Overview
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.
The simplicity of concept, forcefulness of execution, and nobility of character evident in A Woman Holding a Pink are qualities that have consistently garnered admiration for this work. The pink carnation held by the woman has long been associated with the sacrament of marriage, and it often symbolizes either marriage or betrothal. In a second association, the carnation, called nagelbloem (nail flower) in Dutch, is also associated with the Crucifixion of Christ. In family portraits, the carnation thus alludes to the fact that true conjugal love finds its inspiration in the divine love epitomized by Christ's Passion. In this particular work, the carnation furthermore relates to the still life on the tabletop: the book with brass clasps is probably a Bible, and the apples symbolize the legacy of original sin that the woman must strive to overcome through her faith.
Despite its undeniable quality and its clear relationship to Rembrandt's portrait style of the mid-1650s, scholars were hesitant to fully attribute this portrait to Rembrandt himself. It was considered the product of an unnamed student or follower, perhaps an artist working in Rembrandt’s studio. However the details revealed during a 2007–2008 conservation treatment made it clear that Woman Holding a Pink was indeed painted by Rembrandt.
Entry
In writing about Rembrandt’s classicism of the mid-1650s, Sir Kenneth Clark juxtaposed illustrations of A Woman Holding a Pink and Rembrandt’s 1658 Self-Portrait in the Frick Collection
The questions about the painting’s attribution expressed in the 1995 catalog were not the first raised about this handsome portrait. Despite Sir Kenneth Clark’s enthusiastic endorsement and the painting’s clear relationship to Rembrandt’s portrait style of the mid-1650s, Horst Gerson postulated in 1969 that A Woman Holding a Pink was executed by an artist trained by Rembrandt rather than by the master himself. He wrote: “Its solid structure combined with a smooth surface . . . are more characteristic of the school of Rembrandt than of the master himself. It could be a work of Bol or Maes.”
Aside from his concerns about the relative smoothness of the modeling, Gerson was skeptical of the authenticity of the signature and date. Technical examination, however, has found no evidence that they are later additions. Moreover, the handwriting of the letters in Rembrandt’s name is consistent with those of other signatures on paintings from the mid-1650s.
The many compelling visual and stylistic connections between these two paintings are now far more evident than they were in 1995 because Portrait of a Lady with an Ostrich-Feather Fan also underwent conservation treatment in recent years.
The removal of thick, discolored layers of varnish has also revealed striking similarities in the handling of flesh tones in these two works that had previously been obscured. The women’s hands are extremely close in character, not only in their shapes, but also in the freely brushed modeling of their forms that consists of a rich overlay of colors, some smoothly and some roughly applied. Comparable approaches to modeling also exist in the women’s faces. Much as in the hands, the flesh tones in the faces consist of a subtle array of ochers, pinks, and whites that are brushed in complex layers. Accents on the foreheads of each woman are modeled with carefully brushed parallel strokes. Instead of what appeared to be a rather bland application of paint, the face of A Woman Holding a Pink has an engaging visual richness consistent with Rembrandt’s manner.
Despite the compelling similarities in these two portraits, certain differences do exist in the definition of the women’s features, which are more robustly defined in Portrait of a Lady with an Ostrich-Feather Fan than in A Woman Holding a Pink. The distinctions are partially due to different physiognomies, but also to the softer light that plays over the woman's face in A Woman Holding a Pink as she gazes directly at the viewer rather than in the direction of her mate. The relatively soft modeling of her form, consistent with the classicism of the image, is also evident in the X-radiographs [see
Although the young woman has a quietly restrained pose, she has slightly turned her body in space, resting one arm on a carpeted table and the other on her chair. As she sits in this dignified yet relaxed manner, she delicately holds in her right hand a pink carnation, a flower that is often associated with the sacrament of marriage.
Arthur K. Wheelock Jr.
April 24, 2014
Inscription
upper right: Rembrandt. / f.1656
Provenance
Pierre Crozat [1665-1740], Paris, before 1740; by inheritance to his nephews, first to Louis-François Crozat, marquis du Châtel [1691-1750], Paris, and then [on Louis-François' death without a male heir] to Louis-Antoine Crozat, baron de Thiers [1699-1770], Paris; the latter's heirs; purchased 1772, through Denis Diderot [1713-1784] as an intermediary, by Catherine II, empress of Russia [1729-1796], for the Imperial Hermitage Gallery, Saint Petersburg; sold March 1931, as a painting by Rembrandt, through (Matthiesen Gallery, Berlin; P. & D. Colnaghi & Co., London; and M. Knoedler & Co., New York) to Andrew W. Mellon, Pittsburgh and Washington, D.C.; deeded 30 March 1932 to The A.W. Mellon Educational and Charitable Trust, Pittsburgh; gift 1937 to NGA.
Associated Names
Catherine II of RussiaColnaghi & Co., Ltd., P. & D.
Crozat the Younger, Pierre
Crozat, baron de Thiers, Louis-Antoine
Crozat, marquis du Châtel, Louis-François
Diderot, Denis
Knoedler & Company, M.
Mellon Educational and Charitable Trust, The A.W.
Mellon, Andrew W.
State Hermitage Museum
The Matthiesen Gallery
Exhibition History
- 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. 16, repro.
Technical Summary
The support, a tightly woven, fine-weight fabric, has been lined with the tacking margins trimmed. Cusping is visible along all edges in the X-radiographs, indicating the original dimensions have been retained. The painting was prepared with a double ground consisting of a brown, quartz-type lower layer, followed by a yellow layer.[1]
The paint is a mixture of layers of paste consistency and glazes, worked both wet-into-wet and wet–over-dry with low brushmarking.[2] The background layer extends under the figure, which was initially sketched in broad brushstrokes. The hands, face, and tablecloth are thickly painted and finished with transparent glazes. Some texture has been lost by lining. Scattered minor losses have been retouched as have losses along the edges. The background and the figure’s dress are moderately abraded. The painting was treated in 2007-2008 to remove discolored varnish and inpainting and to inpaint the abrasion.
[1] The ground was analyzed by Karin Groen using cross-sections and energy dispersive X-ray analysis (see Karin Groen, "Grounds in Rembrandt’s Workshop and in Paintings by His Contemporaries," in Stichting Foundation Rembrandt Research Project, A Corpus of Rembrandt Paintings, vol. 4, Self-Portraits, ed. Ernst van de Wetering (Dordrecht, 2005), 666–667).
[2] The paint layers were analyzed by the NGA Scientific Research department using cross-section and polarized light microscopy (see report dated November 4, 2010, in NGA Conservation department files).
Bibliography
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