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Lot Essay
The original, of circa 1639, oil on panel, 102.8 x 78.8 cm, with arched corners, is in the collection of the Duke of Devonshire, Chatsworth, England (J. Bruyn et. al., A Corpus of Rembrandt Paintings, III, 1989, n0A128). As pointed out by P.J.J. van Thiel, Rembrandt, the Master and his Workshop, exh. cat., Berlin, Amsterdam and London, 1991/2, pp.208/9, n028, the identity of the figure is not certain; it is usually thought to be King Uzziah. As related in Chronicles, XXVI:16-20, the King made offerings in the temple himself and was punished for this arrogance with leprosy. The dark spots on his face, of which technical analysis has shown that they are not caused by a discolouration, are witness of this disease. Unexplained are the gold column and serpent standing on a table in the background, which also occur in a picture by Govaert Flick, recently with Jack Kilgore Gallery, New York (W. Sumowski, Gemälde der Rembrandtschýler, V, 1983, p.3140, n02010, ill., as Ferdinand Bol). P.J.J. van Thiel, op. cit., therefore prefers to describe the subject as a man in oriental dress.
The present picture is sold with a photostat of a technical report by Prof. Dr. Hermann Kýhn, dated 28 December 1992. He notes that the paintlayers are of the 17th century and that the red-brown ground, although unusual, also occurs in other paintings by Rembrandt and his school (see H. Kýhn, "Untersuchungen zu der Malgrýnden Rembrandts" in Jahrbuch der Staatlichen Kunstsammlungen in Baden-Wýrtemberg, II, 1965, pp.189ff).
Christopher Wright, in a letter dated 18 June 1991, explains his belief that the present picture is an early work by Govaert Flinck.
The possible identification of the picture as the one formerly in the Tronchin collection is based on the fact that among the four listed copies in the Corpus, it is the only one on canvas whose measurements match those of the present picture.
The present picture is sold with a photostat of a technical report by Prof. Dr. Hermann Kýhn, dated 28 December 1992. He notes that the paintlayers are of the 17th century and that the red-brown ground, although unusual, also occurs in other paintings by Rembrandt and his school (see H. Kýhn, "Untersuchungen zu der Malgrýnden Rembrandts" in Jahrbuch der Staatlichen Kunstsammlungen in Baden-Wýrtemberg, II, 1965, pp.189ff).
Christopher Wright, in a letter dated 18 June 1991, explains his belief that the present picture is an early work by Govaert Flinck.
The possible identification of the picture as the one formerly in the Tronchin collection is based on the fact that among the four listed copies in the Corpus, it is the only one on canvas whose measurements match those of the present picture.