YEARS OF DECLINE (1643-1658)
There is still no lack of portraits in 1643. There are two pairs, "The
Gentleman with the Hawk," and "The Lady with the Fan," at Grosvenor
House, which, however, Dr Bode and M. Michel decline to admit among
Rembrandt's works, and "The Dutch Admiral" and "His Wife," now in
America. It is doubtful whether the "Old Woman weighing Money," at
Dresden [No. 1564], ought to be included among the portraits; but there
can be no question about the "Young Man in a Cap and Breastplate," in
the same gallery [No. 1565], the "Old Woman," in the Hermitage [No.
807], called "Rembrandt's Mother," or the "Man," in the collection of Mr
Armour. The other "Old Man," belonging to Mr Schloss of Paris, is
probably only a study; and the "Portrait of a Man," incorrectly called
Six, in the collection of Morris K. Jessup of New York, is but
conjecturally a work of this year. There are three portraits of himself:
one at Weimar, one belonging to Prince Henri of the Pays Bas, one,
signed but undated, at Carlsruhe [No. 238]; and there is a portrait,
called Saskia, at Berlin [No. 812]. The only signed subject of the year
is the "Bathsheba at her Toilet," in the Steengracht collection at the
Hague; but "The Holy Family," at Downton, was painted about that time.
The next year has very small results to show, and might, taken by
itself, support the belief in the sudden unpopularity of Rembrandt were
there not five other years for which we can now find only five pictures,
and several with fewer. All the five of 1644 are signed. Three are
portraits: Captain Holford's "Man with a Sword," Earl Cowper's "Young
Man," and the fancifully named "Constable of Bourbon," in the collection
of Herr Thieme at Leipzig. There is one subject-picture, "The Woman
taken in Adultery," painted for Jan Six, and now in the National Gallery
[No. 45]. Another of the same subject, in the possession of Consul Weber
at Hamburg, bears, according to M. Michel, a forged signature, and is
regarded by him as very doubtful.
[Illustration: [_National Gallery, London_
THE WOMAN TAKEN IN ADULTERY
(1644)]
[Illustration: [_Dulwich Gallery_
A GIRL AT A WINDOW
(1645)]
There are four subject-pictures dated 1645. First and foremost is "The
Holy Family," in the Hermitage [No. 796]. Fine also is "The Tribute
Money," belonging to Mr Beaumont, though much more summarily handled.
The "Daniel's Vision," at Berlin [No. 806], is more careful in
treatment, but the companion picture, "Tobias' Wife with the Goat" [No.
805], is little more than a sketch. At Berlin, also, are two of the five
dated portraits of that year, one of "A Rabbi," in the Museum [No.
828=A=], and one of "J. C. Sylvius," in the collection of Herr von
Carstangen. The Hermitage has one portrait [No. 820], called at one time
"Manasseh ben Israel." A "Portrait of a Young Girl," in the Dulwich
Gallery [No. 206], and "An Orphan Girl of Amsterdam," now in the United
States, are probably works painted for the purpose of study, rather than
portraits; and the same remark applies to the "Portrait of Himself,"
at Buckingham Palace, which, though the last figure of the date is
wanting, was, in all likelihood, a work of that year.
The "Portrait of a Lady," in the collection of Captain Holford; the
little sketch of "An Old Man Seated," belonging to the executors of the
late Sir F. Cook, and "An Old Man," at Dresden [No. 1571], are undated
portraits of about this time; while the "Man reading by a Window," in
the Carlsberg Glyptotek at Copenhagen, if it be really a Rembrandt,
which is doubtful, is an undated subject. There are, furthermore, two
landscapes, both undated, one at Oldenburg [No. 169], and one in the
collection of Mme. Lacroix at Paris.
Another landscape, "A Winter Scene," at Cassel [No. 219], is dated 1646,
as is a "Portrait of a Young Man," belonging to Mr Humphry Ward. There
are also four subject-pictures bearing the same date, two of "The
Adoration of the Shepherds," one in the National Gallery [No. 47],
painted originally for Six, and one at Munich [No. 331], differing
entirely in arrangement; one of "Christ bound to the Column," in the
collection of Herr von Carstangen at Berlin; and the "Holy Family,"
called "The Woodchopper," at Cassel [No. 218].
1647 is inscribed on only five pictures. Two are the portraits called
"Nicholas Berchem," and "His Wife," at Grosvenor House, and a small one
of "An Old Man," at Leeuwarden, in the collection of Baron van Harinxma.
A fourth of "Dr Bonus," in the Six collection, is not dated, but as it
exactly resembles the etching of that year, it is, with much reason,
attributed to it. There is only one subject, "Susannah and the Elders,"
in the Berlin Gallery [No. 828=E=]. Two undated studies also belong to
about that time, a small head and shoulders of "Susannah," belonging to
M. L[e']on Bonnat of Paris, and the "Woman bathing," at the Louvre [No.
2550]. A large picture of "Joseph's Coat," in the collection of the Earl
of Derby, is one of the most ungraceful and undignified spectacles that
even Rembrandt's stern realism ever produced. Enchanting, on the other
hand, in its truth and delicacy is the "The Shepherds reposing at
Night," in the National Gallery of Ireland, with its contrasted effects
of firelight and moonlit night.
No known portrait bears the date 1648, though one of "A Young Painter
with Papers and Crayon," signed Rembrandt 164--, is believed to belong
to about that year. There are, however, four dated subject-pictures: two
at the Louvre--"Christ at Emmaus" [No. 2539], and "The Good Samaritan"
[No. 2537],--one, "Hannah teaching the Infant Samuel to read," at
Bridgewater House, and one, a different version of "Christ at Emmaus,"
at Copenhagen [No. 292]. A small picture of "Christ on the Cross," in
the collection of Herr Carl Hollitscher at Berlin, was also probably
painted about this time.
[Illustration: [_Royal Museum, Berlin_
PORTRAIT OF A RABBI
(1645)]
[Illustration: [_Cassel 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 Porg[`e]s' "Old Woman" is only supposititiously 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 Cassel [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 Porg[`e]s, 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 Cassel [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 entitled
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.
[Illustration: [_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 "Titus," 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 Cassel, is
rather a study of armour than a picture. The portrait at the Louvre [No.
2546], a copy of one at Cassel [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 Andr[e']-Jacquemart of Paris; the "Portrait of an
Architect," at Cassel [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 Cassel [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.
[Illustration: [_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 Titus," 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 classical 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
noble 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 Cassel [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].
[Illustration: [_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 "Titus"; "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 Circumcision," 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
classification 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 [E']pinal; 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. L[e']on 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 assigned, but as the attempt to fully consider
all the work that Rembrandt did would far exceed all reasonable limits
of space, I must reluctantly leave the reader who would seek further to
such assistance as the catalogue of pictures at the end of this volume
may afford him.
REMBRANDT THE ETCHER