Portrait of Rembrandt

1650

Shown from the waist up, a man dressed in fine clothing looks out at us from against a deeply shadowed background in this vertical portrait painting. The man’s pale, peachy skin has a warm undertone that glows in a stark light source from our left. His body and face are angled to our right, and he cuts his dark eyes back to look at us under raised brows. He has a rounded, bulbous nose, and a wispy golden-brown goatee frames his closed pink lips. Shadows on his cheeks and jowls suggest soft flesh and a five o’clock shadow. Wiry brown hair curls out over his temples and down to the nape of his neck beneath a green, gold, orange, and burgundy-red skullcap. A soft brown beret rests on top of his skullcap tipped at an angle away from us. A teardrop-shaped pearl earring hangs from a gold setting in the ear we can see. He wears a cream-white tunic with gold and brown detailing along the hemlines. Over that is a dark brown, vest-like garment. The sleeves are slashed so the outer fabric is eggplant purple, and the inner slashes are golden yellow. A red cloth drapes over his left arm, farther from us, and that hand rests on a gold, spiraling shaft. A dark sash may be tied around his waist, and it seems that his other hand rests against his hip, to our left. The lower half of his chest and the background fall into deep shadow, though, so some the details there are difficult to make out. The painting is signed and dated in dark letters in a shaded area, so is nearly invisible in the lower center right; it reads, “Rembrandt f. 1650.”

Media Options

Skip thumbnail navigation
Back to thumbnail navigation
This object’s media is free and in the public domain. Read our full Open Access policy for images.

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.

Although this painting was once highly regarded as a famous self-portrait, technical and stylistic evidence indicates that it was created by an unknown artist in Rembrandt’s workshop. The paint mixtures, types of pigments used, and presence of a double ground—a red lower ground covered by a dark gray upper layer—are all consistent with the materials and practices used in his workshop.

This painting is unusual in that the costume is executed in a manner quite different from the face; whereas the features are modeled with delicate nuance, the costume is hinted at with a variety of bold techniques. Rembrandt’s portraits generally do not show such markedly different techniques in the face and the costume. This and other stylistic considerations are sufficient to remove the painting from Rembrandt's own oeuvre. It may well be that Rembrandt, after having posed for this painting, approved its concept and manner of execution before allowing its sale. To judge from the number of self-portraits Rembrandt painted and etched, and from the numerous portraits of him made by members of his workshop, there was a ready market for images of the artist.

Not on view See artworks now on view

Artwork overview

  • Medium

    oil on canvas

  • Credit Line

    Widener Collection

  • Dimensions

    overall: 92 x 75.5 cm (36 1/4 x 29 3/4 in.)
    framed: 125.1 x 107 x 11.4 cm (49 1/4 x 42 1/8 x 4 1/2 in.)

  • Accession

    1942.9.70

More About this Artwork

Scholarly Article:  Dutch Paintings of the Seventeenth Century: Portrait of Rembrandt, 1650

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

Chevalier Sébastien Érard [1752-1831], Château de la Muette, near the Bois de Boulogne, Paris; (his estate sale, at his residence by Lacoste and Coutelier, 7-14 August 1832 [originally scheduled for 23 April and days following], no. 119, as Portrait de Martin-Kappertz-Tromp). William Williams Hope [1802-1855], Rushton Hall, Northamptonshire, by 1836;[1] (his sale, Christie & Manson, London, 14-16 June 1849, 2nd day, no. 116, as a Portrait of Admiral Van Tromp); Sir Anthony Nathan de Rothschild, 1st bt. [1810-1876], London, and Aston Clinton House, near Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire; by inheritance to his wife, Lady Anthony de Rothschild [née Louise Montefiore, 1821-1910], London and Aston Clinton House; (Thos. Agnew & Sons, London); sold 13 May 1908 to Peter A.B. Widener, Lynnewood Hall, Elkins Park, Pennsylvania;[2] 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] John Smith, A Catalogue Raisonné of the Works of the Most Eminent Dutch, Flemish and French Painters, 9 vols., London, 1829-1842: 7(1836):86-87, no. 211.
[2] A transcript of Agnew's bill, from the Widener Collection records, is in NGA curatorial files.

Associated Names

Exhibition History

1899

  • Exhibition of Works by Rembrandt. Winter Exhibition, Royal Academy of Arts, London, 1899, no. 18.

1909

  • The Hudson-Fulton Celebration, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 1909, no. 94.

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. 10, 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: 7(1836):86-87, no. 211.

1831

  • Érard Collection. Catalogue des tableaux italiens, flamands, hollandais et français: des anciennes écoles, qui composent la magnifique galerie de M. le Chevalier Érard. Paris, 1831: 136-137, no. 119.

1854

  • Waagen, Gustav Friedrich. Treasures of Art in Great Britain: Being an Account of the Chief Collections of Paintings, Drawings, Sculptures, Illuminated Mss.. 3 vols. Translated by Elizabeth Rigby Eastlake. London, 1854: 2:281.

1893

  • Michel, Émile. Rembrandt: Sa vie, son oeuvre et son temps. Paris, 1893: 558.

1894

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

1897

  • Bode, Wilhelm von, and Cornelis Hofstede de Groot. The Complete Work of Rembrandt. 8 vols. Translated by Florence Simmonds. Paris, 1897-1906: 5:15, 102, no. 346, repro.

1899

  • Bell, Malcolm. Rembrandt van Rijn and His Work. London, 1899: 81, 150-151.

  • Royal Academy of Arts. Exhibition of works by Rembrandt. Exh. cat. Royal Academy of Arts, London, 1899: 13, no. 18.

1904

  • Rosenberg, Adolf. Rembrandt: des Meisters Gemälde. Klassiker der Kunst in Gesamtausgaben 2. Stuttgart, 1904: 174, repro.

1906

  • Rosenberg, Adolf. Rembrandt, des Meisters Gemälde. Klassiker der Kunst in Gesamtausgaben 2. 2nd ed. Stuttgart, 1906: repro. 260, 401.

1907

  • Brown, Gerard Baldwin. Rembrandt: A Study of His Life and Work. London, 1907: 256-257.

  • 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):281-282, no. 574.

  • Bell, Malcolm. Rembrandt van Rijn. The great masters in painting and sculpture. London, 1907: 78, 129.

  • Rosenberg, Adolf. The Work of Rembrandt, reproduced in over five hundred illustrations. Classics in Art 2. New York, 1907: 260, 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):248, no. 574.

1908

  • Rosenberg, Adolf. Rembrandt, des Meisters Gemälde. Klassiker der Kunst in Gesamtausgaben 2. 3rd ed. Stuttgart and Berlin, 1908: repro. 319, 559.

1909

  • Valentiner, Wilhelm R. Catalogue of a collection of paintings by Dutch masters of the seventeenth century. The Hudson-Fulton Celebration 1. Exh. cat. Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York, 1909: xix, 95, no. 94, repro., 156, 161.

  • Cox, Kenyon. "Art in America, Dutch Paintings in the Hudson-Fulton Exhibition I." The Burlington Magazine 16, no. 81 (December 1909): 183, as Self-Portrait by Rembrandt.

  • Rosenberg, Adolf. Rembrandt: Des Meisters Gemälde. Edited by Wilhelm R. Valentiner. Klassiker der Kunst in Gesamtausgaben 2. Stuttgart and Leipzig, 1909: repro. 319, 559.

1910

  • Valentiner, Wilhelm R. "Die Ausstellung holländischer Gemälde in New York." Monatshefte für Kunstwissenschaft 3 (1910): 9.

  • Valentiner, Wilhelm R. Catalogue of a Loan Exhibition of Paintings by Old Dutch Masters Held at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in Connection with the Hudson-Fulton Celebration. New York, 1910: 9, repro. 318, 319, no. 94.

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, intro., no. 33, 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. 319.

1914

  • Valentiner, Wilhelm R. The Art of the Low Countries. Translated by Mrs. Schuyler Van Rensselaer. Garden City, NY, 1914: 247, no. 58.

1921

  • Rosenberg, Adolf. The Work of Rembrandt. Edited by Wilhelm R. Valentiner. Classics in Art 2. 3rd ed. New York, 1921: 319, repro.

1923

  • Meldrum, David S. Rembrandt’s Painting, with an Essay on His Life and Work. New York, 1923: 110,196, pl. 262.

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

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., no. 105, repro.

  • Paintings in the Collection of Joseph Widener at Lynnewood Hall. Intro. by Wilhelm R. Valentiner. Elkins Park, Pennsylvania, 1931: 88, repro., as Portrait of Himself by Rembrandt.

1935

  • Bredius, Abraham. Rembrandt Schilderijen, 630 Afbeeldingen. Utrecht, 1935: no. 39, repro.

  • Bredius, Abraham. Rembrandt Gemälde, 630 Abbildungen. Vienna, 1935: no. 39, repro.

1936

  • Bredius, Abraham. The Paintings of Rembrandt. New York, 1936: no. 39, repro.

1937

  • Goldscheider, Ludwig, ed. Five hundred self-portraits from antique times to the present day, in sculpture, painting, drawing and engraving. Translated by J. Byam Shaw. Vienna, 1937: 43, no. 199, repro.

1938

  • Waldmann, Emil. "Die Sammlung Widener." Pantheon 22 (November 1938): 341-342.

1939

  • Adlow, Dorothy. "Self Portrait: A Painting by Rembrandt van Rijn." Christian Science Monitor (4 February 1939): 8, repro.

1942

  • National Gallery of Art. Works of art from the Widener collection. Washington, 1942: 6, no. 666.

  • Bredius, Abraham. The Paintings of Rembrandt. 2 vols. Translated by John Byam Shaw. Oxford, 1942: 1:4, no. 39, repro.

1948

  • Rosenberg, Jakob. Rembrandt. 2 vols. Cambridge, MA, 1948: 1:27-28; 2:fig. 37.

  • National Gallery of Art. Paintings and Sculpture from the Widener Collection. Washington, 1948: 40, no. 666, repro.

1950

  • Pinder, Wilhelm. Rembrandts Selbstbildnisse. Die blauen Bücher. Königstein im Taunus, 1950: 78, repro., 81-82.

1959

  • National Gallery of Art. Paintings and Sculpture from the Widener Collection. Reprint. Washington, DC, 1959: 40, repro.

1960

  • Goldscheider, Ludwig. Rembrandt Paintings, Drawings and Etchings. London, 1960: 174, no. 65, repro.

1962

  • Cairns, Huntington, and John Walker, eds. Treasures from the National Gallery of Art. New York, 1962: 94, color repro.

1963

  • Walker, John. National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. New York, 1963 (reprinted 1964 in French, German, and Spanish): 312, repro.

1964

  • Rosenberg, Jakob. Rembrandt: Life and Work. Revised ed. Greenwich, Connecticut, 1964: 42-44, fig. 37.

1965

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

1966

  • Cairns, Huntington, and John Walker, eds. A Pageant of Painting from the National Gallery of Art. 2 vols. New York, 1966: 1: 222, color repro., as Self-Portrait by Rembrandt.

  • Bauch, Kurt. Rembrandt Gemälde. Berlin, 1966: 17, no. 321, repro.

1968

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

1969

  • Bredius, Abraham. Rembrandt: The Complete Edition of the Paintings. Revised by Horst Gerson. 3rd ed. London, 1969: repro. 35, 550, no. 39.

  • 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, 20, no. 10, cover repro.

1971

  • Haverkamp-Begemann, Egbert. "The Present State of Rembrandt Studies." The Art Bulletin 53, no. 1 (March 1971): 93-94.

1975

  • National Gallery of Art. European paintings: An Illustrated Summary Catalogue. Washington, 1975: 290-291, repro.

  • Walker, John. National Gallery of Art, Washington. New York, 1975: 272, no. 360, color repro.

1977

  • Bolten, J., and H. Bolten-Rempt. The Hidden Rembrandt. Translated by Danielle Adkinson. Milan and Chicago, 1977: 193, no. 378, repro.

1982

  • Wright, Christopher. Rembrandt: Self-Portraits. New York, 1982: 29-30, 43, 131-132, no. 38, fig. 73.

1984

  • Walker, John. National Gallery of Art, Washington. Rev. ed. New York, 1984: 273, no. 354, color repro. as Self-Portrait by Rembrandt van Ryn.

1985

  • National Gallery of Art. European Paintings: An Illustrated Catalogue. Washington, 1985: 333, repro.

  • Pelfrey, Robert H., and Mary Hall-Pelfrey. Art and Mass Media. New York, 1985: no. 4.10, 96-97, repro., as Self-Portrait by Rembrandt van Rijn.

1988

  • Alpers, Svetlana. Rembrandt's Enterprise: The Studio and the Market. Chicago, 1988: 121, repro.

1991

  • Crawshaw, Richard. "Vaughn and Rembrandt." In From Renaissance to Baroque. Edited by Louis L. Martz. Columbia, Missouri, 1991: 242-245, fig. 38.

1993

  • White, Murray. "Curator Questions Gallery's Rembrandts." Legal Times (1 March 1993): 50-51, repro.

1994

  • Richard, Paul. "Rembrandt Reconsidered: Did He Paint Them? Does It Matter?" The Washington Post (30 January 1994): G1, G6, repro.

1995

  • Wheelock, Arthur K., Jr. Dutch Paintings of the Seventeenth Century. The Collections of the National Gallery of Art Systematic Catalogue. Washington, 1995: 296-300, color repro. 297.

  • Fleming, William. Arts & Ideas. 9th ed. Fort Worth, 1995: 447 fig. 15.8.

2003

  • Waagen, Gustav Friedrich. Treasures of Art in Great Britain. Translated by Elizabeth Rigby Eastlake. Facsimile edition of London 1854. London, 2003: 2:281.

2005

  • Stichting Foundation Rembrandt Research Project. A Corpus of Rembrandt Paintings. Vol. 4: The Self-Portraits. Edited by Ernst van de Wetering. Dordrecht, 2005: 94, 110, 111, 116, 249, 254 fig. 255, 260 fig. 262, 261, 394-401.

2006

  • Gopnik, Blake. "Rembrandt’s Genius Lies in the Brand, Not in the Hand." The Washington Post, (30 April 2006): N1, N4, repro.

Inscriptions

center right: Rembrandt f. / 1650

Wikidata ID

Q20177344

You may be interested in

Loading Results