A Young Man Seated at a Table (possibly Govaert Flinck)

c. 1660

Rembrandt van Rijn

Artist, Dutch, 1606 - 1669

Shown from the hips up, a young man with pale skin and wearing black clothing sits with his body angled to our right as he turns to look at us in this vertical portrait painting. He looks out with green eyes under hooded lids. Light falls across his face from the upper left so his bumped nose casts a shadow on his high cheekbone. He has a wispy mustache over full, pink lips, which are slightly parted. His hair falls to his shoulders in auburn-brown curls, framing his slender face. Two silvery tassels hang on cords from a tall, wide, flat, bright white collar, which contrasts with the velvety black of his voluminous, long-sleeved jacket. His left hand, farther from us, rests on his knee and the other hand is curled so the back of his knuckles press against his right hip, closer to us. A patch of crimson red near that hand could be a pillow on his chair. His hat rests, presumably on a table, just beyond his legs. The hat has a tall, tapering, conical crown with a flat top. The shadowy wall behind him is mottled with slate gray and caramel brown, with a slightly darker panel to suggest a shallow niche.

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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.

This painting of a stylish young man is one of Rembrandt's most sympathetic late portraits. The sitter's handsome features and gentle expression, framed by the long locks of his hair, suggest warmth and sensitivity. At the same time, the understated simplicity of his dress — from the plain white collar, left open at the neck, to his black costume and hat — reinforces the sense of self-assurance so evident in the pose. The name of the sitter is not known, and the signature and date are extremely difficult to decipher. Stylistically, a date of about 1660 seems correct for this work.

This portrait may represent the artist Govaert Flinck (1615–1660), as it resembles an engraved portrait of Flinck made by an unknown artist. At the time of his sudden death in February 1660, Flinck was at the height of his fame. Following his studies with Rembrandt in the mid-1630s, he became a successful portrait and history painter in a style that was admired by important civic and private patrons in both Amsterdam and his native Germany. Flinck was wealthy and well connected, and had a remarkable art collection. The emotional warmth of this portrait suggests that the contacts between the sitter and Rembrandt were personal as well as professional.

On View

West Building Main Floor, Gallery 48

Artwork overview

  • Medium

    oil on canvas

  • Credit Line

    Andrew W. Mellon Collection

  • Dimensions

    overall: 109.9 x 89.5 cm (43 1/4 x 35 1/4 in.)
    framed: 149.2 x 131.1 x 17.8 cm (58 3/4 x 51 5/8 x 7 in.)

  • Accession

    1937.1.77

More About this Artwork

Scholarly Article:  Dutch Paintings of the Seventeenth Century: A Young Man Seated at a Table (possibly Govaert Flinck), c. 1660

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 acquired between 1768 and 1772 by Gustaf Adolf Sparre [1746-1794], Sahlgren-Sparre Palace, Göteborg, and, after 1775, Kulla Gunnarstorp Castle, near Helsingborg, Sweden; by inheritance to his wife, Elisabet Sofia Amalia Beata Sparre [née Ramel, 1753-1830], Kulla Gunnarstorp Castle; by inheritance to her grandson, Gustaf Adolf Frederik De la Gardie [1800-1833], Kulla Gunnarstorp Castle; by inheritance to his father, Jacob Gustaf De la Gardie [1768-1842], Kulla Gunnarstorp Castle; sold a few years after 1837 [when De Geer had purchased Kulla Gunnarstorp Castle] with the entire Sparre collection to Carl De Geer of Leustra [1781-1861]; placed 1855 into a family trust under care of his granddaughter, Elizabeth Wachtmeister [née von Platen, 1834-1918], Castle Wanås, near Kristianstad, Sweden;[1] sold 1926 by the Wachtmeister Trust to (Duveen Brothers, Inc., London, New York, and Paris); sold December 1926 to Andrew W. Mellon, Pittsburgh and Washington; deeded 28 December 1934 to The A.W. Mellon Educational and Charitable Trust, Pittsburgh; gift 1937 to NGA.
[1] This possible provenance and the preceding chain of ownership are outlined in Ben P. J. Broos et al., Great Dutch Paintings from America, The Hague and Zwolle, 1990: 387, 390. For information about the Sparre collection, see Ingmar Hasselgren, Konstsamlaren Gustaf Adolf Sparre, 1746-1794: hans studieresa, va°ning och konstsamling i Go¨teborg. Ph.D. diss., University of Göteborg, 1974. The painting was first published in 1884, when it was “discovered” in the Wachtmeister collection by Olof Granberg; see his article: "Drei unbekannte Gemälde von Rembrandt," Zeitschrift für Bildende Kunst 19 (1884): 30-32.

Associated Names

Exhibition History

1893

  • Utställningen af äldre Mästares taflor ur Svenska privatsamlinger, Bukowskis, Stockholm, 1893, no. 161.

1929

  • Exhibition of Dutch Art 1450-1900, Royal Academy of Arts, London, 1929, no. 83.

1935

  • Loan Exhibition of Paintings, Drawings and Etchings by Rembrandt and His Circle, The Art Institute of Chicago, 1935-1936, no. 7.

  • Rembrandt Tentoonstelling, Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam, 1935, no. 29.

1939

  • Masterworks of Five Centuries, Golden Gate International Exposition, San Francisco, 1939, no. 88a, repro.

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. 20, repro.

1976

  • Chefs-d'oeuvre de musées des États-Unis: de Giorgione à Picasso, Musée Marmottan, Paris, October-December 1976, no. 17, repro. (organized by the Armand Hammer Foundation).

  • Zapadnoevropeiskaia i Amerikanskaia zhivopis is muzeev ssha [West European and American Painting from the Museums of USA], State Hermitage Museum, Leningrad; State Pushkin Museum, Moscow; State Museums, Kiev and Minsk, 1976, unpaginated and unnumbered catalogue.

1990

  • Great Dutch Paintings from America, Mauritshuis, The Hague; The Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, M. H. de Young Memorial Museum, 1990-1991, no. 53, color repro.

1997

  • Rembrandt: A Genius and His Impact, National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne; National Gallery of Australia, Canberra, 1997-1998, no. 19, repro.

2002

  • Rembrandt Rembrandt, Kyoto National Museum; Städelsches Kunstinstitut Frankfurt am Main, 2002-2003, no. 39, repro.

2003

  • Loan for display with permanent collection, Städelsches Kunstinstitut und Städtische Galerie, Frankfurt am Main, 2003-2004.

2011

  • Rembrandt in America, North Carolina Museum of Art, Raleigh; Cleveland Museum of Art; Minneapolis Institute of Arts, 2011-2012, no. 36, pl. 35.

Bibliography

1884

  • Granberg, Olof. "Drei unbekannte Gemälde von Rembrandt." Zeitschrift für Bildende Kunst 19 (1884): 30-32.

1885

  • Granberg, Olof. Sveriges privata tafvelsamlingar. Stockholm, 1885: 3, no. 2.

1886

  • Granberg, Olof. Catalogue raisonné de tableaux anciens inconnus jusqu'ici dans les collections privées de la Suède. Stockholm, 1886: 27, no. 49.

1892

  • "Rembrandt tafla." Ny Illustrerad Tidning 28 (1892): 311, no. 38.

1893

  • Granberg, Olof. Katalog ofver Utställningen af alder Mästares taflor ur Svenska privatsamlinger. Stockholm, 1893: no. 81.

  • Michel, Émile. Rembrandt: Sa vie, son oeuvre et son temps. Paris, 1893: 568.

1894

  • Michel, Émile. Rembrandt: His Life, His Work, and His Time. 2 vols. Translated by Florence Simmonds. New York, 1894: 2:247.

1895

  • Göthe, Georg. Tafvelsamlingen på Wanås. Stockholm, 1895: 24, no. 53.

1897

  • Bode, Wilhelm von, and Cornelis Hofstede de Groot. The Complete Work of Rembrandt. 8 vols. Translated by Florence Simmonds. Paris, 1897-1906: 7:3, 4, 38, no. 488, repro.

1899

  • Bell, Malcolm. Rembrandt van Rijn and His Work. London, 1899: 183.

1904

  • Rosenberg, Adolf. Rembrandt: des Meisters Gemälde. Klassiker der Kunst in Gesamtausgaben 2. Stuttgart, 1904: 241, repro.

1906

  • Rosenberg, Adolf. Rembrandt, des Meisters Gemälde. Klassiker der Kunst in Gesamtausgaben 2. 2nd ed. Stuttgart, 1906: repro. 370, 405.

  • Wurzbach, Alfred von. Niederlandisches Kunstler-Lexikon. 3 vols. Vienna, 1906-1911: 2(1910):411.

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):366, no. 784.

  • Bell, Malcolm. Rembrandt van Rijn. The great masters in painting and sculpture. London, 1907: 154.

  • Rosenberg, Adolf. The Work of Rembrandt, reproduced in over five hundred illustrations. Classics in Art 2. New York, 1907: 370, 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):327-328, no. 784.

1908

  • Rosenberg, Adolf. Rembrandt, des Meisters Gemälde. Klassiker der Kunst in Gesamtausgaben 2. 3rd ed. Stuttgart and Berlin, 1908: repro. 500, 564.

1909

  • Rosenberg, Adolf. Rembrandt: Des Meisters Gemälde. Edited by Wilhelm R. Valentiner. Klassiker der Kunst in Gesamtausgaben 2. Stuttgart and Leipzig, 1909: repro. 500, 564.

1910

  • Hahr, R. Svenska slott och herresäten. Stockholm, 1910: 83, repro.

1911

  • Granberg, Olof. Inventaire général des trésors d'art, peintures & sculptures...en Suède. 3 vols. Stockholm, 1911-1913: 1(1911):125, no. 536, repro. no. 56.

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.

1921

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

1923

  • Meldrum, David S. Rembrandt’s Painting, with an Essay on His Life and Work. New York, 1923: 203, pl. 431.

1926

  • "Ein Rembrandt von Schweden nach Amerika verkauft." Der Cicerone 18 (1926): 207–208.

1928

  • "America Lends Dutch Paintings to London Show." Art News (29 December 1928): 1, 12, repro.

1929

  • Witt, Robert Clermont. Exhibition of Dutch art, 1450-1900. Exh. cat. Royal Academy of Arts, London, 1929: no. 83.

  • Bauch, Kurt. "Ausstellung holländischer Kunst von 1450–1900 in London." Zeitschrift für Bildende Kunst 63 (1929): 3.

  • Gibson, William. "The Dutch Exhibition at Burlington House." Apollo 9 (January 1929): 1-12, repro.

  • Puyvelde, Leo van. "Hollandsche Kunst te London." Onze Kunst 46 (May 1929): 158.

  • Rutter, Frank. "Notes from Abroad." International Studio 92 (1929): 66.

1930

  • Valentiner, Wilhelm R. "Important Rembrandts in American Collections." Art News 28, no. 30 (26 April 1930): 2-4, repro.

1931

  • Valentiner, Wilhelm R. Rembrandt Paintings in America. New York, 1931: no. 159, repro.

1935

  • "L’Exposition Rembrandt à Amsterdam." Amour de l’art 16 (1935): 271, repro.

  • Benesch, Otto. Rembrandt: Werk und Forschung. Vienna, 1935: 67 (reprint ed., Lucerne, 1970).

  • Rich, Daniel Catton. "Rembrandt Remains." Parnassus 7 (October 1935): 2-5, repro.

  • Schmidt-Degener, Frederik. Rembrandt Tentoonstelling, ter herdenking van de plechtige opening van het Rijksmuseum. Exh. cat. Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam, 1935: 60-61, no. 29.

  • Bredius, Abraham. Rembrandt Schilderijen, 630 Afbeeldingen. Utrecht, 1935: no. 312, repro.

  • Rich, Daniel Catton. Loan exhibition of paintings, drawings and etchings by Rembrandt and his circle. Exh. cat. Art Institute of Chicago, 1935: 18, no. 7.

  • Bredius, Abraham. Rembrandt Gemälde, 630 Abbildungen. Vienna, 1935: no. 312, repro.

1936

  • Bredius, Abraham. The Paintings of Rembrandt. New York, 1936: no. 312, repro.

1937

  • "A National Gallery for America." The Burlington Magazine 70 (March 1937): 143, repro.

  • Cortissoz, Royal. An Introduction to the Mellon Collection. Boston, 1937: 39, repro.

1939

  • Golden Gate International Exposition. Masterworks of Five Centuries. Exh. cat. Golden Gate International Exposition, San Francisco, 1939: no. 88a, repro.

1941

  • Duveen Brothers. Duveen Pictures in Public Collections of America. New York, 1941: no. 203, repro., as A Youing Man at a Table.

  • National Gallery of Art. Preliminary Catalogue of Paintings and Sculpture. Washington, 1941: 165, no. 77.

1942

  • Book of Illustrations. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1942: 240, repro. 31.

  • Bredius, Abraham. The Paintings of Rembrandt. 2 vols. Translated by John Byam Shaw. Oxford, 1942: 1:18, no. 312, repro.

1943

  • Benesch, Otto. "The Rembrandt Paintings in the National Gallery of Art." The Art Quarterly 6, no. 1 (Winter 1943): 30 fig. 10, 31.

1949

  • National Gallery of Art. Paintings and Sculpture from the Mellon Collection. Washington, 1949 (reprinted 1953 and 1958): 88, repro.

1952

  • Behrman, Samuel N. Duveen. New York, 1952: 28.

1956

  • Knuttel, Gerhardus. Rembrandt: de meester en zijn werk. Amsterdam, 1956: 219, 273.

1959

  • Bauch, Kurt. "A Portrait of Rembrandt’s Last Period." The Burlington Magazine 101 (May 1959): 105-106, repro.

1961

  • Porkay, Martin. Der Drost-Lose Rembrandt. Munich, 1961: 10-15, 28-29, figs. II, IV.

1963

  • Porkay, Martin. Die Abenteuer zweier unechter Rembrandts. Munich, 1963: 13, 15, 26-27, fig. II.

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

1965

  • National Gallery of Art. Summary Catalogue of European Paintings and Sculpture. Washington, 1965: 109.

1966

  • Bauch, Kurt. Rembrandt Gemälde. Berlin, 1966: 23, no. 439, repro.

1968

  • Gerson, Horst. Rembrandt Paintings. Amsterdam, 1968: color repro. 153, repro. 446, no. 405, 504.

  • National Gallery of Art. European Paintings and Sculpture, Illustrations. Washington, 1968: 98, repro.

1969

  • Bredius, Abraham. Rembrandt: The Complete Edition of the Paintings. Revised by Horst Gerson. 3rd ed. London, 1969: repro. 238, 574, no. 312.

  • 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, 30, no. 20, repro.

1970

  • Benesch, Otto. Rembrandt: Werk und Forschung. Reprint of 1935 ed. Lucerne, 1970: 67.

1972

  • Behrman, Samuel N. Duveen. 2nd ed. London, 1972: 25.

1974

  • Hasselgren, Ingmar."Konstsamlaren Gustaf Adolf Sparre. 1746–1794: hans studieresa, våning och konstsamling Göteborg." Ph.D. dissertation, University of Göteborg, 1974: 111, 127, 131, 195, 198, no. G 53, repro.

1975

  • National Gallery of Art. European paintings: An Illustrated Summary Catalogue. Washington, 1975: 284-285, repro.

1976

  • Daulte, François. Chefs-d'oeuvre de musées des États-Unis: de Giorgione à Picasso. Exh. cat. Musée Marmottan, Paris, 1976: no. 17, repro.

  • Bessonova, Marina A. Zapadnoevropeiskaia i Amerikanskaia zhivopis is muzeev ssha [West European and American Painting from the Museums of USA]. Exh. cat. State Hermitage Museum, Leningrad; Pushkin Museum, Moscow; State Museum Kiev; State Museum Minsk. Moscow, 1976: unpaginated and unnumbered.

1977

  • Bolten, J., and H. Bolten-Rempt. The Hidden Rembrandt. Translated by Danielle Adkinson. Milan and Chicago, 1977: 202, no. 549, repro.

1984

  • Schwartz, Gary. Rembrandt: Zijn leven, zijn schilderijen. Maarssen, 1984: 339, no. 396, repro.

  • Walker, John. National Gallery of Art, Washington. Rev. ed. New York, 1984: 279, no. 363, color repro., as by Rembrandt van Ryn.

1985

  • National Gallery of Art. European Paintings: An Illustrated Catalogue. Washington, 1985: 330, repro.

  • Schwartz, Gary. Rembrandt: His Life, His Paintings. New York, 1985: 339, no. 396, repro.

1986

  • Guillaud, Jacqueline, and Maurice Guillaud. Rembrandt: das Bild des Menschen. Translated by Renate Renner. Stuttgart, 1986: 362, no. 416, 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. 326, 413, no. 217.

  • Guillaud, Jacqueline, and Maurice Guillaud. Rembrandt, the human form and spirit. Translated by Suzanne Boorsch et al. New York, 1986: no. 416, repro.

1990

  • Broos, Ben P. J., ed. Great Dutch Paintings from America. Exh. cat. Royal Picture Gallery Mauritshuis, The Hague; Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco. The Hague and Zwolle, 1990: 51, 387-393, no. 53, color repro. 388.

1995

  • Wheelock, Arthur K., Jr. Dutch Paintings of the Seventeenth Century. The Collections of the National Gallery of Art Systematic Catalogue. Washington, 1995: 265-270, color repro. 267.

1997

  • Blankert, Albert. Rembrandt: A Genius and his Impact. Exh. cat. National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne; National Gallery of Australia, Canberra. Zwolle, 1997: 151-153, no. 19, repro.

2003

  • Giltaij, Jeroen. Rembrandt Rembrandt. Exh. cat. National Museum, Kyoto; Städelsches Kunstinstitut und Städtische Galerie, Frankfurt am Main. Wolfrathausen, 2003: 202-205, no. 39, repro.

2006

  • Rønberg, Lene Bøgh, and Eva de la Fuente Pedersen. Rembrandt?: The Master and His Workshop. Exh. cat. Statens Museum for Kunst, Copenhagen, 2006: 46, fig. 9.

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: 131, 134, 192, no. 36.

Inscriptions

center right: Rembrandt 166[?]

Wikidata ID

Q20177567

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