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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, specializing in history paintings and portraiture. He received many commissions and attracted a number of students who came to learn his method of painting.


Throughout his life Rembrandt was fascinated by the apostle Paul, perhaps because Paul’s writings were the most important source for Reformation theology, or perhaps because he personified the Christian ideal of grace received independently of merit. Sitting at a table in his prison cell, the apostle ponders the words he is about to write in the epistle that lies before him. The solemn expression of Paul’s strong features underscores the depth of his belief and sense of purpose in his mission to spread Christianity to the heathens. The sword visible above the book is as much the "sword of the Spirit," the term he used to describe the word of God in his letter to the Ephesians, as it is the symbol of his military prowess before his conversion and the sign of his eventual beheading and martyrdom. The gentle light that illuminates Paul’s head, hand, and epistle has no defined point of origin. By depicting Paul at half length rather than full length, Rembrandt has brought the viewer closer to the figure of the saint, whose intensity of expression is keenly felt.

Details

  • Title: The Apostle Paul
  • Creator: Rembrandt van Rijn (and Workshop?)
  • Date Created: c. 1657
  • Physical Dimensions: overall: 131.5 x 104.4 cm (51 3/4 x 41 1/8 in.) framed: 177.8 x 150.5 x 13.3 cm (70 x 59 1/4 x 5 1/4 in.)
  • Provenance: Johan van Schuylenburg, The Hague; (his sale, The Hague, 20 September 1735, no. 31); Backer. Pierre-Louis Éveillard de Livois [1736-1790], Angers;[1] (his estate sale, by Sentout, Angers, unknown date in 1791, no. 65); Gamba;[2] (his sale, by Paillet and Geoffroy, Paris, 17-18 December 1811, 1st day, no. 26, bought in); purchased soon after this sale by Ferdinando Marescalchi [1754-1816], Bologna.[3] Sir George Hayter [1792-1871], London, by 1841;[4] (his sale, Christie & Manson, London, 3 May 1845, no. 82, as _Portrait of Cornelius Von Schrevellier [Schrevellius Translater(sic) of Homer_); (Nieuwenhuys).[5] James-Alexandre, comte de Pourtalès-Gorgier [1776-1855], Paris; (his sale, at his residence, Paris, 27 March-4 April 1865 [this lot 31 March], no. 182); purchased by (Otto Mündler, Paris) for Ivor Bertie Guest, 1st baron Wimborne [1835-1914], Canford Manor, Dorsetshire.[6] (Arthur J. Sulley & Co., London); Peter A.B. Widener, Lynnewood Hall, Elkins Park, Pennsylvania, by 1912; inheritance from Estate of Peter A.B. Widener by gift through power of appointment of Joseph E. Widener, Elkins Park, Pennsylvania; gift 1942 to NGA. [1] Burton Fredericksen brought to the Gallery’s attention details of the provenance from Livois through Marescalchi; see his 14 February 1991 letter to Suzannah Fabing, in NGA curatorial files. Further details have been found in the The Getty Provenance Index© Databases. [2] This was possibly Bartolomeo Gamba (1776-1841), bibliographer, publisher, and librarian of the Biblioteca Nazionale Marciana in Venice. [3] An 1813 inventory of Marescalchi's collection includes the painting: “Una mezza figura in grande rappresentante una Persona in meditazione o studiosa, di grande maniera, comprata alla vendita di Monsieur Gamba negozio di Parigi, come dal suo Catalogo. Quadro grande in piedi” (Monica Proni, “Per la ricostruzione della quadreria del Conte Ferdinando Marescalchi (1753-1816),” _Antologia di Belle Arti_, nos. 33/34 [1988]: 39). It is also included in later inventories of the Marescalchi collection made in 1817 and 1824 (Monica Preti Hamard, _Ferdinando Marescalchi (1754-1816): Un collezionista italiano nella Parigi napoleonica_, 2 vols., Bologna, 2005: 1:384, fig. 48; 2:131-132). [4] Hayter lent the painting an exhibition in 1841. [5] The dealer’s name is written below lot 82 in a copy of the sale catalogue annotated by Lord Northwick, now at Yale University (copy in NGA curatorial files). [6] _A Catalogue of the Pictures at Canford Manor in the Possession of Lord Wimborne_, Edinburgh, 1888: 63-64, no. 154. The entry on the painting, page 63, prints an extract from a letter of 31 March 1865 to Lord Wimborne from Otto Mündler in which Mündler wrote that he had purchased "the Rembrandt 185, representing St. Paul." However, either Mündler recorded the wrong lot number or the catalogue transcribed the number from the letter inaccurately, as on p. 64 the catalogue lists the Rembrandt under "copy of the auctioneer's note," as sale catalogue number 182.
  • Medium: oil on canvas

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