REMBRANDT HARMENSZ. VAN RIJN (1606-1669)

THE PROPERTY OF A GENTLEMAN

Details

REMBRANDT HARMENSZ. VAN RIJN (1606-1669)

Studies of the Heads of four bearded Men in Hats or Turbans

pen and brown ink, brown wash, on light brown prepared paper
5 x 6¼ in. (126 x 158mm.)

Provenance

J. Richardson Sen. (L. 2183), his mount with attribution 'Rembrandt' and shelfmarks 'D. 20 n.'
T. Hudson (L. 2432)
P. Knight, from whom bought by Charles Sackville Bale (L. 641) in 1880; Christie's, London, 10 June 1881, lot 2427 (14gns. to Whitehead)
Jhr. H. Teixeira de Mattos, Holland
Frans Koenig, Haarlem
Mrs. Donald Methuen; Christie's, London, 7 April 1970, lot 124, illustrated (L23,100)

Literature

F. Lippmann, Original Drawings by Rembrandt van Rijn, 1903-6, third series, part two, no. 89
C. Hofstede de Groot, Die Handzeichnungen Rembrandtse, Haarlem, 1906, p. 316, no. 1363
Dr. J. Kruse, Die Zeichnungen Rembrandtse und seiner Schule im National-Museum zu Stockholm, The Hague, 1920, p. 5, pl. 7
O. Benesch, Rembrandt, Werk und Forschung, Vienna, 1935, p. 24
O. Benesch, The Drawings of Rembrandt, London, 1954, II, no. 339, fig. 378

Lot Essay

Benesch dated the drawing to about 1636. It is closely related to the large sheet of studies at the Barber Institute, Birmingham (O. Benesch, op. cit., II, no. 340), both of which were drawn not with a specific painting in mind, but rather as a type of model sheet which could be used at a later date by Rembrandt and his pupils as a point of reference for compositions. Rembrandt's interest in such studies is also reflected in etchings, such as Studies of the Head of Saskia and Others (Bartsch 365), signed and dated 1636