The Mauritshuis museum in The Hague – home to the Dutch royals’ art collection of more than 850 works – has revealed that two of its paintings long attributed to Rembrandt are not the work of the master.
The two works – Study of an Old Man and Portrait of Rembrandt with a Lace Collar will remain on display as part of the collection, with an accompanying explanation, until mid-July. The attribution of a third painting, Tronie of an Old Man, remains in doubt.
The more surprising of the two “former” Rembrandts is Study of an Old Man, painted between 1655 and 1660, because it bears what appears to be – and probably is – the signature of the Dutch Golden Age painter.
According to experts, the signature was applied, as was his habit, while the paint was still wet – and the handwriting was confirmed as that of Rembrandt van Rijn, who would have been about 54 when the work was completed.
This may indicate, the art “detectives” believe, that the painting was produced in Rembrandt’s workshop or by one of his more promising students and that this is why he signed off on it and others – essentially as a marketing ploy to help them to sell.
In addition, forensic examination of the same painting shows “a correction line” along the chin that is more characteristic of Rembrandt’s “angular hand” – and suggests that the artist may have been instructing the pupil on how best to adjust the work as it emerged.
The Mauritshuis, which shows masterworks by Johannes Vermeer (including Girl with a Pearl Earring), Frans Hals, Jan Steen, Judith Leyster, and Hans Holbein The Younger, possesses one of the largest Rembrandt collections in the world.
The revelation about Portrait of Rembrandt with a Lace Collar (1629) comes as less of a surprise given developments in infrared technology over the years.
Its attribution has been in doubt – or at least under discussion – since the turn of the century. But now, fully restored, it has been revealed with certainty as the work of one of Rembrandt’s students, identity unknown.
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Tronie of an Old Man (1630) remains in doubt because the painting is too fragile to restore, with woodworm damage that appears to have been covered up with additional paint over the years.
Examining the provenance of old artworks is a skill that develops in line with the technology available. Even where the work is found not to be genuine, it can provide valuable information about the environment in which great artists worked.
“These paintings give us an unparalleled glimpse into how Rembrandt’s studio functioned and into how he instructed his apprentices”, says Carol Pottasch, a senior conservator at the Mauritshuis.
“You can almost hear the master saying to the pupil: ‘No. You have to do it like this’.”
On the other hand, the paintings that reveal pencil lines beneath the layers of paint can be said pretty definitively, on that basis alone, not to have been the work of the master.
Why? “Because Rembrandt would never sketch first and then finish the work”, says Pottasch.
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And sometimes – as in the most enduring mysteries – the art detectives are simply too late.
“That’s when, even with the latest methods, we know we’ll never get the painting back to how it first looked. Too much time has passed.”
