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Lot Essay
The attribution of the present picture to Drost was first proposed by Werner Sumowski, and has since remained unquestioned. The figure's high arched eyebrows and almond-shaped eyes are characteristic of Drost's schematic facial constructions, and can be compared with the Portrait of a man in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York and the earliest Self-portrait (that formerly with Mont, New York; see W. Sumowski, 1983, op. cit, p. 616, no. 334, illustrated p. 643), among other works; similarly distinctive are the highlights in the figure's hair and the fall of light on the face; furthermore the use of outlines for the hand can be compared to the Young woman with pearls (Dresden, Gemudegalerie). The broadly painted all'antica cloak, a recurrent feature in Drost's Italian oeuvre, suggests that the present painting was executed in Italy, whilst the proximity of the work's style, and especially the chiaroscuro, to the artist's Rembrandtesque oeuvre, indicate a dating to early that period: Meijer and Aikema have rightly pointed out that the work differs from Drost's paintings executed in a fully developed Venetian tenebrist style (loc. cit.).
Sumowski's identification of the subject as John the Evangelist and the model as the artist himself are similarly correct. John the Evangelist is usually represented beardless with long, curly hair and wearing a red cloak, whilst the goblet is a standard attribute for the saint, referring to the apocryphal account of the priest Aristodemus's unsuccessful attempt to poison him; as noted by Sumowski (Gemälde der Rembrandt-Schüler, VI, Landau/Pfalz, 1994, p. 3704, under no. 2260) the eagle is John's attribute as an Evangelist, while the goblet is his attribute as an Apostle. The physiognomic similarities with Drost's only documented Self-portrait (Florence, Uffizi), in which the bulbous nose seems a personal characteristic, is not the only reason to view this work as a self-portrait: as noted by Jonathan Bikker, in order to avoid having the painting arm block the painter's view, right-handed artists usually placed their mirror to the left of the easel, resulting in an image of the artist inclined to the viewer's right. In Drost's documented Self-portrait and his earliest Self-portrait, the artist also faces right (for the orientation of the artist in self-portraits, see E. Buijsen in the catalogue of the exhibition, Rembrandt by Himself, London/The Hague, 1999-2000, p. 200). The figure's gaze in the present painting further suggests the artist viewing himself in a mirror.
Sumowski (1969 and 1983, loc. cit.) originally identified the present painting with the 'John the Evangelist' recorded in the 22 July 1709 inventory of the Venetian Giorgio Bergonzi, one of a series of The four Evangelists. Aikema, however, argued that the John the Evangelist in a private Venetian collection (see Sumowski, 1994, loc. cit., illustrated p. 3846) was more likely Bergonzi's painting, because of its present whereabouts. A further argument against identifying the present painting as that belonging to Bergonzi, as later pointed out by Sumowski (and noted above), is the Saint's attribute: in series of the four Evangelists, John is invariably shown with an eagle, rather than the goblet.
We are very grateful to Jonathan Bikker for his assistance in the cataloguing of this picture; Mr. Bikker dates the picture to circa 1655/6 and will publish it in his forthcoming monograph and catalogue raisonné of the artist's works.
Sumowski's identification of the subject as John the Evangelist and the model as the artist himself are similarly correct. John the Evangelist is usually represented beardless with long, curly hair and wearing a red cloak, whilst the goblet is a standard attribute for the saint, referring to the apocryphal account of the priest Aristodemus's unsuccessful attempt to poison him; as noted by Sumowski (Gemälde der Rembrandt-Schüler, VI, Landau/Pfalz, 1994, p. 3704, under no. 2260) the eagle is John's attribute as an Evangelist, while the goblet is his attribute as an Apostle. The physiognomic similarities with Drost's only documented Self-portrait (Florence, Uffizi), in which the bulbous nose seems a personal characteristic, is not the only reason to view this work as a self-portrait: as noted by Jonathan Bikker, in order to avoid having the painting arm block the painter's view, right-handed artists usually placed their mirror to the left of the easel, resulting in an image of the artist inclined to the viewer's right. In Drost's documented Self-portrait and his earliest Self-portrait, the artist also faces right (for the orientation of the artist in self-portraits, see E. Buijsen in the catalogue of the exhibition, Rembrandt by Himself, London/The Hague, 1999-2000, p. 200). The figure's gaze in the present painting further suggests the artist viewing himself in a mirror.
Sumowski (1969 and 1983, loc. cit.) originally identified the present painting with the 'John the Evangelist' recorded in the 22 July 1709 inventory of the Venetian Giorgio Bergonzi, one of a series of The four Evangelists. Aikema, however, argued that the John the Evangelist in a private Venetian collection (see Sumowski, 1994, loc. cit., illustrated p. 3846) was more likely Bergonzi's painting, because of its present whereabouts. A further argument against identifying the present painting as that belonging to Bergonzi, as later pointed out by Sumowski (and noted above), is the Saint's attribute: in series of the four Evangelists, John is invariably shown with an eagle, rather than the goblet.
We are very grateful to Jonathan Bikker for his assistance in the cataloguing of this picture; Mr. Bikker dates the picture to circa 1655/6 and will publish it in his forthcoming monograph and catalogue raisonné of the artist's works.