Follower of Rembrandt, 'A Seated Man with a Stick', perhaps 1675-1725

A Seated Man with a Stick

Follower of Rembrandt

Not on display

About the work

Overview

This image of a man lit dramatically from one side as he grasps his walking stick and stares rather aloofly at the viewer is probably not a portrait. Rather it is a study of a character type, dressed in an exotic costume intended to evoke an earlier era.

Portraying figures in imaginary historical costume was common at the time. Rembrandt painted several and the subject, the lighting and the use of colour in this painting is reminiscent of his work. But while his signature can be seen on the bottom left of the painting, most art historians now believe it to be false and that this is a work by one of his students or imitators. The numerous adjustments to the sitter’s position and the shape of his hat revealed in X-ray images suggest a less confident approach to the painting than might be expected from Rembrandt himself.

In-depth

A man, lit dramatically from one side, sits in a darkened room, grasping his walking stick with both hands and staring rather aloofly at the viewer. The light that sweeps across the painting from the left highlights one side of his face and shimmers on his silk cloak and the plume of his hat.

He makes an imposing figure, but this is probably not a portrait. Rather it is a study of a character type, dressed not in the fashion of his time but in an exotic costume intended to evoke an earlier era. The style, notably the plumed beret, derives loosely from sixteenth-century dress, although the design of the sleeve, with its numerous small slashes, seems to have been invented by the painter. The luxurious gold-coloured cloak or wrap has overtones of Turkish or Eastern Mediterranean styles.

Portraying figures in imaginary historical costume was common at the time. Rembrandt painted several, including a self portrait in Italian dress of 150 years earlier. The subject, the lighting and the use of colour in this painting is highly reminiscent of Rembrandt’s work, and his signature and the remains of a date can be seen on the bottom left of the painting. For many years it was believed to be by him, but most art historians now believe it to be a work by one of his students or imitators.

This assessment is based mostly on some rather clumsy brushwork which does not reflect Rembrandt’s usual technique. For example, when painting flesh, the direction and shape of Rembrandt’s brushstrokes tend to confirm the structures and curves of a sitter’s face and features. Here, they are less carefully formed, especially the dabbing of the highlights on the nose and on the back of the right hand. While the textures and folds of the gathered cloak at the left side of the painting are expressed with thick layers of colourful paint, a technique typical of Rembrandt, it is not done as convincingly as in other paintings that we know are by him. In summary, this picture is clearly influenced by Rembrandt’s own work, but it is less skilfully executed.

Rembrandt ran a large studio which employed several apprentices who were encouraged to copy his work directly and to create their own compositions inspired by his original paintings. This may well be an example of such a work. X-ray images reveal that the figure has been painted over a rather roughly sketched image of the Crucifixion, suggesting that this was a piece of canvas on which a previous composition had been tried but then abandoned, before being re-used for this painting.

Both the sketch and the painting were made using the same or similar pigments, probably meaning that both images were made in the same studio, possibly by the same painter. This would be consistent with the idea that it was made by one of Rembrandt’s pupils. And numerous adjustments to the sitter’s position and the shape of his hat revealed by the X-ray images also suggest a less confident approach to the painting than we might expect from Rembrandt himself (although he did often make some adjustments to his works too).

Rembrandt probably did sign some paintings made by, or with the help of, his apprentices, when they were deemed of sufficient quality. But in this case the signature is probably false and may have been added some years after it was made in order to increase the picture’s value.

Key facts

Details

Full title: A Seated Man with a Stick
Artist: Follower of Rembrandt
Artist dates: 1606 - 1669
Date made: perhaps 1675-1725
Medium and support: oil on canvas
Dimensions: 137.5 × 104.8 cm
Acquisition credit: Presented by Sir George Beaumont, 1823/8
Inventory number: NG51
Location: Not on display
Collection: Main Collection
Previous owners: Sir George Beaumont

Sir Thomas Lawrence

Provenance

Most probably the undescribed picture by Rembrandt which, according to Joseph Farington, was sold by Sir Thomas Lawrence to Sir George Beaumont, Bart., in July 1797; probably lent to the BI, 1815 (No. 34), by Beaumont. It was among the pictures presented by Sir George Beamont in 1823 to the British Museum for the future National Gallery and transferred to the National Gallery in 1828.

Additional information

Text extracted from the ‘Provenance’ section of the catalogue entry in Neil MacLaren, revised and expanded by Christopher Brown, ‘National Gallery Catalogues: The Dutch School: 1600–1900’, London 1991; for further information, see the full catalogue entry.

Exhibition history

2008

Picasso et les Maîtres

Galeries Nationales du Grand Palais

8 October 2008 - 2 February 2009
2016

Painters' Paintings: From Freud to Van Dyck

The National Gallery (London)

23 June 2016 - 4 September 2016

Bibliography

1830

J. Smith, 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 […], vol. 2, London 1830
1877

C. Vosmaer, Rembrandt: Sa vie et ses oeuvres, La Haye 1877
1897

W. von Bode and C. Hofstede de Groot, The Complete Work of Rembrandt, 8 vols, Paris 1897
1907

C. Hofstede de Groot, Catalogue Raisonné of the Works of the Most Eminent Dutch Painters of the Seventeenth Century, 10 vols, London 1907
1909

A. Rosenberg and W.R. Valentiner, Rembrandt: Des Meisters Gemalde mit einer biographischen Einleitung, Stuttgart 1909
1947

P. Hendy, An Exhibition of Cleaned Pictures of 1947: (1936-1947), London 1947
1960

Maclaren, Neil, National Gallery Catalogues: The Dutch School, 2 vols, London 1960
1969

E. Haverkamp-Begemann and J.R. Judson, Rembrandt after Three Hundred Years: An Exhibition of Rembrandt and his Followers (exh. cat. Art Institute of Chicago, 25 October - 7 December 1969; Minneapolis Institute of Arts, 22 December 1969 - 1 February 1970; Detroit Institute of Arts, 24 February - 5 April 1970), Chicago 1969
1988

D. Davies and L. Trenchs, Noble and Patriotic: The Beaumont Gift 1828, (exh. cat. The National Gallery, 3 February - 3 May 1988), London 1988
1991

Maclaren, Neil, revised by Christopher Brown, National Gallery Catalogues: The Dutch School, 1600-1900, 2nd edn (revised and expanded), 2 vols, London 1991
2001

C. Baker and T. Henry, The National Gallery: Complete Illustrated Catalogue, London 2001
2005

M. Levey, Sir Thomas Lawrence, New Haven 2005
2006

D. Bomford et al., Rembrandt (exh. cat. The National Gallery, 12 October 1988 - 17 January 1989), London 2006
2006

G.J.M. Weber and M. Eissenhauer, Rembrandt-Bilder: Die historische Sammlung der Kasseler Gemäldegalerie, (exh. cat. Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister, Schloss Wilhelmshöhe, 20 May - 20 August 2006), Kassel 2006

About this record

If you know more about this painting or have spotted an error, please contact us. Please note that exhibition histories are listed from 2009 onwards. Bibliographies may not be complete; more comprehensive information is available in the National Gallery Library.

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