Rembrandt Research Project

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed.
Find sources: "Rembrandt Research Project" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (March 2015) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

|

Signatures by Rembrandt published by the Rembrandt Research Project.

The Rembrandt Research Project (RRP) was an initiative of the Nederlandse Organisatie voor Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek (NWO), which is the Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research. Its purpose was to organize and categorize research on Rembrandt van Rijn, with the aim of discovering new facts about this Dutch Golden Age painter and his studio. The project started in 1968 and was sponsored by NWO until 1998. Research continued until 2014. It was the authority on Rembrandt and had the final say in whether a painting is genuine. The documentation generated by the project was transferred to the Netherlands Institute for Art History and renamed the Rembrandt Database. [1]

## Results

[edit]

As a result of the project, which analyzed documentation, techniques, and forensic research on Rembrandt paintings from his early years in Leiden until his death, the number of signed Rembrandt self-portraits around the world has been reduced by half. Also, more paintings have been attributed to students working in the Rembrandt studio, and more has been discovered about the ways in which the students worked. Recently, period copies of Rembrandt paintings are being studied for clues as to whether certain copies were factory-style pieces for visiting functionaries. Rembrandt's work was in high demand for decades, and he managed to keep productivity up while also keeping his prices high by enforcing strict quality control on the work done in his studio.

The project's six-volume publication, A Corpus of Rembrandt Paintings, is considered the definitive authority by all auction houses and dealers who work with works by Rembrandt and his studio. The research project has proved invaluable to art historians, and the lack of such a project for other prominent Dutch painters such as Frans Hals is felt sorely by museums and collectors trying to acquire the same sort of stamp of approval on their paintings. However, the project has also initiated debate about the feasibility of conclusive attribution, particularly for painters who were associated with one or more workshops.

### Publications

[edit]

* A Corpus of Rembrandt Paintings, various writers, in six volumes:[2]

Volume I, 1629-1631, 1982 (over early years in Leiden)
Volume II, 1621-1634, 1986
Volume III, 1635-1642, 1989
Volume IV, E. van de Wetering (editor), Self-Portraits, 2005
Volume V, E. van de Wetering (editor), The Small-Scale History Paintings, 2010
Volume VI, E. van de Wetering (editor), Rembrandt’s Paintings Revisited, A Complete Survey, 2014

* Ernst van de Wetering, Rembrandt: The Painter at Work, Amsterdam University Press, 2009, ISBN 978-90-8964033-8.
* Ernst van de Wetering, Barbara de Lange, Rembrandt in Nieuw Licht, Local World, Amsterdam, 2009, ISBN 978-90-811681-7-5.

## Concordance with other Rembrandt catalogs

[edit]

The research project is also the single point of reference regarding concordance with other catalogs of the master's works, though most of these reference each other, as well. Below is a partial list of some commonly quoted catalogs:

* Catalogue extracted from the Register L R. fol. 29 to 39 inclusive, of the Inventory of the Effects of Rembrandt Van Rhyn, deposited in the Office of the Administration of Insolvent Estates at Amsterdam, 1656 (published in English by Smith, 1836)
* Beredeneerde catalogus der werken van Rembrandt van Rhyn, en van zyne leerlingen en navolgers, herkomende uit het kabinet van wylen den heer C. Ploos van Amstel, J.Cz., welke in het openbaar zullen verkogt worden (Sale catalog of works sold from the collection of Cornelis Ploos van Amstel on Tuesday 31 July 1810), C. Josi, Amsterdam 1810
* A catalogue raisonné of the works of the most eminent Dutch, Flemish, and French painters : in which is included a short biographical notice of the artists, with a copious description of their principal pictures; a statement of the prices at which such pictures have been sold at public sales on the continent and in England; a reference to the galleries and private collections, in which a large portion are at present; and the names of the artists by whom they have been engraved; to which is added, a brief notice of the scholars & imitators of the great masters of the above schools, Volume 7 on "Rembrandt van Rhyn", by Smith, John, dealer in pictures, 1836
* Rembrandt, 8 volumes, by Wilhelm von Bode with Cornelis Hofstede de Groot, 1897–1905
* Rembrandt : des Meisters Gemälde in 643 Abbildungen, by Wilhelm Reinhold Valentiner and Adolf Rosenberg, 1908
* Beschreibendes kritisches Verzeichnis der Werke der hervorragendsten Holländischen Mahler des XVII. Jahrhunderts (1907-1928), Volume 6 Rembrandt, by Hofstede de Groot, 1914
* Rembrandt Paintings, by Abraham Bredius, 1935
* Rembrandt : Gemälde, by Kurt Bauch, 1966
* Rembrandt, by Bob Haak, 1968
* Rembrandt, by Horst Gerson, 1968
* Rembrandt : the complete edition of the paintings, a reworking of the Bredius 1935 list by Gerson with explicitly rejected attributions and re-attributions, 1969
* L' opera pittorica completa di Rembrandt, by Paolo Lecaldano, 1969
* Rembrandt, by Christian Tümpel, 1986
* Rembrandt : catalogo completo dei dipinti, by Leonard J. Slatkes, 1992
* The Rembrandt Book, by Gary Schwarz, 2006

### Old man with turban

[edit]

In 1998, the pan Amsterdam art fair showed a Rembrandt for the first time that until then had been attributed to his pupil Jacques des Rousseaux. This painting was first cataloged in 1917 by Abraham Bredius, who accepted it as a Rembrandt. Later Kurt Bauch rejected this based on a photograph and attributed it to Jan Lievens without ever having seen the painting. Werner Sumowski re-attributed the painting based on photographs to Rousseaux as a rebuttal to the arguments by art historians Bauch, Jakob Rosenberg and Horst Gerson.[3] The Rembrandt Research project seeks to avoid such arguments by making attributions based on historical and forensic evidence. The study of Rembrandt's oevre includes study of drawings and etchings as well as paintings by a wide range of artists who were Rembrandt's contemporaries. Analysis of his techniques includes the study of paints and panel wood he and his contemporaries used, while x-rays of paintings reveal whether a painting is a copy based on the amount of "discovery" drawing in the underlayer.

The pAn 1998 catalog contains an article by Ernst van de Wetering with photos of other depictions of the same man by Jan Lievens, Gerard Dou, and Jacques Rousseau (thus the mis-attribution). The man has clearly the same face in all four portraits.

#### Rembrandt's father

[edit]

According to Van de Wetering, this is the man often referred to as Rembrandt's father, who was probably not his father, but a functionary in the Leiden painters' guild or male model.[3]

* Old man with turban, Rembrandt, c. 1625

* Sultan Soliman, Lievens, c. 1625

* Old man with turban, Jan Adriaensz Staveren

* Man in an Oriental Costume, Isaac de Jouderville

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Rembrandt Research Project.

## End

[edit]

In early 2011, the RRP board voted to terminate the project by the end of 2011 even though approximately one-quarter of Rembrandt's oeuvre has not yet been investigated. A major reason for this decision was the lack of scholars available to assume responsibilities from the RRP's chair, Ernst van de Wetering, who has been involved with the project since 1968. Other reasons cited included lack of funding, as the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research ceased funding the project in 1998. Funding from the Mellon Foundation, the Netherlands Institute for Art History and the Mauritshuis launched a pilot initiative called the Rembrandt Database to supplement research from the RRP.[4]

## See also

[edit]

* Ernst van de Wetering, chair of the Rembrandt Research Project
* Bob Haak, founder of the Rembrandt Research Project
* John Smith, wrote the first catalog raisonné of Rembrandt paintings in 1836
* Hofstede de Groot, wrote a comprehensive update of Smith's catalog in 1914
* Abraham Bredius, wrote his first catalog of Rembrandt paintings in 1935
* Horst Gerson, first wrote his own catalog in 1968, followed by the first revision of Bredius's catalog in 1969
* Christian Tümpel, wrote a comprehensive update of Gerson's catalog in 1986
* List of paintings by Rembrandt, based on the 2014 (final?) list of the RRP published in A Corpus of Rembrandt Paintings, Volume VI
* List of Rembrandt pupils

## References

[edit]

1. ^ "Home - Rembrandt Database". rembrandtdatabase.org. Retrieved 2022-01-27.
2. ^ Springer Verlag: Rembrandt Reserarch Project Foundation
3. ^ a b Catalog pAn Amsterdam 1998, p.11-17
4. ^ "Rembrandt Research Project ended | the Art Newspaper". Archived from the original on 2011-09-26. Retrieved 2011-12-13.

### Bibliography

[edit]

* A Corpus of Rembrandt Paintings IV: The Self-Portraits (Rembrandt Research Project Foundation), Ernst van de Wetering, 2005

## External links

[edit]

* Ernst van de Wetering in Google books

* v
* t
* e

Rembrandt

Lists of drawings, etchings, paintings, prints, self-portraits

Paintings|

* The Senses (1624–25)
* The Stoning of Saint Stephen (1625)
* Suffer little children to come unto me (1620s)
* History Painting (1626)
* Balaam and the Ass (1626)
* The Baptism of the Eunuch (1626)
* Bust of a Man Wearing a Gorget and Plumed Beret (1626)
* Tobit and Anna with the Kid (c. 1626)
* The Flight into Egypt (1627)
* The Parable of the Rich Fool (1627)
* The Artist in his Studio (1628)
* Samson and Delilah (1629–30)
* Jeremiah Lamenting the Destruction of Jerusalem (1630)
* Anna and the Blind Tobit (c. 1630)
* The Raising of Lazarus (c. 1630–1632)
* Andromeda Chained to the Rocks (1631)
* The Anatomy Lesson of Dr. Nicolaes Tulp (1631)
* Christ with a Staff (1631)
* Christ on the Cross (1631)
* Old Man with a Gold Chain (c. 1631)
* Philosopher in Meditation (1632)
* The Abduction of Europa (1632)
* Adoration of the Magi (1632–1633)
* The Shipbuilder and his Wife (1633)
* The Storm on the Sea of Galilee (1633) 2
* A Lady and Gentleman in Black (1633)
* Raising of the Cross (1633)
* Descent from the Cross (1633)
* Diana Bathing with her Nymphs with Actaeon and Callisto (1634)
* Flora (1634)
* Judith at the Banquet of Holofernes (1634)
* Descent from the Cross (1634)
* Belshazzar's Feast (1635)
* Minerva (1635)
* The Prodigal Son in the Brothel (c. 1635)
* Raising of the Cross (study) (c. 1635)
* The Rape of Ganymede (1635)
* The Entombment of Christ (1635)
* Samson Threatening His Father-In-Law (1635)
* The Standard Bearer (1636)
* Danaë (1636)
* The Blinding of Samson (1636)
* Landscape with Arched Bridge (c. 1636-1637)
* The Preacher Eleazar Swalmius (1637)
* The Archangel Raphael Leaving Tobias' Family (1637)
* The Stone Bridge (1637)
* The Wedding Feast of Samson (1638)
* Landscape with the Good Samaritan (1638)
* Still Life with Peacocks (c. 1639)
* The Girl in a Picture Frame (1641)
* The Scholar at the Lectern (1641)
* The Night Watch (1642)
* Concord of the State (1642)
* David and Jonathan (1642)
* Boaz and Ruth (1643)
* The Woman Taken in Adultery (1644)
* Joseph's Dream (1645)
* Holy Family with Angels (1645)
* The Mill (1645–1648)
* Abraham Serving the Three Angels (1646)
* Susanna and the Elders (1647)
* Head of Christ (1648)
* The Kitchen Maid (1651)
* Descent from the Cross (1650–1652)
* Saul and David (c. 1652) 1
* Aristotle with a Bust of Homer (1653)
* A Woman Bathing in a Stream (1654)
* Bathsheba at Her Bath (1654)
* The Polish Rider (1655) 1
* Slaughtered Ox (1655)
* Pallas Athena (c. 1655)
* The Anatomy Lesson of Dr. Deijman (1656)
* Jacob Blessing the Sons of Joseph (1656)
* Courtesan at her Mirror (1657)
* Saint Bartholomew (1657)
* Moses Breaking the Tablets of the Law (1659)
* Ahasuerus and Haman at the Feast of Esther (1660)
* The Denial of Saint Peter (1660)
* Titus as a Monk (1660)
* The Conspiracy of Claudius Civilis (1661)
* Saint Matthew and the Angel (1661)
* Syndics of the Drapers' Guild (1662)
* Homer Dictating his Verses (1663)
* The Jewish Bride (1664)
* Lucretia (1664) 1
* David and Uriah (c. 1665)
* Young Woman with a Lapdog (1665)
* Lucretia (1666)
* The Return of the Prodigal Son (1662–1669)
* Simeon in the Temple (c. 1669)
* Landscape with a Castle

Portraits|

* Portrait of Nicolaes Ruts (1631)
* Portrait of a Man (1632)
* Portrait of a Woman (1632)
* Portrait of Jacob de Gheyn III (1632)
* Portrait of a 62-year-old Woman (1632)
* Portrait of a Man Rising from His Chair (1633)
* Portrait of a Young Woman with a Fan (1633)
* Oval Portrait of a Woman (1633)
* Portrait of a Woman Wearing a Gold Chain (1634)
* Pendant portraits of Maerten Soolmans and Oopjen Coppit (1634)
* Portrait of Petronella Buys (1635)
* A Polish Nobleman (1637)
* Portrait of Maria Trip (1639)
* Portrait of Jan Six (1654)
* Portrait of Floris Soop (1654)
* Portrait of Catharina Hooghsaet (1657)
* Portrait of a Man (1657)
* Portrait of a Man with Arms Akimbo (1658)
* Portrait of Dirck van Os (c. 1662)
* Portrait of Gerard de Lairesse (1665–1667)

Self-portraits|

* Self-Portrait with Dishevelled Hair (1628)
* Rembrandt Laughing (1628)
* Self-Portrait (1629)
* Self-Portrait in a Gorget (c.1629)
* Portrait of a Young Man with a Golden Chain (1635) (disputed)
* Self-Portrait Wearing a White Feathered Bonnet (1635)
* Self-Portrait with an Architectural Background (c. 1639)
* Self-Portrait at the Age of 34 (1640)
* Self-Portrait (1652)
* Self-Portrait in a Black Beret and Gold Chain (1654)
* Self-Portrait (1658)
* Self-Portrait with Beret and Turned-Up Collar (1659)
* Self-Portrait (1660)
* Self-Portrait as the Apostle Paul (1662)
* Self-Portrait as Zeuxis Laughing (1662)
* Self-Portrait with Two Circles (1665–1669)
* Self-Portrait (c. 1669)
* Self-Portrait at the Age of 63 (1669)

Drawings and prints
(including etchings)|

* Joseph and Potiphar's Wife (1634)
* Bearded Old Man (1634)
* River with Trees (1634)
* The Artist and his Model (1639)
* The Death of the Virgin (1639)
* The Mill (1641)
* The Three Trees (1643)
* The State Bed (1646)
* Portrait of Jan Six (1647)
* Hundred Guilder Print (1647–1649)
* Conus Marmoreus (1650)
* Goldweigher's Field (1651)
* Doctor Fautrieus (1652)
* Descent from the Cross by Torchlight (1652)
* The Three Crosses (1653)
* The Virgin and Child with a Cat (1654)
* Christ Presented to the People (1655)
* Mughal drawings

Collections|

* Rembrandt House Museum
* Rembrandt in Southern California

Rembrandt studies|

* Connoisseurs and scholars
* Rembrandt Research Project
* Rembrandt catalogues raisonnés
* 1908
* 1935
* 1968
* 1986

Related people|

* Pupils and followers
* Saskia van Uylenburgh (wife, model)
* Titus van Rijn (son, model)
* Geertje Dircx (mistress, model)
* Hendrickje Stoffels (mistress, model)
* Jacob Isaacsz. van Swanenburg (teacher)
* Pieter Lastman (teacher)
* Jan Lievens (colleague and friend)
* Hendrick van Uylenburgh (art dealer, patron)
* Jan Six (art collector, patron)
* Thomas Kaplan (art collector)

Works about
Rembrandt|

* Cultural depictions of Rembrandt
* The Tragedy of a Great (1920 film)
* Rembrandt (1936 film)
* Rembrandt (1940 film)
* Rembrandt (1942 film)
* Rembrandt: A Self-Portrait (1954 documentary film)
* Rembrandt fecit 1669 (1977 film)
* The Anatomy Lesson (1995 novel)
* Rembrandt (1999 film)
* Stealing Rembrandt (2003 film)
* Nightwatching (2007 film)
* I Am Rembrandt's Daughter (2008 novel)

Namesakes|

* Rembrandt, Iowa
* Rembrandtplein
* Rembrandtpark
* Rembrandt (crater)
* Rembrandt (train)
* Vereniging Rembrandt (foundation)

* 1 Contested
* 2 Stolen in 1990

Authority control databases

International|

* VIAF

National|

* United States
* France
* BnF data

*[v]: View this template
*[t]: Discuss this template
*[e]: Edit this template