Bust of a Bearded Old Man

mid-1630s

Rembrandt Harmensz van Rijn Dutch, 1606-1669

On View

Dutch Golden Age, Level 3, South Wing

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About the Artwork

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Markings

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Provenance

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Exhibition History

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Published References

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Catalogue Raisonné

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Credit Line for Reproduction

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About the Artwork

Title Bust of a Bearded Old Man

Artwork Date mid-1630s

Artist Rembrandt Harmensz van Rijn

Life Dates 1606-1669

Nationality Please note: Definitions for nationality may vary significantly, depending on chronology and world events. Some definitions include: Belonging to a people having a common origin based on a geography and/or descent and/or tradition and/or culture and/or religion and/or language, or sharing membership in a legally defined nation. Dutch

Culture Please note: Cultures may be defined by the language, customs, religious beliefs, social norms, and material traits of a group. Unknown

Medium Oil on oak panel

Dimensions Unframed: 22 1/2 × 16 3/4 inches (57.2 × 42.5 cm) Framed: 28 1/2 × 22 3/4 × 3 1/2 inches (72.4 × 57.8 × 8.9 cm)

Classification Paintings

Department European Painting

Credit Gift of Mrs. Ellen Stevens Whithall, Mrs. Annie Stevens Woodruff and William P. Stevens in memory of Henry G. Stevens

Accession Number This unique number is assigned to an individual artwork as part of the cataloguing process at the time of entry into the permanent collection. Most frequently, accession numbers begin with the year in which the artwork entered the museum’s holdings. For example, 2008.3 refers to the year of acquisition and notes that it was the 3rd of that year. The DIA has a few additional systems—no longer assigned—that identify specific donors or museum patronage groups. 42.151

Markings

Signed Signed, lower right: R H L [the letters form a monogram]

Inscriptions ------

Provenance

before 1920, Israel Coryn (Goslar, Germany)

ca. 1920-1922, Egon Müller (Hamburg, Germany)

1922, Theodor Larsen (Tutzing, Germany)

by 1922, Henry G. Stevens [1879–1934] (Detroit, Michigan, USA)

by descent to siblings, William G. Stevens, Mrs. Ellen Stevens Whitall and Mrs. Annie Stevens Woodruff

1942-present, gift to the Detroit Institute of Arts (Detroit, Michigan, USA)

For more information on provenance and its important function in the museum, please visit:

Provenance page

Exhibition History

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The exhibition history of a number of objects in our collection only begins after their acquisition by the museum, and may reflect an incomplete record.

We welcome your feedback for correction and/or improvement.

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Published References

Muller, Egon. "Ein neuentdecktes Jugendwerk von Rembrandt." Der Kunstwanderer: halbmonatschrift für Kunstmarkt und Sammelwesen (1920): pp. 141–142 (ill.).

Pauli, G. "Ein Neuer Rembrandt." Zeitschrift für bildende Kunst 32, no. 1 (January 1921): 22, p. 22 (ill.).

Valentiner, Wilhelm R. Rembrandt Wiedergefundene Gemälde. Stuttgart and Berlin, 1921, p. xvi, no. 16, fig. 15 (ill.).

Valentiner, Wilhelm R. Rembrandt Wiedergefundene Gemälde. Berlin and Leipzig, 1923, p. xx, no. 17, fig. 15 (ill.).

The Third Loan Exhibition of Old Masters: Italian, Flemish, Dutch, German, French, Spanish and English Fifteenth to Nineteenth Century. Exh. cat., Detroit Institute of Arts. Detroit, 1926, unpaginated, cat. 29.

"Detroit Museum Opens Rembrandt Loan Exhibition." The Art News 28, no. 30, (April 26, 1930): 3, 13, p. 13.

The Thirteenth Loan Exhibition of Old Masters: Paintings by Rembrandt. Exh. cat., Detroit Institute of Arts. Detroit, 1930, unpaginated, cat. 5 (ill.).

Valentiner, Wilhelm R. Rembrandt Paintings in America. New York, 1931, no. 9, fig. 9 (ill.).

Bauch, Kurt. Die Kunst des jungen Rembrandt. Heidelberg, 1933, pp. 143, 145, fig. 164 (ill.).

Richardson, E.P. "Head of a Bearded Old Man by Rembrandt." Bulletin of the Detroit Institute of Arts 22 (May 1943): 74–75, front cover, pp. 74–75 (ill.).

Richardson, E.P., ed. The Detroit Institute of Arts, Catalogue of Paintings. Detroit, 1944, pp. 108; 179, no. 688 (ill.).

Masterpieces of Painting and Sculpture from the Detroit Institute of Arts. Detroit, 1949, p. 124 (ill.).

Rembrandt. Exh. cat., Art Gallery of Toronto. Toronto, 1951, unpaginated, cat. 1.

Paintings in the Detroit Institute of Arts: A Check List of the Paintings Acquired Before June, 1965. Detroit, 1965, p. 90.

Bauch, Kurt. Rembrandt Gemälde. Berlin, 1966, p. 9, no. 125 (ill.).

Arpino, Giovanni, Paolo Lecaldano. L'Opera pittorica completa di Rembrandt. Milan, 1969, p. 128 (ill.). [listed under "Altre opera rembrandtiane già considerate dalla critica o presenti in pubbliche raccolte"]

Thiel, P.J.J. van. "Hollandse lijsten van balein: Bekends en onbekends over Jan Osborn en zijn octrooi." In Miscellanea I. Q. van Regteren Altena. Amsterdam, 1969, p. 110, fig. 5 (ill.).

Keyes, George S. et al. Masters of Dutch Painting: The Detroit Institute of Arts. London, 2004, pp. 186–187, fig. 76 (ill.).

Schnackenburg, Bernhard. Jan Lievens: Friend and Rival of the Young Rembrandt. Trans. Kristin Lohse Belkin. Petersberg, 2016, pp. 462-463 no. D14 (ill.).

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Catalogue Raisoneé

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Credit Line for Reproduction

workshop of Rembrandt Harmensz van Rijn, Bust of a Bearded Old Man, mid-1630s, oil on oak panel. Detroit Institute of Arts, Gift of Mrs. Ellen Stevens Whithall, Mrs. Annie Stevens Woodruff and William P. Stevens in memory of Henry G. Stevens, 42.151.