Rembrandt works referred to as into query by specialists within the Netherlands

Conservators at The Mauritshuis gallery within the Hague, Netherlands, say that three work within the museum’s assortment initially attributed to Rembrandt van Rijn have been in all probability made or copied by the Seventeenth-century artist’s staff and college students.

The museum owns seven works by the Dutch Previous Grasp, together with seven work that have been bought as Rembrandts, however which have now been “written off or are strongly referred to as into query”. Ultimate verdicts, nonetheless, have to date solely been issued for 3 works.

The primary to be reassessed is the artist’s self-portrait, Portrait of Rembrandt with a Gorget (round 1629), which was acquired by William V, the Stadtholder of the Dutch Republic, in 1768.

“It began with the invention of an underdrawing beneath the paint layers. Nothing like that had ever been seen earlier than in a piece by Rembrandt,” the museum explains in a press release. “This prompted additional investigation, and it was finally discovered that our Rembrandt is the copy and the portray in Nuremberg [housed at the Germanisches Nationalmuseum] turned out to be the unique by Rembrandt himself.”

The second work analysed was Tronie of an Previous Man (round 1630). Abraham Bredius, the previous director of the Mauritshuis, purchased the portray for his personal assortment in 1892 however loaned it to the museum. Bredius referred to his acquisition as “in all probability probably the most fascinating portray of Rembrandt’s father”, often known as Harmen Gerritsz van Rijn.

Nevertheless, a drawing of Harmen Gerrits Van Rijn was unearthed displaying him with a large nostril and a full beard, wanting completely different from the daddy determine depicted within the portray. Additional technical evaluation additionally reveals that the background was overpainted lengthy after it was completed. The museum subsequently says that this work might be “by a pupil or worker of Rembrandt’s, or by the grasp himself. The thriller stays unsolved.”

The ultimate piece, Research of an Previous Man (round 1655), is probably the most intriguing work, as it’s signed by Rembrandt. Bredius was “delighted” when the Mauritshuis bought the portray, which depicts the artist’s brother Adriaen van Rijn, in 1891.

It was commonplace for a grasp to signal the work of a pupil, says the museum. “If it was painted at Rembrandt’s studio, it was his ‘product’. With Rembrandt’s signature, a portray by a pupil might be offered as if it have been a chunk by the grasp.”

The museum provides that in current conservation work, restorers discovered that the date was utilized later utilizing a unique paint, stressing that the yr just isn’t written in Rembrandt’s handwriting.

There are additionally technical points. “In case you take a look at Rembrandt’s Self-Portrait (1669) and Homer (1663) you will notice that each brushstroke is good. Research of an Previous Man is much less completed. We consider that it’s the work of a pupil trying to mimic the type of the grasp.”

All three work are on present within the exhibition Rembrandt? (17 April-13 July).