An Old Lady with a Book
Rembrandt1637
National Gallery of Art, Washington DC
Washington, DC, United States
After learning the fundamentals of drawing and painting in his native Leiden, Rembrandt van Rijn went to Amsterdam in 1624 to study for six months with Pieter Lastman (1583–1633), a famous history painter. Upon completion of his training Rembrandt returned to Leiden. Around 1632 he moved to Amsterdam, quickly establishing himself as the town’s leading artist. He received many commissions for portraits and attracted a number of students who came to learn his method of painting.
This woman’s reserved demeanor, her wide-wheel ruff collar, and the Bible in her lap all suggest that she was a conservative member of Dutch society and dedicated to her religious beliefs. The sitter does not communicate directly with the viewer through a gaze or gesture, but instead seems lost in her thoughts about the biblical text she has just read. Despite the inventiveness of the portrait concept and the painterly qualities evident in the face, it seems probable that Rembrandt relegated the costume, chair, and background to a studio assistant. A small but telling detail confirms that the collar was executed after the head was completely finished: a stroke of white paint overlaps the woman’s right cheek. Once Rembrandt had blocked in the form in his customary manner and painted the woman’s head and hands, he likely passed the unfinished canvas on to an assistant to be completed.
- Title: An Old Lady with a Book
- Creator: Rembrandt van Rijn and Workshop
- Date Created: 1637
- Physical Dimensions: overall: 109.7 x 91.5 cm (43 3/16 x 36 in.) framed: 147.3 x 128.9 x 13.9 cm (58 x 50 3/4 x 5 1/2 in.)
- Provenance: Johan van der Marck [1695-1770], Leiden; (his estate sale, by Hendrik de Winter and Jan Yver, Amsterdam, 25 August 1773 and days following, no. 259); purchased by (Fouquet), probably for Jean-Baptiste-Pierre Le Brun [1748-1813], Paris;[1] (his sale, by Pierrre Remy, Paris, 20-23 December 1773, no. 11); Alexandre-Joseph Paillet. Armand, marquis de Brunoy; (his sale, by François Charles Joullain, Paris, 2 December 1776 and days following, no. 26 [paired with a portrait of Admiral de Ruyter]); (Fournel). Thélusson collection, Paris; (his sale, by Folliot and Mabille, Paris, 1 December 1777, no. 17). probably (Antoine-Charles Dulac) or possibly La Chaise collection; (sale, by Paillet and Chariot at Hôtel d'Aligre, Paris, 30 November 1778 and days following, no. 346, as _Le portrait de la Mere de Rimbrand_); Claude Billard de Belisard.[2] Marquis de Anne-Pierre Montesquiou-Fezensac [1739-1798], Paris; (his sale, by J.B.P. Le Brun, Paris, 9 December 1788 and days following, 1st day, no. 45); purchased by Le Brun.[3] Charles-Alexandre, vicomte de Calonne [1734-1802], Paris and London; (his sale, Skinner and Dyke, London, 23 March 1795 and days following, 4th day [28 March], no. 38); John Julius Angerstein [1732-1823], London; gift immediately to Sir Thomas Lawrence [1769-1830], London.[4] John Allnutt [1773-1863], London; (his estate sale, Christie, Manson & Woods, London, 18-20 June 1863, no. 502); (François Nieuwenhuys, Paris).[5] Alfred Louis Lebeuf de Montgermont [1841-1918], Paris, by 1900;[6] his son-in-law, Prince Louis Antoine Marie de Broglie [1862-1958], Paris; sold 1920 to (Duveen Brothers, Inc., London, New York, and Paris);[7] sold November 1924 to Andrew W. Mellon, Pittsburgh and Washington, D.C.; deeded 28 December 1934 to The A.W. Mellon Educational and Charitable Trust, Pittsburgh; gift 1937 to NGA. [1] This information, along with details about the 1773, 1776, and 1778 sales was kindly provided by Burton Fredericksen (e-mail, 1 September 2013, to Arthur Wheelock, in NGA curatorial files). Fouquet's name is sometimes recorded as Foucquier or Foucquer. [2] John Smith, _A Catalogue Raisonné of the Works of the Most Eminent Dutch, Flemish and French Painters_, 9 vols., London, 829-1842, 7:163, no. 505, includes a provenance listing: "Collection of an Artist, 1783." This reference, however, has not yet been verified. [3] This buyer information is provided by Burton Fredericksen, then director of the Getty Provenance Index, in his letter of 5 February 1988 to Arthur Wheelock, in NGA curatorial files. [4] It is not certain the painting in the Calonne sale that was bought by Angerstein and given to Lawrence is the NGA painting. The description in the Calonne sale catalogue is extremely brief (“An Old Lady’s Portrait, half length, with a Bible, very uncommonly high finished, with a force of colouring the true character of his finest works”) and no dimensions are given. Further, the account of Angerstein’s gift to Lawrence describes the painting as depicting the sitter with “a Bible hanging to her waist by a chain” (D.E. Williams, _The Life and Correspondence of Sir Thomas Lawrence, Kt._, 2 vols., London, 1831, 1:129, brought to the NGA's attention by Burton Fredericksen in his letter of 5 February 1988, to Arthur Wheelock, in NGA curatorial files. [5] The buyer is indicated in various ways in annotated copies of the sale catalogue: "FN," "Nieuwenhuys," and "Normanhays." [6] Wilhelm von Bode, assisted by Cornelis Hofstede de Groot, _The Complete Work of Rembrandt_, translated by Florence Simmonds, 8 vols., Paris, 1897-1906: 4(1900):35, 168, no. 288, repro. [7] Meryle Secrest, _Duveen: A Life in Art_, New York, 2004: 477.
- Rights: CC0
- Medium: oil on canvas
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