(Leiden 1606–1669 Amsterdam)
A tronie of a bearded man,
oil on panel, 20.5 x 17.3 cm, framed

Provenance:
Private collection, Germany;
sale, Van Ham, Cologne, 15 November 2018, lot 1128 (as School of Rembrandt van Rijn);
where acquired by the present owner

We are grateful to Gary Schwartz who notes that the composition was taken seriously by Rembrandt experts and compared the present work to two other versions in Oslo and Philadelphia (see below). Compared to these works he considers the present work to be closest to Rembrandt.

The present composition must be part of a group of smaller ‛tronies’ that appear to have been produced by pupils of Rembrandt’s workshop, as described by Ernst van de Wetering (see E. van de Wetering, Rembrandt’s Paintings Revisited. A Complete Survey. A Reprint of A Corpus of Rembrandt Paintings VI, Rembrandt Research Project Foundation, vol. VI, Berlin 2017, p. 58). According to the author many of these works were previously considered as authentic works by Rembrandt. Van de Wetering suggests that these paintings were exercise pieces by Rembrandt’s pupils and notes how they are in some cases related to figures in his history paintings.

The depicted bearded figure in the present work seems to relate to a painting entitled The Head of Saint John the Baptist being offered to Salome, attributed to Rembrandt’s circle, conserved in the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam (inv. no. SK-A-91). At least four other tronies relating to the present work can be traced. The first is attributed to the Rembrandt School, painted circa 1645 and conserved in the Nasjonalgalleriet, Oslo (inv. no. NG.M.01363). This work is mentioned by Van de Wetering (see E. van de Wetering, ibid., 2017, p. 58, fig. 16). Another version is considered a copy after Rembrandt, painted circa 1655–69, and conserved in the Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia (inv. no. 476). A third tronie is attributed by David de Witt to Rembrandt’s School, painted circa 1643-45 and is conserved in the Leiden Collection, New York (inv. no. RR-123). A fourth version was previously attributed to Rembrandt, is currently unattributed and is conserved in the National Museum of Western Art, the Matsukata Collection, Tokyo (inv. no. P. 2017-0036).

The date of the present panel has been confirmed by the dendrochronological analysis of the oak support by Peter Klein. As stated in his report the support consists of one wooden board taken from an oak tree of the Baltic, Polish regions. The youngest heartwood ring was formed in the year 1630 – allowing the earliest possible felling date to 1639 and the earliest possible creation of the painting to 1641. A copy of Peter Klein’s report, dated 10 October 2018, accompanies the painting.