Govert Flinck, 'Self Portrait aged 24', 1639
About the work
Overview
Rembrandt was a teacher as well as an artist – and he knew how to school apprentices in his workshop so that they could paint just like he did.
In this portrait we can see many of the skills and techniques that Rembrandt used with such great effect. Look at the intense and detailed focus on the face, the skilful layering of paint, the subtle mixing of different skin tones and the use of texture and colour to suggest stubble and pores. The pink, patterned scarf is painted with the same sort of long brushstrokes Rembrandt favoured when depicting fabric of this type.
For many years, it was thought to be a signed self portrait by Rembrandt. We now know that it’s a self portrait by one of his most successful pupils, Govert Flinck. In 1926 cleaning revealed that Rembrandt’s signature had been forged to cover Flinck’s own, probably in the nineteenth century to add value to the painting.
Key facts
Details
- Full title
- Self Portrait aged 24
- Artist
- Govert Flinck
- Artist dates
- 1615 - 1660
- Date made
- 1639
- Medium and support
- oil on wood
- Dimensions
- 65.8 × 54.4 cm
- Inscription summary
- Signed; Dated
- Acquisition credit
- Presented by Ayerst H. Buttery, 1925
- Inventory number
- NG4068
- Location
- Not on display
- Collection
- Main Collection
Provenance
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
-
2015Flinck in FocusThe Barber Institute of Fine Arts23 October 2015 - 24 January 2016
-
2017Ferdinand Bol and Govert Flinck: Rembrandt’s Master PupilsAmsterdam Museum13 October 2017 - 18 February 2018
Bibliography
-
1960Maclaren, Neil, National Gallery Catalogues: The Dutch School, 2 vols, London 1960
-
1991Maclaren, 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
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.