Rembrandt, 'Portrait of Frederick Rihel on Horseback', about 1663

Portrait of Frederick Rihel on Horseback

Rembrandt

Not on display

About the work

Overview

This is one of the largest paintings ever made by Rembrandt, and one of only two life-size equestrian portraits of ordinary citizens in the history of Dutch art. The rider has been identified as the prosperous businessman Frederik Rihel. His bright yellow jerkin, fancy gloves, shimmering sleeves and plumed hat stand out radiantly against the rather gloomy, sketchy background.

Despite the gloom, it’s possible to make out parts of a procession winding around a stretch of water behind Rihel. On the left is the facade of one of the gates to the city of Amsterdam, and in front of this is a coach with a bright red and yellow interior carrying three passengers. In the right background there are two (or possibly three) riders on horseback. This probably represents the procession accompanying the entry of Prince William of Orange into Amsterdam in 1660, in which Rihel participated as one the Amsterdam Guard of Honour.

In-depth

This life-size portrait of a man on a rearing horse is an extremely unusual painting. It is one of the largest ever made by Rembrandt (only two of his surviving canvases are bigger) and one of only two life-size equestrian portraits of ordinary citizens in the history of Dutch art. Apart from a much smaller picture known as The Polish Rider (Frick Collection, New York), it is also one of only two equestrian paintings made by the artist.

Rembrandt’s lack of experience in depicting horses may explain the rather stiff, sketchy figure of the animal here. He has drawn our attention instead to the horseman, emphasised by his bright yellow jerkin, fancy gloves, shimmering sleeves and plumed hat. Much of the rest of the painting is, like the horse, only sketched in, often quite broadly using bold, black outlines. This makes the rather gloomy background difficult to interpret. The rider seems either to be leading or taking part in a procession which winds around a stretch of water behind him. It is possible to make out the prow or stern of a boat in the left foreground. Also on the left is the roughly sketched facade of a building; it may be the Heiligewegspoort, one of the gates to the city of Amsterdam (now demolished). In front of this is a coach with a bright red and yellow interior carrying three passengers. There’s a groom on the running board, and the heads of the driver and two coachmen at the rear are also just visible. The coach is part of the procession, as are the two (or possibly three) riders on horseback in the right background.

Although he is not named on the painting, most experts agree that this is a portrait of Frederik Rihel, a prosperous businessman who was born in Strasbourg in 1621 and moved to Amsterdam in 1642. He was a member of the city’s civic guard and was eventually promoted to the prestigious post of ensign, or standard bearer. This identification is based on the inventory of Rihel’s property drawn up after his death in 1681, which included a ‘portrait of the deceased on horseback by Rembrandt’. Since this is Rembrandt’s only recorded equestrian portrait (The Polish Rider probably isn’t a portrait) and Rihel was known to be a keen horseman, the evidence is convincing. The horse’s elaborate harness and most of the rider’s clothing also seem to be listed in the inventory (for example: ‘a variety of sashes some with silver and gold fringes and with matching gloves and a leather jerkin embroidered with gold thread’). Most likely, Rihel commissioned the portrait, which is dated 1663, to commemorate his membership of the Amsterdam Guard of Honour which accompanied the entry of Prince William of Orange into Amsterdam in 1660.

In 2008, an X-ray scan of the painting revealed another, apparently unrelated, composition beneath the portrait now visible: a full-length figure of a man, turned at 90 degrees to the canvas. This suggests an unwanted or unfinished canvas was reused, which wasn’t uncommon in Rembrandt’s studio, although this is by far the largest example known, and appears to be the only instance in which Rembrandt adopted this practice for a commissioned portrait.

Key facts

Details

Full title: Portrait of Frederick Rihel on Horseback
Artist: Rembrandt
Artist dates: 1606 - 1669
Date made: about 1663
Medium and support: oil on canvas
Dimensions: 294.5 × 241 cm
Inscription summary: Signed; Dated
Acquisition credit: Bought with a special grant and contributions from the Art Fund and The Pilgrim Trust, 1959
Inventory number: NG6300
Location: Not on display
Collection: Main Collection

Provenance

Count Ferdinand of Plettenberg and Witten sale, Amsterdam, 2 April 1738, lot 130 (88 guilders); G. Bicker van Zwieten sale, The Hague, 12 April 1741, lot 129 (90 guilders). It is said to have been purchased about 1750 by the 2nd Earl Cowper. It is recorded at Panshanger, the residence of the Earls Cowper, by Passavant in 1833. It remained at Panshanger until 1953, after it had passed by inheritance from Lady Desborough to her daughter Lady Salmon, who placed it on loan to the Leeds City Art Gallery. It was purchased by the National Gallery in 1959, by private treaty sale, with contributions from the NACF and the Pilgrim Trust.

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

2014

Rembrandt: The Late Works

The National Gallery (London)

15 October 2014 - 18 January 2015

Rijksmuseum Amsterdam

12 February 2015 - 17 May 2015

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
1833

J.D. Passavant, Kunstreise durch England und Belgien, Frankfurt am Main 1833
1854

G.F. Waagen, Treasures of Art in Great Britain: Being and Account of the Chief Collections of Paintings, Drawings, Sculptures, Illuminated Mss. […], vol. 2, trans. E. Eastlake, London 1854
1877

C. Vosmaer, Rembrandt: Sa vie et ses oeuvres, La Haye 1877
1893

É. Michel, Rembrandt, sa vie, son oeuvre et son temps, Paris 1893
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
1910

A. Bredius, 'Rembrandtiana', Oud Holland, XXVIII/4, 1910, pp. 193-204
1953

H. Honour, 'An Equestrian Portrait by Rembrandt', Leeds Art Calendar, 1953, pp. 7-11
1953

J.G. van Gelder, 'Rembrandt and His Circle', The Burlington Magazine, XCV/599, 1953, pp. 34-9
1957

R. Luttervelt, 'De Grote Ruiter van Rembrandt', Nederlands Kunsthistorisch Jaarboek, VIII, 1957, pp. 185-219
1958

I.H. Eeghen, 'Frederick Rihel een 17de eeuwse zakenman en paardenliefhebber', Amstelodamum, XLV, 1958, pp. 73-81
1958

R. Luttervelt, 'Frederick Rihel or Jacob de Graeff', Amstelodamum, XLV, 1958, pp. 147-50
1960

The National Gallery, The National Gallery: July 1958 - December 1959, London 1960
1988

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

J. Bruyn, Een gloeiend palet: Schilderijen van Rembrandt en zijn school (exh. cat. Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen, 6 November 1988 - 15 January 1989), Rotterdam 1988
1989

J. Mills and R. White, 'Paint Media Analyses', National Gallery Technical Bulletin, XIII, 1989, pp. 69-71
1990

J. Bruyn, 'An Unknown Assistant in Rembrandt's Workshop in the Early 1660's', The Burlington Magazine, CXXXII/1051, 1990, pp. 715-8
1991

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

J. Held, 'The Polish Rider', in J. Held, Rembrandt Studies, Princeton 1991, pp. 59-98
1993

C. Tümpel, Rembrandt: All Paintings in Colour, Antwerp 1993
1993

S.A.C. Dudok van Heel, 'Rembrandt en de vaandrigs van de Amsterdamse schutterij. Diende Rembrandts "vaandeldrager" uit 1636 als "modello"?', Kroniek van het Rembrandthuis, II, 1993, pp. 15-24
1994

M. Jaffé, 'Abraham's Sacrifice: A Rembrandt of the 1660's', Artibus et historiae, XV/30, 1994, pp. 193-210
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.

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