A bearded figure wearing a turban and fur coat, half length, turned to to the right

Comparable in handling to a group of brush drawings by the artist recorded by W. Sumowski, Drawings of the Rembrandt School, Newq York, 1979, 3, nos. 782x-97x. Most closely comparable are Sumowski's numbers 781x and 790x, which show the strong brown wash also used in the present lot. Another drawing from the series was sold, Christie's, New York, 11 January 1995, lot 253.
The old attribution to Guercino on the mount may be explained by the fact that the present drawing could be a free copy after a work by Guercino.
Gerbrand van den Eeckhout was apprenticed to Rembrandt at the age of 14 and left his studio in 1640. He remained a close friend to his master, and continued to be influenced by his work to late in his life.