The Apostle Paul

c. 1657

Rembrandt van Rijn

Painter, Dutch, 1606 - 1669

Anonymous Artist

Painter

Shown from about the knees up, an older, bearded, pale-skinned man sits at a desk with his head in one hand in a shadowy room in this vertical painting. His body is angled to our right, and he sits in a heavy wooden armchair next to a desk. His left elbow, farther from us, rests on the chair’s arm, and he holds that hand to his forehead. He holds a quill with his other hand, which brushes his knee. He has ash-brown hair covered at the back by a cap and a long shaggy beard. He looks off to our right with dark, shaded eyes. His voluminous brown robe is brushed loosely with golden brown highlights. The rust-red garment under the robe is visible at the sleeves, neckline, and one knee. The desk, to our right, has a stack of papers or parchment. The oversized hilt of a long sword leans against the wall behind the desk. The background is painted with areas of earth and chestnut brown. Some areas of the scene are loosely painted so brushstrokes are visible, especially the brightest white highlights on his collar, the quill, the edges of the parchment, and glints on the sword. The artist signed the painting on the face of the desktop, near the lower right corner: “Rembrandt f.”

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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.

Throughout his life Rembrandt was fascinated by the apostle Paul, perhaps because Paul’s writings were the most important source for Reformation theology, or perhaps because he personified the Christian ideal of grace received independently of merit. Sitting at a table in his prison cell, the apostle ponders the words he is about to write in the epistle that lies before him. The solemn expression of Paul’s strong features underscores the depth of his belief and sense of purpose in his mission to spread Christianity to the heathens. The sword visible above the book is as much the "sword of the Spirit," the term he used to describe the word of God in his letter to the Ephesians, as it is the symbol of his military prowess before his conversion and the sign of his eventual beheading and martyrdom. The gentle light that illuminates Paul’s head, hand, and epistle has no defined point of origin. By depicting Paul at half length rather than full length, Rembrandt has brought the viewer closer to the figure of the saint, whose intensity of expression is keenly felt.
 

On View

West Building Main Floor, Gallery 48

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Artwork overview

  • Medium

    oil on canvas

  • Credit Line

    Widener Collection

  • Dimensions

    overall: 131.5 x 104.4 cm (51 3/4 x 41 1/8 in.)
    framed: 177.8 x 150.5 x 13.3 cm (70 x 59 1/4 x 5 1/4 in.)

  • Accession

    1942.9.59

More About this Artwork

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

Scholarly Article:  Dutch Paintings of the Seventeenth Century: The Apostle Paul, c. 1657

Artwork history & notes

Provenance

Johan van Schuylenburg, The Hague; (his sale, The Hague, 20 September 1735, no. 31); Backer. Pierre-Louis Éveillard de Livois [1736-1790], Angers;[1] (his estate sale, by Sentout, Angers, unknown date in 1791, no. 65); Gamba;[2] (his sale, by Paillet and Geoffroy, Paris, 17-18 December 1811, 1st day, no. 26, bought in); purchased soon after this sale by Ferdinando Marescalchi [1754-1816], Bologna.[3] Sir George Hayter [1792-1871], London, by 1841;[4] (his sale, Christie & Manson, London, 3 May 1845, no. 82, as Portrait of Cornelius Von Schrevellier [Schrevellius Translater(sic) of Homer); (Nieuwenhuys).[5] James-Alexandre, comte de Pourtalès-Gorgier [1776-1855], Paris; (his sale, at his residence, Paris, 27 March-4 April 1865 [this lot 31 March], no. 182); purchased by (Otto Mündler, Paris) for Ivor Bertie Guest, 1st baron Wimborne [1835-1914], Canford Manor, Dorsetshire.[6] (Arthur J. Sulley & Co., London); Peter A.B. Widener, Lynnewood Hall, Elkins Park, Pennsylvania, by 1912; inheritance from Estate of Peter A.B. Widener by gift through power of appointment of Joseph E. Widener, Elkins Park, Pennsylvania; gift 1942 to NGA.
[1] Burton Fredericksen brought to the Gallery’s attention details of the provenance from Livois through Marescalchi; see his 14 February 1991 letter to Suzannah Fabing, in NGA curatorial files. Further details have been found in the The Getty Provenance Index© Databases.
[2] This was possibly Bartolomeo Gamba (1776-1841), bibliographer, publisher, and librarian of the Biblioteca Nazionale Marciana in Venice.
[3] An 1813 inventory of Marescalchi's collection includes the painting: “Una mezza figura in grande rappresentante una Persona in meditazione o studiosa, di grande maniera, comprata alla vendita di Monsieur Gamba negozio di Parigi, come dal suo Catalogo. Quadro grande in piedi” (Monica Proni, “Per la ricostruzione della quadreria del Conte Ferdinando Marescalchi (1753-1816),” Antologia di Belle Arti, nos. 33/34 [1988]: 39). It is also included in later inventories of the Marescalchi collection made in 1817 and 1824 (Monica Preti Hamard, Ferdinando Marescalchi (1754-1816): Un collezionista italiano nella Parigi napoleonica, 2 vols., Bologna, 2005: 1:384, fig. 48; 2:131-132).
[4] Hayter lent the painting an exhibition in 1841.
[5] The dealer’s name is written below lot 82 in a copy of the sale catalogue annotated by Lord Northwick, now at Yale University (copy in NGA curatorial files).
[6] A Catalogue of the Pictures at Canford Manor in the Possession of Lord Wimborne, Edinburgh, 1888: 63-64, no. 154. The entry on the painting, page 63, prints an extract from a letter of 31 March 1865 to Lord Wimborne from Otto Mündler in which Mündler wrote that he had purchased "the Rembrandt 185, representing St. Paul." However, either Mündler recorded the wrong lot number or the catalogue transcribed the number from the letter inaccurately, as on p. 64 the catalogue lists the Rembrandt under "copy of the auctioneer's note," as sale catalogue number 182.

Associated Names

Exhibition History

1841

  • British Institution for Promoting the Fine Arts in the United Kingdom, London, 1841, no. 71, as Portrait of Cornelius Pietersz Hooft.

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. 17, 27, repro.

2005

  • Rembrandt's Late Religious Portraits, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.; The J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles, 2005, no. 2, repro.

  • Rembrandt's Saint Bartholomew, Timken Museum of Art, San Diego, 2005-2006, no cat.

2008

  • Rembrandt: Pintor de Historias [Rembrandt: Painter of History], Museo Nacional del Prado, Madrid, 2008-2009, no. 36, repro.

Bibliography

1829

  • Smith, John. A Catalogue Raisonné of the Works of the Most Eminent Dutch, Flemish and French Painters. 9 vols. London, 1829-1842: 9(1842):800, no. 30.

1868

  • Vosmaer, Carel. Rembrandt Harmens van Rijn, sa vie et ses œuvres. The Hague, 1868: 308.

1873

  • Blanc, Charles. L'Oeuvre de Rembrandt. 2 vols. Paris, 1873: 2:291.

1877

  • Vosmaer, Carel. Rembrandt Harmens van Rijn: sa vie et ses oeuvres. 2nd ed. The Hague, 1877: 359, 561.

1885

  • Dutuit, Eugène. Tableaux et dessins de Rembrandt: catalogue historique et descriptif; supplément à l'Oeuvre complet de Rembrandt. Paris, 1885: 7, 19, 49, 60, 69.

1888

  • A Catalogue of the Pictures at Canford Manor in the Possession of Lord Wimborne. Edinburgh, 1888: 63-64, no. 154.

1893

  • Michel, Émile. Rembrandt: Sa vie, son oeuvre et son temps. Paris, 1893::450, 555.

1894

  • Michel, Émile. Rembrandt: His Life, His Work, and His Time. 2 vols. Translated by Florence Simmonds. New York, 1894: 2:132, 237.

1897

  • Bode, Wilhelm von, and Cornelis Hofstede de Groot. The Complete Work of Rembrandt. 8 vols. Translated by Florence Simmonds. Paris, 1897-1906: 5:29-30, 174, no. 382, repro.

1899

  • Bell, Malcolm. Rembrandt van Rijn and His Work. London, 1899: 82, 140.

1906

  • Rosenberg, Adolf. Rembrandt, des Meisters Gemälde. Klassiker der Kunst in Gesamtausgaben 2. 2nd ed. Stuttgart, 1906: repro. 308, 403, 420.

1907

  • 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):124, no. 178.

  • Bell, Malcolm. Rembrandt van Rijn. The great masters in painting and sculpture. London, 1907: 79, 124.

  • Rosenberg, Adolf. The Work of Rembrandt, reproduced in over five hundred illustrations. Classics in Art 2. New York, 1907: 308, 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):102, no. 178.

  • Thieme, Ulrich, and Felix Becker, eds. Allgemeines Lexikon der bildenden Künstler von der Antike bis zur Gegenwart. 37 vols. Leipzig, 1907-1950: 29(1935):266.

1908

  • Rosenberg, Adolf. Rembrandt, des Meisters Gemälde. Klassiker der Kunst in Gesamtausgaben 2. 3rd ed. Stuttgart and Berlin, 1908: repro. 384, 561, 584.

1909

  • Rosenberg, Adolf. Rembrandt: Des Meisters Gemälde. Edited by Wilhelm R. Valentiner. Klassiker der Kunst in Gesamtausgaben 2. Stuttgart and Leipzig, 1909: repro. 384, 561.

1913

  • Hofstede de Groot, Cornelis, and Wilhelm R. Valentiner. Pictures in the collection of P. A. B. Widener at Lynnewood Hall, Elkins Park, Pennsylvania: Early German, Dutch & Flemish Schools. Philadelphia, 1913: unpaginated, no. 37, repro.

  • 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. 384.

1914

  • Valentiner, Wilhelm R. The Art of the Low Countries. Translated by Mrs. Schuyler Van Rensselaer. Garden City, NY, 1914: 248, no. 72.

1921

  • Valentiner, Wilhelm R. Rembrandt: wiedergefundene Gemälde (1910-1922). Klassiker der Kunst in Gesamtausgaben 27. Stuttgart and Berlin, 1921: 384, repro.

  • Rosenberg, Adolf. The Work of Rembrandt. Edited by Wilhelm R. Valentiner. Classics in Art 2. 3rd ed. New York, 1921: 384, repro.

1922

  • Valentiner, Wilhelm R. The Henry Goldman Collection. New York, 1922: no. 14.

1923

  • Meldrum, David S. Rembrandt’s Painting, with an Essay on His Life and Work. New York, 1923: 202, pl. 400.

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

1927

  • Valentiner, Wilhelm R. "The Henry Goldman Collection." Art News 25 (May 1927): 16-17, repro.

1930

  • Valentiner, Wilhelm R. "Rediscovered Rembrandt Paintings." The Burlington Magazine 57, no. 333 (December 1930): 266.

1931

  • Valentiner, Wilhelm R. Rembrandt Paintings in America. New York, 1931: no. 127, repro.

  • Paintings in the Collection of Joseph Widener at Lynnewood Hall. Intro. by Wilhelm R. Valentiner. Elkins Park, Pennsylvania, 1931: 62-63, repro.

1935

  • Bredius, Abraham. Rembrandt Schilderijen, 630 Afbeeldingen.Utrecht, 1935: no. no. 612, repro.

  • Bredius, Abraham. Rembrandt Gemälde, 630 Abbildungen. Vienna, 1935: no. 612, repro.

1936

  • Bredius, Abraham. The Paintings of Rembrandt. New York, 1936: no. 612, repro.

1942

  • National Gallery of Art. Works of art from the Widener collection. Washington, 1942: 6, no. 655.

  • Bredius, Abraham. The Paintings of Rembrandt. 2 vols. Translated by John Byam Shaw. Oxford, 1942: 1:no. 612; 2:repro.

1948

  • National Gallery of Art. Paintings and Sculpture from the Widener Collection. Washington, 1948 (reprinted 1959): 44, repro.

1956

  • Benesch, Otto. "Worldly and Religious Portraits in Rembrandt’s Late Art."The Art Quarterly 19 (Winter 1956): 338-340, 343, fig. 3.

1960

  • Goldscheider, Ludwig. Rembrandt Paintings, Drawings and Etchings. London, 1960: 180, no. 101, repro.

1963

  • Walker, John. National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. New York, 1963: 313, repro.

1965

  • National Gallery of Art. Summary Catalogue of European Paintings and Sculpture. Washington, 1965: 110.

1966

  • Bauch, Kurt. Rembrandt Gemälde. Berlin, 1966: 12, no. 221 (repro.), no. 223 (text); the reproductions and corresponding text for nos. 221 and 223 appear to have been switched.

1968

  • Gerson, Horst. Rembrandt Paintings. Amsterdam, 1968: 378, no. 295, repro.

  • 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: 298-299, no. 497, repro.

  • Bredius, Abraham. Rembrandt: The Complete Edition of the Paintings. Revised by Horst Gerson. 3rd ed. London, 1969: repro. 515, 613, no. 612.

  • 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: 27, no. 17, repro.

1970

  • Benesch, Otto. Otto Benesch Collected Writings. 2 vols. Edited by Eva Benesch. London and New York, 1970: 1:193, fig. 158.

1975

  • National Gallery of Art. European paintings: An Illustrated Summary Catalogue. Washington, 1975: 286-287, repro.

  • Walker, John. National Gallery of Art, Washington. New York, 1975: 283, no. 374, color repro.

1976

  • Trafalgar Galleries. In the light of Caravaggio. Exh. cat. Trafalgar Galleries, London, 1976: 21-22, repro.

1977

  • Trafalgar Galleries. Old Master Paintings. Exh. cat. Trafalgar Galleries, London, 1977: 62-63, repro.

1979

  • Watson, Ross. The National Gallery of Art, Washington. New York, 1979: 70-71, pl. 55.

1982

  • Halewood, William H. Six Subjects of Reformation Art: A Preface to Rembrandt. Toronto, 1982: 118, 120, fig. 73.

1984

  • Schwartz, Gary. Rembrandt: Zijn leven, zijn schilderijen. Maarssen, 1984: 310, no. 351, repro.

  • Walker, John. National Gallery of Art, Washington. Rev. ed. New York, 1984: 283, no. 368, color repro., as by Rembrandt van Ryn.

1985

  • National Gallery of Art. European Paintings: An Illustrated Catalogue. Washington, 1985: 331, repro.

  • Schwartz, Gary. Rembrandt: His Life, His Paintings. New York, 1985: 310, 322, no. 351, repro.

1986

  • Sutton, Peter C. A Guide to Dutch Art in America. Washington and Grand Rapids, 1986: 313, fig. 468.

  • Tümpel, Christian. Rembrandt. Translated by Jacques and Jean Duvernet, Léon Karlson, and Patrick Grilli. Paris, 1986: repro. 343, 421, no. A16.

  • Guillaud, Jacqueline, and Maurice Guillaud. Rembrandt: das Bild des Menschen. Translated by Renate Renner. Stuttgart, 1986: 528, no. 615, repro.

  • Guillaud, Jacqueline, and Maurice Guillaud. Rembrandt, the human form and spirit. Translated by Suzanne Boorsch et al. New York, 1986: no. 615, repro.

1988

  • Proni, Monica. "Per la ricostruzione della quadreria del Conte Ferdinando Marescalchi (1753-1816)." Antologia di Belle Arti. Studi sul neoclassicismo 1, nos. 33-34 (1988): 33-41.

1991

  • Martz, Louis L. From Renaissance to Baroque: essays on literature and art. Columbia, Missouri, 1991: 34-35, fig. 13.

  • The Revell Concise Bible Dictionary. Tarrytown, N.Y., 1991: 764, repro.

1995

  • Wheelock, Arthur K., Jr. Dutch Paintings of the Seventeenth Century. The Collections of the National Gallery of Art Systematic Catalogue. Washington, 1995: 241-247, color repro. 243.

1996

  • Timken Museum of Art. Timken Museum of Art: European works of art, American paintings, and Russian icons in the Putnam Foundation collection. San Diego, 1996: fig. 2.

1999

  • White, Christopher, and Quentin Buvelot. Rembrandt by Himself. Exh. cat. National Gallery, London; Royal Cabinet of Paintings Mauritshuis, The Hague. New Haven, 1999: 213, fig. 81b.

  • Harris, Stephen L. The New Testament: A Student's Introduction. 3rd ed. Mountain View, 1999: 263, fig. 13.2

2005

  • Wheelock, Arthur K., Jr., Peter C. Sutton, and Anne T. Woollett. "Saints as Men: Rembrandt's New Testament Portraits." Bible Review Magazine Spring (2005): repro. 26, 28.

  • Wheelock, Arthur K., Jr., Anne T. Woollett, and Peter C. Sutton. Rembrandt's Apostles. Exh. cat. Timken Museum of Art, San Diego, 2005: repro. 12, 13-19.

  • Wheelock, Arthur K., Jr., and Peter C. Sutton. Rembrandt's Late Religious Portraits. Exh. cat. National Gallery of Art, Washington; J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles. Chicago, 2005: 74-77, repro. 75.

  • Preti-Hamard, Monica. Ferdinando Marescalchi (1754-1816): un collezionista italiano nella Parigi napoleonica. 2 vols. Collana di Saggi, studi, richerche, i figli di Mercurio. Bologna, 2005: 1:fig. 48; 2:131-132.

2008

  • Vergara, Alexander. Rembrandt, pintor de historias. Exh. cat. Museo Nacional del Prado, Madrid, 2008: no. 36, 202, repro. 203.

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: 152-154, fig. 84.

2012

  • Gifford, E. Melanie, Susanna P. Griswold, and John K. Delaney. "The Apostle Paul by Rembrandt (and Workshop?) at the National Gallery of Art, Washington: Evolution and Alteration." Techne 35 (2012): 30-35, fig. 1, figs. 2-9 (conservation images and details).

Inscriptions

lower right on desk: Rembrandt f

Wikidata ID

Q20177450

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