn went to Amsterdam in 1624 to study for six months with Pieter Lastman (1583–1633), a famous history painter. Upon completion of his training Rembrandt returned to Leiden. Around 1632 he moved to Amsterdam, quickly establishing himself as the town’s leading artist, specializing in history paintings and portraiture. He received many commissions and attracted a number of students who came to learn his method of painting.

Rembrandt conceived this portrait of a man and another of a woman (see NGA 1942.9.68) as pendants, or companion pieces. In both, light illuminates the subjects from exactly the same angle. The sitters interact with restrained yet poignant warmth; he gestures toward her while looking at the viewer, and she glances in his direction while holding her feather fan so that it inclines toward him. The identity of the sitters is not known, but the circle of wealthy friends and acquaintances who might have ordered portraits at that period of Rembrandt’s life was rather small. The style of the sitters’ costumes is datable to the late 1650s, which is consistent with the character of Rembrandt’s painting technique.

The early history of these paintings is shrouded in mystery, but by 1803 they had entered the collection of Prince Nicolai Yusupov (1751–1831) in Saint Petersburg. The first published descriptions of the pair, in 1864, already mention their "extraordinary energy," and the paintings made a tremendous impression at the great Rembrandt exhibition in Amsterdam in 1898. When Nicolai’s great-great-grandson, Prince Felix Yusupov (1887–1967), escaped Russia at the start of the Revolution in 1917, he brought the family jewels and these two Rembrandt paintings with him to London. Joseph E. Widener, the future benefactor of the National Gallery of Art, purchased the pair in 1921 when the prince’s need for cash forced him to part with his family heirlooms.

On View

West Building Main Floor, Gallery 51

Artwork overview

  • Medium

    oil on canvas transferred to canvas

  • Credit Line

    Widener Collection

  • Dimensions

    overall: 99.5 × 82.5 cm (39 3/16 × 32 1/2 in.)
    framed: 132.08 × 114.94 × 13.97 cm (52 × 45 1/4 × 5 1/2 in.)

  • Accession

    1942.9.67

More About this Artwork

Scholarly Article:  Dutch Paintings of the Seventeenth Century: Portrait of a Gentleman with a Tall Hat and Gloves, c. 1656/1658

This horizontal painting shows a group of eight light-skinned musicians and onlookers gathered closely around a rectangular, carpet-covered table. The front edge of the table runs parallel to the bottom edge of the painting, and seems close to us. Shown from about the waist up, the men and women’s vivid lapis-blue, coral-red, buttercup-yellow, lilac-purple, and moss-green garments fall in crisp folds. Bright reflections on the fabric suggest a satin-like material. Two women wear feathers in their hair and one man’s hat is plumed. One man, wearing crimson red and black, sits with his back to us to our left on the near side of the table. He holds the neck of a bass viol, about the size of a cello, with his left hand, and points to pages of an open music book with the bow in his right hand. The other people cluster on the far side of the table. A man to the left plays a violin; a woman at the center plays a guitar-sized bandora, and a woman to our right plays a lute. The musicians, along with a man who leans over the table from between the two women, look down at the music books. A young man behind the woman at the center holds up a glass of pale liquid with his right hand as he touches his left forefinger to his smiling lips. A man and woman stand close together in the background to our right, in the top right corner of the canvas.

Scholarly Series:  Dutch Paintings of the Seventeenth Century

Artwork history & notes

Provenance

Possibly Gerard Hoet, Jr. [d. 1760], The Hague; possibly (sale, by Ottho Van Thol, Huibert Keetelaar, and Pierre Yver, The Hague, 25 August 1760, no. 49).[1] Prince Nicolai Borisovich Yusupov [1751-1831], Saint Petersburg and Moscow, by 1803;[2] by inheritance to his son, Prince Boris Nicolaiovich Yusupov [1794-1849], Moscow and Saint Petersburg; by inheritance to his son, Prince Nicolai Borisovich Yusupov [1827-1891], Saint Petersburg; by inheritance to his daughter, Princess Zinaida [Zenaida] Nikolaievna Yusupova [1861-1939], Saint Petersburg, Yalta, and London;[3] sold 1921 by her son and heir, Prince Felix Felixovich Yusupov [1887-1967],[4] to Joseph E. Widener; inheritance from Estate of Peter A. B. Widener by gift through power of appointment of Joseph E. Widener, Elkins Park, Pennsylvania, after purchase by funds of the Estate; gift 1942 to NGA.
[1] Gerard Hoet, Catalogus of Naamlyst van Schilderijen..., 2 vols., The Hague, 1752, supplement by Pieter Terwesten, 1770, reprint ed. Soest, 1976, 3: 225, no. 49. The painting is listed as: "Een Mans-Pourtrait, met twee Handen, door denzelven; hoog 39, breet 30 1/2 diumen."
[2] On the formation and history of the Yusupov collection see: Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts, A Scholar's Whim: Collection of Prince Nicolai Borisovich Yusupov, 2 vols., Moscow, 2001; Oleg Yakovlevich Neverov, Great Private Collections of Imperial Russia, New York and St. Petersburg, 2004: 89-102; State Hermitage Museum, Collectors in St. Petersburg, exh. cat., Hermitage Amsterdam, Zwolle, 2006: 23, 37-47. The German traveller Heinrich Christoph von Reimers (1768-1812) visited the collection in 1803 when it was housed in the family's palace on the Fontanka River in Saint Petersburg; his description of it, published in 1805, mentions the Gallery's painting, and its pendant NGA 1942.9.68. See Heinrich Christoph von Reimers, St. Petersburg, am Ende seines Ersten Jahrhunderts, 2 vols., Saint Petersburg, 1805: 2:373.
The spelling of the family name takes a variety of forms in the literature, reflecting different transliterations of the Cyrillic letters; among them are: Youssoupoff, Yussupov, Jussupov, and Yussupoff.
[3] The princess was the wife of Felix Felixovich, count Sumarokov-Elston (1856-1928), but she was the last surviving representative of the Yusupov family, and her husband was given the right to take his wife's surname and title. The Yusupov art collection, however, was hers, and, after the death in 1908 of her first son, Nicolai, the heir to it became her second son, Felix.
[4] The Yusupov collection, including the two portraits by Rembrandt, was moved in 1811 from Saint Petersburg to the family's Arkhangelskoye estate near Moscow, where it survived Napoleon's invasion of Russia during 1812, and was returned again to Saint Petersburg in 1837 to a new family palace on the Moika River. It remained there until sometime after the Russian Revolution of 1917, when much of the collection was seized by the Bolshevik government. The two Rembrandt paintings, however, were smuggled out of the Moika Palace at some point prior to April 1919, when Prince Felix Felixovich Yusupov, his wife and parents, and other members of the Russian nobility left Yalta aboard a British ship. The paintings were taken by the prince to London, where negotiations for their sale began.

Associated Names

Exhibition History

1898

  • Rembrandt: Schilderijen Bijeengebracht ter Gelegenheid van de Inhuldiging van Hare Majesteit Koningin Wilhelmina, Stedelij Museum, Amsterdam, 1898, no. 110.

1909

  • Les anciennes Ecoles de Peinture dans les Palais et Collections privées Russes, Saint Petersburg, Russia, 1909, no. 291.

1969

  • Rembrandt in the National Gallery of Art [Commemorating the Tercentenary of the Artist's Death], National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 1969, no. 14, 24, repro.

1997

  • Rembrandt and the Golden Age: Dutch Paintings from the National Gallery of Art, The Chrysler Museum of Art, Norfolk, 1997, unnumbered brochure, repro.

2001

  • A Scholar's Whim: The Collection of Prince Nicolai Borisovich Yusupov, Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts, Moscow; State Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg, 2001-2002, no. 120, repro. (shown only in Moscow).

2014

  • Rembrandt: The Late Works, National Gallery, London; Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam, 2014-2015, no. 37, repro.

2019

  • Rembrandt y el retratro en Amsterdam, 1590-1670 [Rembrandt and Amsterdam portraiture, 1590-1670], Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza, Madrid, 2020, no. 84, repro.

Bibliography

1805

  • Reimers, Heinrich Christoph von. St. Petersburg am Ende seines ersten Jahrhunderts. 2 vols. Saint Petersburg, 1805: 2:373.

1827

  • Galerie d’Archangelski. 5 vols. Arkhangelskoye State Museum & Estate, Krasnogorsk District, Moscow Oblast. Yusupov Family Archives, manuscript inv. 1014-GF. Moscow, 1827: 1:185, no. 4, in the Salon des Antiqués.

1828

  • Le Cointe de Laveau [Lecointe de Laveau], G. "Description d'Arckhangelsky [Arkhangelsky]." Bulletin du Nord 3 (March 1828): 284.

1835

  • Le Cointe de Laveau [Lecointe de Laveau], G. Description de Moscou: contenant tout ce que cette capitale offre de curieux et d'intéressant. 2 vols. Moscow, 1835: 2:282.

1839

  • Musée du Prince Youssoupoff: contenant les tableaux, marbres, ivoires et porcelaines qui se trouvent dans l'hôtel de son excellence à Saint Pétersbourg. Saint Petersburg, 1839: 43, no. 203.

1864

  • Waagen, Gustav Friedrich. Die Gemäldesammlung in der kaiserlichen Ermitage zu St. Petersburg nebst Bemerkungen über andere dortige Kunstsammlungen. Munich, 1864: 414.

1883

  • Bode, Wilhelm von. Studien zur Geschichte der holländischen Malerei. Braunschweig, 1883: 530, 604, no. 357.

1885

  • Dutuit, Eugène. Tableaux et dessins de Rembrandt: catalogue historique et descriptif; supplément à l'Oeuvre complet de Rembrandt. Paris, 1885: 54.

1893

  • Michel, Émile. Rembrandt: Sa vie, son oeuvre et son temps. Paris, 1893: 567.

1894

  • Michel, Émile. Rembrandt: His Life, His Work, and His Time. 2 vols. Translated by Florence Simmonds. New York, 1894: 2:246.

1897

  • Bode, Wilhelm von, and Cornelis Hofstede de Groot. The Complete Work of Rembrandt. 8 vols. Translated by Florence Simmonds. Paris, 1897-1906: 7:4, 40, no. 489, repro.

1898

  • Stedelijk Museum. Rembrandt: Schilderijen bijeengebracht ter gelegenheid van de inhuldiging van Hare Majesteit Koningin Wilhelmina. Exh. cat. Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam, 1898: no. 110.

1899

  • Hofstede de Groot, Cornelis. "Die Rembrandt-Ausstellungen zu Amsterdam (September–October 1898) und zu London (January–March 1899)." Repertorium für Kunstwissenschaft 22 (1899): 159-166, no. 34, repro.

  • Bell, Malcolm. Rembrandt van Rijn and His Work. London, 1899: 84, 182.

1904

  • Rosenberg, Adolf. Rembrandt: des Meisters Gemälde. Klassiker der Kunst in Gesamtausgaben 2. Stuttgart, 1904: 231, repro.

1906

  • Rosenberg, Adolf. Rembrandt, des Meisters Gemälde. Klassiker der Kunst in Gesamtausgaben 2. 2nd ed. Stuttgart, 1906: repro. 346.

1907

  • Brown, Gerard Baldwin. Rembrandt: A Study of His Life and Work. London, 1907: 261.

  • Hofstede de Groot, Cornelis. A Catalogue Raisonné of the Works of the Most Eminent Dutch Painters of the Seventeenth Century. 8 vols. Translated by Edward G. Hawke. London, 1907-1927: 6(1916):364, no. 779.

  • Bell, Malcolm. Rembrandt van Rijn. The great masters in painting and sculpture. London, 1907: 81, 152.

  • Rosenberg, Adolf. The Work of Rembrandt, reproduced in over five hundred illustrations. Classics in Art 2. New York, 1907: 346, repro.

  • Hofstede de Groot, Cornelis. Beschreibendes und kritisches Verzeichnis der Werke der hervorragendsten holländischen Maler des XVII. Jahrhunderts. 10 vols. Esslingen and Paris, 1907-1928: 6(1915):326, no. 779.

1908

  • Rosenberg, Adolf. Rembrandt, des Meisters Gemälde. Klassiker der Kunst in Gesamtausgaben 2. 3rd ed. Stuttgart and Berlin, 1908: repro. 484.

1909

  • Troubnikoff, A. "Art in Russia." The Burlington Magazine 14 (February 1909): 320, 325.

  • Rosenberg, Adolf. Rembrandt: Des Meisters Gemälde. Edited by Wilhelm R. Valentiner. Klassiker der Kunst in Gesamtausgaben 2. Stuttgart and Leipzig, 1909: repro. 484, 564.

1910

  • Weiner, Pierre Paul von, et al. Les Anciennes ecoles de peinture dans les palais et collections privées Russes. Brussels, 1910: 83, repro.

1911

  • Fry, Roger. "Review and Notices." The Burlington Magazine 19 (September 1911): 353-354.

1913

  • Rosenberg, Adolf. The Work of Rembrandt, reproduced in over five hundred illustrations. Classics in Art 2. Edited by Wilhelm R. Valentiner. 2nd ed. New York, 1913: repro. 485.

1920

  • Katalog khudozhestvennykh proizvedenii byvshei IUsupovskoi gallerei [Yusupov Collection]. Petrograd, 1920: 17, no. 374, pl. 11.

1921

  • "Great Rembrandt Mystery Is Solved." American Art News 20 (17 December 1921): 1.

  • "Mr. Widener’s Newly Acquired Rembrandts Enrich America’s Art." American Art News 20 (29 October 1921): 6, repro.

  • "Rembrandt Works Present a Mystery." _American Art News _ 20 (December 1921): 4.

  • Fry, Roger. "Two Rembrandt Portraits." The Burlington Magazine 38, no. 218 (May 1921): 210, pl. 1.

  • Rosenberg, Adolf. The Work of Rembrandt. Edited by Wilhelm R. Valentiner. Classics in Art 2. 3rd ed. New York, 1921: 485, repro.

1922

  • Neumann, Carl. Rembrandt. (1902). 2 vols. Munich, 1922: 1: 257, n.1.

1923

  • Meldrum, David S. Rembrandt’s Painting, with an Essay on His Life and Work. New York, 1923: 139, 200, pl. 366.

  • Paintings in the Collection of Joseph Widener at Lynnewood Hall. Intro. by Wilhelm R. Valentiner. Elkins Park, Pennsylvania, 1923: unpaginated, repro.

  • Van Dyke, John C. Rembrandt and His School. New York, 1923: 173, repro. pl. 44, no. 173.

1924

  • Van Dyke, John C. "Rembrandt Problems." The Burlington Magazine for Connoisseurs 45, no. 257 (August 1924): 101-102.

1926

  • Weisbach, Werner. Rembrandt. Berlin, 1926: 543-545, fig. 177.

1928

  • Glück, Gustav. "Rembrandts Selbstbildnis aus dem Jahre 1652." Jahrbuch der Kunsthistorischen Sammlungen in Wien 2 (1928): 317-328.

1930

  • Valentiner, Wilhelm R. "Important Rembrandts in American Collections." Art News 28, no. 30 (26 April 1930): 3-4, repro.

1931

  • Valentiner, Wilhelm R. Rembrandt Paintings in America. New York, 1931: intro., pl. 171.

  • Paintings in the Collection of Joseph Widener at Lynnewood Hall. Intro. by Wilhelm R. Valentiner. Elkins Park, Pennsylvania, 1931: 74-75, repro.

1932

  • Hind, Arthur M. Rembrandt: Being the Substance of the Charles Eliot Norton Lectures Delivered before Harvard University 1930–1931. Cambridge, Massachusetts, 1932: 91.

1935

  • Bredius, Abraham. Rembrandt Schilderijen, 630 Afbeeldingen. Utrecht, 1935: no. 327, repro.

  • Bredius, Abraham. Rembrandt Gemälde, 630 Abbildungen. Vienna, 1935: no. 327, repro.

1936

  • Holmes, Charles John. Self and Partners (Mostly Self): Being the Reminiscences of C. J. Holmes. New York, 1936: 376.

  • Bredius, Abraham. The Paintings of Rembrandt. New York, 1936: no. 327, repro.

1938

  • Waldmann, Emil. "Die Sammlung Widener." Pantheon 22 (November 1938): 335, 342.

1940

  • Widener, Peter A.B. Without Drums. New York, 1940: 60-64, repro.

1942

  • National Gallery of Art. Works of art from the Widener collection. Washington, 1942: 6, no. 663.

  • Bredius, Abraham. The Paintings of Rembrandt. 2 vols. Translated by John Byam Shaw. Oxford, 1942: 1:18, no. 327, repro.

1948

  • Rosenberg, Jakob. Rembrandt. 2 vols. Cambridge, MA, 1948: 1:47-48; 2:fig. 71.

  • National Gallery of Art. Paintings and Sculpture from the Widener Collection. Washington, 1948: 49, repro.

1952

  • Behrman, Samuel N. Duveen. New York, 1952: 17-24.

1959

  • National Gallery of Art. Paintings and Sculpture from the Widener Collection. Reprint. Washington, DC, 1959: 49, repro.

1962

  • Boeck, Wilhelm. Rembrandt. Stuttgart, 1962: 88.

1963

  • Walker, John. National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. New York, 1963 (reprinted 1964 in French, German, and Spanish): 314, repro.

1964

  • Rosenberg, Jakob. Rembrandt: Life and Work. Revised ed. Greenwich, Connecticut, 1964: 82-83, fig. 71.

1965

  • National Gallery of Art. Summary Catalogue of European Paintings and Sculpture. Washington, 1965: 111.

1966

  • Bauch, Kurt. Rembrandt Gemälde. Berlin, 1966: 23, no. 446, repro.

1968

  • Gerson, Horst. Rembrandt Paintings. Amsterdam, 1968: color repro. 158, 450, 504, no. 411.

  • National Gallery of Art. European Paintings and Sculpture, Illustrations. Washington, 1968: 97, repro.

1969

  • Haak, Bob. Rembrandt: His Life, His Work, His Time. Translated by Elizabeth Willems-Treeman. New York, 1969: 293-295, repro., 489-490, color repro., 490a & b (details).

  • Bredius, Abraham. Rembrandt: The Complete Edition of the Paintings. Revised by Horst Gerson. 3rd ed. London, 1969: repro. 255, 575, no. 327.

  • National Gallery of Art. Rembrandt in the National Gallery of Art: Commemorating the tercentenary of the artist's death. Exh. cat. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1969: 7, 24, no. 14.

1972

  • Behrman, Samuel N. Duveen. 2nd ed. London, 1972: 16-22, repro.

1975

  • Wright, Christopher. Rembrandt and His Art. London and New York, 1975: 119-122, pl. 99.

  • European Paintings: An Illustrated Summary Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1975: 288, repro.

1977

  • Bolten, J., and H. Bolten-Rempt. The Hidden Rembrandt. Translated by Danielle Adkinson. Milan and Chicago, 1977: 203, no. 572, repro.

1982

  • Kitson, Michael. Rembrandt. 2nd ed. Oxford, 1982: 46, fig. 44.

1983

  • Eeghen, I. H. van. "De familie Trip en het Trippenhuis" in Het Trippenhuis te Amsterdam. Edited by R. Meischke and H.E. Reese. Amsterdam 1983: 27-126, repro. 25.

1984

  • Schwartz, Gary. Rembrandt: Zijn leven, zijn schilderijen. Maarssen, 1984: 344, no. 405, repro.

  • Walker, John. National Gallery of Art, Washington. Rev. ed. New York, 1984: 276, no. 359, color repro.

1985

  • National Gallery of Art. European Paintings: An Illustrated Catalogue. Washington, 1985: 332, repro.

  • Schwartz, Gary. Rembrandt: His Life, His Paintings. New York, 1985: 344, no. 405, repro.

1986

  • Guillaud, Jacqueline, and Maurice Guillaud. Rembrandt: das Bild des Menschen. Translated by Renate Renner. Stuttgart, 1986: 377-378, no. 431, color repro.

  • Sutton, Peter C. A Guide to Dutch Art in America. Washington and Grand Rapids, 1986: 314.

  • Tümpel, Christian. Rembrandt. Translated by Jacques and Jean Duvernet, Léon Karlson, and Patrick Grilli. Paris, 1986: repro. 328, 413, no. 221.

  • Ackerman, Martin S. Smart money and art: investing in fine art. Barrytown, New York, 1986: 67-69.

  • Guillaud, Jacqueline, and Maurice Guillaud. Rembrandt, the human form and spirit. Translated by Suzanne Boorsch et al. New York, 1986: no. 431, color repro.

1990

  • Liedtke, Walter A. "Dutch Paintings in America: The Collectors and their Ideals." In Great Dutch Paintings from America. Edited by Ben P.J. Broos. Exh. cat. Royal Picture Gallery Mauritshuis, The Hague; Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco. The Hague and Zwolle, 1990: 43, 58 n. 132.

1995

  • Wheelock, Arthur K., Jr. Dutch Paintings of the Seventeenth Century. The Collections of the National Gallery of Art Systematic Catalogue. Washington, 1995: 252-261, color repro. 255.

2000

  • Wright, Christopher. Rembrandt. Collection Les Phares 10. Translated by Paul Alexandre. Paris, 2000: 234, fig. 225, repro.

2001

  • Savinskaya, Liubov. A Scholar's Whim: The Collection of Prince Nikolai Borisovich Yusupov. 2 vols. Exh. cat. Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts, Moscow, 2001: no. 120.

2004

  • Neverov, Oleg Yakovlevich. Great Private Collections of Imperial Russia. New York and Saint Petersburg, 2004: 102.

  • Scallen, Catherine. Rembrandt, Reputation, and the Practice of Connoisseurship. Amsterdam, 2004: 135, fig. 27.

2006

  • Deryabina, Ekaterina. "The Yusupovs as Collectors." in Collectors in St. Petersburg. Edited by Sergej O. Androsov and Vincent Boele. Exh. cat. Hermitage Amsterdam. Zwolle, 2006: 46.

2011

  • Keyes, George S., Tom Rassieur, and Dennis P. Weller. Rembrandt in America: collecting and connoisseurship. Exh. cat. North Carolina Museum of Art, Raleigh; Cleveland Museum of Art; Minneapolis Institute of Arts. New York, 2011: New York, 2011: 134-135, fig. 69.

2014

  • Bikker, Jonathan, and Gregor J.M. Weber. Rembrandt: The Late Works. Exh. cat. National Gallery, London; Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam. London, 2014: no. 37, repro. 102, 104-105, 296.

  • Wieseman, M.E., Jonathan Bikker, et al. Rembrandt: The Late Works, Supplement with Provenance, Selected Literature and Bibliography. Online supplement to Exh. cat. National Gallery London; Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam. London, 2014, https://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/media/25834/rembrandt-supplement.pdf: 9.

Wikidata ID

Q20177419

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