Great Masters in Painting: Rembrandt van Rijn Part 7

[Ill.u.s.tration: [_Ca.s.sel Gallery_

A WINTER SCENE

(1646)]

The succeeding year, 1649, is one of the two that has no dated picture, and were it not for the "Portrait of Marshal Turenne," at Panshanger, which must have been painted that year--if indeed it be his, which has recently been doubted--we should have to regard it as utterly barren; for M. Jules Porges' "Old Woman" is only supposit.i.tiously of that date.

We may be sure, however, that some of the large number of unsigned pictures attributed to about that time were undoubtedly painted in the course of it. Of these there are several in public galleries: "The Slaughter-house," at Glasgow [No. 707], from the date on which the two last figures are missing; the portrait of "His Brother," in the Emperor Frederick Museum at Berlin; the "Bust of an Old Man," at Strasburg; the "Portrait of Himself," at Leipzig; "The Ruin," at Ca.s.sel [No. 220]; the picture, called "The Metamorphosis of Narcissus," at Amsterdam [No.

1251]; and five pictures in the Hermitage: "Abraham entertaining the Angels" [No. 791], "The Sons of Jacob bringing him Joseph's Coat" [No.

793], "The Disgrace of Haman" [No. 795], "Pallas" [No. 809], and "Hannah teaching Samuel to read" [No. 822], none of which is dated, though the second, third, and fifth are signed. There are also in private hands, two portraits in those of M. Jules Porges, a portrait in M. Bonnat's, and others. Dated pictures of the year 1650 are rare. There is a "Portrait of Himself," in the Fitzwilliam Museum at Cambridge, and one, "His Brother," at the Hague [No. 560]; and three subject-pictures, "Tobit and his Wife," the Duke of Abercorn's "Deposition," and "The Young Woman in Bed," in the National Gallery, Edinburgh.

The same number of pictures is dated 1651. Four are portraits: one of himself, belonging to Herr Mendelssohn of Berlin; the "Old Man," in the possession of the Duke of Devonshire; "The Man with a Baton," in the Louvre [No. 2551], and "The Girl with a Broom," in the Hermitage [No.

286]. The subject-picture "Christ and Mary Magdalene in the Garden,"

called "Noli me tangere," is at Brunswick [No. 235].

The next two years are very deficient in dated pictures. Two only, "The Old Man," seated in a chair, belonging to the Duke of Devonshire, and the "Portrait of Bruyningh," at Ca.s.sel [No. 221], are dated 1652; but the picture of "Hendrickje Stoffels," in the Louvre [No. 2547], and a "Head of Christ," belonging to M. Rodolphe Kann of Paris, are of about that year. 1653 has only one, "The Portrait of a Man," wrongly ent.i.tled Van der Hooft, belonging to the Earl of Brownlow, for "The Entombment,"

at Dresden [No. 1566], is but a copy of the picture at Munich [No. 330], touched up by Rembrandt. Here again we may safely accord to the seemingly empty year some of the undated pictures of the period, which include six portraits, one of which, "An Old Man," is in the Hermitage [No. 818]. "An Old Woman," in the same collection [No. 804], may also belong to the year, for it is very similar to the two pictures, dated the following year [Nos. 805 and 806]. The only other undated pictures which call for special mention are two landscapes: the "Mill," in the collection of the Marquis of Lansdowne, and the one at Glasgow [No.

705], which is known as "Tobias and the Angel" from the figures in the foreground.

[Ill.u.s.tration: [_Louvre, Paris_

CHRIST AT EMMAUS

(1648)]

The dated pictures of 1654 are nine portraits and two subjects, "Bathsheba," at the Louvre [No. 2549], being one, and "The Woman bathing," at the National Gallery [No. 54], the other. Of the portraits, one of himself, doubted, however, by Dr Bode, is at Munich, [No. 333], "An Old Man with a Beard," at Dresden [No. 1567], "An Old Woman," at Brussels [No. 397=A=], "An Old Jew," "An Old Man," and "An Old Woman,"

besides the two old women being in the Hermitage [Nos. 810, 823, and 825], while "The Young Servant" is at Stockholm [No. 584]. Most, if not all of these, however, were studies painted because his still restless energy would not allow him to be idle. The same may be said of the portraits dated 1655, only two of which we can even suppose to have been commissions--the companion pictures of "An Old Man," and "An Old Woman," at Stockholm [Nos. 581 and 582]; the two others bearing dates being studies of his son "t.i.tus," one in the collection of M. Rodolphe Kann, the other in that of the Earl of Crawford. The dated picture at Glasgow [No. 706], like the undated "Man in Armour," at Ca.s.sel, is rather a study of armour than a picture. The portrait at the Louvre [No.

2546], a copy of one at Ca.s.sel [No. 225], and the rest of the undated heads, mostly of small size, painted about that time, are simply sketches or studies, the only subjects being "The Slaughter-house," in the Louvre [No. 2548], and two pictures of "Joseph accused by Potiphar's Wife," differing only in details, one at Berlin [No. 828=E=], and one in the Hermitage [No. 794], for "The Flight into Egypt," at Buda-Pesth, though belonging to the period, is undated.

1656, the year of his actual bankruptcy, was an unusually prolific one, including "The Anatomy Lesson of Dr Johannes Deyman," now in the Ryksmuseum at Amsterdam, of which, unfortunately, the fire of 1723 has left only a fragment, [No. 1250]; the "Portrait of Arnold Tholinx,"

belonging to Madame Andre-Jacquemart of Paris; the "Portrait of an Architect," at Ca.s.sel [No. 224], the signature and date of which, however, M. Michel declares to be forged; and the companion pictures of "A Young Man," and "A Young Woman," at Copenhagen [Nos. 273 and 274], the second of which is alone dated. There are also two undated "Portraits of Himself," painted about that time--one belonging to Lord Iveagh, the other to Lady de Rothschild; and an "Old Man," at Dresden [No. 1568]. In addition to these portraits there are two large subject-pictures--"The Parable of the Labourers in the Vineyard," at Frankfort [No. 181], and "Jacob blessing Joseph's Sons," at Ca.s.sel [No.

227], besides "The Preaching of St John the Baptist," at Berlin [No.

828=K=]. There are, moreover, two pictures belonging to about that date--"The Denial of St Peter," in the Hermitage [No. 799], and "Pilate washing his Hands," in the collection of M. Sedelmeyer at Paris.

One, or perhaps both of these, may belong to the following year, 1657, which is otherwise lacking in important works, though it includes the "Portrait of Catrina Hoogh," known as "The Lady with the Parrot,"

belonging to Lord Penrhyn; "The Adoration of the Magi," at Buckingham Palace; a "Portrait of an Old Woman," belonging to M. Rodolphe Kann; and one, at Dresden [No. 1569], of "A Man sketching in a Book." It may also include the "Rabbi," in the National Gallery [No. 190], a "Portrait of a Boy," at Belvoir Castle, and "An Angel," a mere fragment of a larger picture, belonging to Mr Sellar.

[Ill.u.s.tration: [_Royal Museum, Berlin_

JOHN THE BAPTIST PREACHING

(1656)]

1658 would seem to have been still more disastrous. Of three signed pictures, one is a "Portrait of Himself," in the collection of the Earl of Ilchester; one, "An Old Woman cutting her Nails," belonging to M.

Rodolphe Kann, is undoubtedly a model; and only the "Young Man," in the Louvre [No. 2545], may be a portrait. Of the unsigned works of that time, two more are "Portraits of Himself," one belonging to Lord Ashburton, the other at Vienna [No. 1142], and one, also at Vienna [No.

1144], is probably a "Portrait of t.i.tus," while two "Old Men," one of which is in the Pitti Palace [No. 12], are presumably models. The portrait, called "An Admiral," belonging to Mr Schaus of New York, and that of "Six," in the Six collection were, however, doubtless commissions. The subjects include one of Rembrandt's infrequent incursions into cla.s.sical story in "Baucis and Philemon receiving Jupiter and Mercury," now belonging to Mr Yerkes of New York, a "Christ," in the possession of Count Orloff-Davidoff at St Petersburg, and Lord Wimborne's seated figure of "St Paul."

Few facts are more admirable in Rembrandt's checkered career than the n.o.ble struggle he maintained against misfortune and neglect. That he suffered there can be no doubt--the careworn face and whitening hair of the later portraits reveal it all too clearly,--but he stiffened his back and worked on undismayed.

Of 1659 there are six pictures fully dated, and two believed to have been, though in each the last figure of the date is missing. Both are "Portraits of Himself," one at Bridgewater House, and one at Ca.s.sel [No.

222], while a dated one, belonging to the Duke of Buccleuch, is a magnificent representation of the grave, strong face that had met and supported so much care. Three others are also portraits--"An Old Man,"

in the National Gallery [No. 243], the "Merchant," belonging to the Earl of Feversham, and "A Man in a Red Cloak," signed Rembran, in the collection of M. Maurice Kann at Paris. There are also two subject-pictures, both at Berlin, "Moses breaking the Tables of the Law"

[No. 811], and "Jacob wrestling with the Angel" [No. 828].

[Ill.u.s.tration: [_Amsterdam Gallery_

THE SYNDICS OF THE DRAPERS

(1661)]

To 1660 a large number of pictures is attributed, eighteen being portraits, and one, "Head of Christ," belonging to M. Maurice Kann, coming under the head of subject-pictures. Of these only four portraits are dated, and in two cases there is some doubt as to the last figure.

Two of the dated portraits are of himself; one with the full date is in the Louvre [No. 2555], and one with a doubtful date belongs to Sir A. D.

Neeld. Both are of extreme interest in their bearing on the personal history of Rembrandt. The portrait of the year before, belonging to the Duke of Buccleuch, shows us a man bearing some traces indeed of a struggle with adversity, but of a not altogether unsuccessful one. The character has been developed rather than shaken in the strife; the man is still strong in body, firm in mind; the hair, as far as it can be made out against the dark background, is still untouched by the hand of time; yet it is beyond question Rembrandt himself. In the two pictures now under consideration we find a change truly startling. The hair is thin and white, the face is wrinkled, the eyes weary. But it is in the character conveyed that the chief transformation is perceived; he has sunk suddenly into old age and weakness, the strength, the resolution of the man have gone out of him--he seems, stout as he was, to have broken at last. And yet in the next year he painted the finest work he ever did. There is nothing in his story to account for it. A severe illness seems the only possible explanation, followed by a remarkable, though brief, recuperation; but it is, perhaps, the greatest of the many great puzzles offered to us in the course of his history. Of the other two portraits, one, though fully signed and dated, is of a doubtful authenticity; while the date on "The Portrait of an Old Woman,"

belonging to Colonel Lindsay, is uncertain. The pictures painted about that year are numerous, and include a pair of portraits, husband and wife, belonging to Prince Jousoupoff; "The Capuchin," in the National Gallery [No. 166]; and two other figures in monks' robes, one belonging to Lord Wemyss, the other to Count Stroganoff; Captain Holford's portrait of a young man supposed to be "t.i.tus"; "The Standard-Bearer,"

formerly at Warwick Castle but now transferred to America, and others.

There are ten pictures bearing the date 1661, one signed, but with the last figure of the date missing, and three with neither date nor signature. Of these, however, one, "The Conspiracy of Claudius Civilis,"

we know to have been painted that year. A second painted about the time is "The Circ.u.mcision," belonging to Earl Spencer. The third is the "Venus and Cupid," at the Louvre [No. 2543], if it should not rather be counted among the portraits, since Dr Bode believes it to represent Hendrickje Stoffels and her daughter Cornelia. The same doubt as to cla.s.sification applies to the "St Matthew," also in the Louvre [No.

2538], and to "A Pilgrim at Prayer," belonging to Consul Weber at Hamburg. Two figures of "Christ," one at Aschaffenbourg, the other belonging to Count Raczynski at Posen, complete the list of subjects.

There is only one "Portrait of Himself," belonging to Lord Kinnaird, the others being one of a man with a knife in his hand, nicknamed, "Rembrandt's Cook," at Downton; the "Portrait of an old Woman," in the Museum of epinal; another "Old Woman," in the possession of Lord Wantage; "A Man," in the Hermitage [No. 821]; and the misnamed "Jansenius," belonging to Lord Ashburton. All other works of that year are, however, eclipsed by the artist's masterpiece, which, if it alone remained in existence, would compel us to place Rembrandt in the very highest rank of painters--"The Syndics of the Drapers," at Amsterdam [No. 1247].

After that eventful year, the record is a thin one. The very next, indeed, is the other of which no known picture survives. There are a pair of portraits, the "Man" in the collection of M. Maurice Kann, the "Woman" in that of M. Rodolphe Kann, which may have been painted that year; and the same may be said of a portrait called "Hendrickje Stoffels," at Berlin [No. 823=B=] (_see_ ill., p. 44).

The next year is little better. A picture of "Homer reciting his Poems"

alone bears part of a signature, and f., with the date 1663. It belongs to Dr Bredius, and is lent by him to the Museum at the Hague [No. 584].

1664, again, is found on but one canvas, "The Death of Lucretia,"

belonging to M. Leon Gauchez of Paris, but "The Unmerciful Servant," in the Wallace collection, and the "Portrait of Himself," in the National Gallery [No. 221] (_see_ ill., p. 46), belong to about that time. One, a "Portrait of an Old Man," in the Metropolitan Museum, New York [No.

274], is dated 1665. A portrait, signed Rembrandt f., in the collection of Mr Charles Morrison; one of himself, in that of Herr von Carstangen at Berlin; "The Jewish Bride," at Amsterdam [No. 1252], from the date on which the last figure is missing; and "David playing before Saul" were also painted about that year.

1666, however, appears on three portraits--"A Youth," belonging to Lord Leconfield; "A Woman," in the National Gallery [No. 237]; and "Jeremias de Decker," a poet who was one of Rembrandt's rare clients in his later years, at the Hermitage [No. 827]. The "Portrait of an Old Man," at Dresden [No. 1570], and two of himself--one at Vienna [No. 1143], signed but undated, and one in the Uffizi [No. 452]--were in all probability painted either that year, the one before, or the succeeding one, 1667, to which we can otherwise accord only one, a "Portrait of an Old Man,"

belonging to the Earl of Northbrook.

And now the tale is nearly told; 1668 occurs but once, on "The Flagellation," in the Grand-Ducal Museum at Darmstadt, absolutely the last known work of his; though three others--"Esther, Haman, and Ahasuerus," belonging to the King of Roumania; a large "Family Group,"

at Brunswick [No. 232]; and "The Prodigal Son," in the Hermitage [No.

797], are believed to date from that year, or possibly even the next and last.

There is still a considerable number of pictures to which no very approximate date can be a.s.signed, but as the attempt to fully consider all the work that Rembrandt did would far exceed all reasonable limits of s.p.a.ce, I must reluctantly leave the reader who would seek further to such a.s.sistance as the catalogue of pictures at the end of this volume may afford him.

REMBRANDT THE ETCHER

CHAPTER VIII

HISTORY OF THE ETCHINGS