REMBRANDT’S LATE RELIGIOUS PORTRAITS At the Getty Center, June 7–August 28, 2005

Rembrandt and His Models

Rembrandt’s depictions of apostles, evangelists, and related figures blur the

distinction between religious painting and portraiture. He achieved an unusually direct

relationship with his viewers by portraying men and women of faith as vulnerable

human beings whose trials are evident in their furrowed brows and rough, rugged

hands. As had long been his practice, Rembrandt used contemporaries as models for

many of the works in this exhibition. The model for the Getty’s Apostle Bartholomew

was certainly an acquaintance, perhaps even a patron who asked to be portrayed in

the guise of the martyr. The dark-haired man with deep-set eyes in A Bearded Man in

a Cap appears again in a more idealized form in The Apostle Paul, and Rembrandt’s

longtime companion Hendrickje Stoffels appears as the Sorrowing Virgin. Even in

Protestant Holland, the 12 apostles, disseminators of Christ’s teachings and witnesses

to the biblical text, remained popular and relevant subjects. For these portraits,

Rembrandt minimized the attributes by which they were traditionally identified, such

as the instruments of their martyrdom, emphasizing instead their inner spiritual life,

uncertainties, and convictions.

A Guide to Subjects and Sitters The Apostle Paul Along with Saint Peter, Saint Paul was one of the founders of the Christian Church and the author of the Epistles. Although not one of the original 12 apostles, he was usually included in apostle series. Saint Paul’s attributes are a book or a scroll and a sword, both the figurative “sword of the Spirit” and the instrument with which he was beheaded. For Rembrandt, Paul was the most important biblical subject of the group in the exhibition, and the artist expressed his own identification with the apostle in the form of a self-portrait.

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The Apostle Paul, about 1657 National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. Rembrandt made several changes to the compositionof this painting, which was originally conceived as anoval. He moved the book from a lectern underneathPaul’s elbow onto the table, thus altering theimplications of the apostle’s pose to emphasize hismeditation.

An Elderly Man as the Apostle Paul, 165(9?) The National Gallery, London Particularly fine brushwork describes the features ofthe unknown man in the guise of the apostle Paul.The roundel on the wall to the left of the saintdepicts Abraham’s Sacrifice, a subject closelyconnected with Paul’s Epistle to the Hebrews. Itunderscores one of the central aspects of theapostle’s teachings: faith over good works.

Self -Portrait as the Apostle Paul, 1661 Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam Rembrandt as Saint Paul turns the manuscript, firstpainted as a scroll, outward for our inspection. Hepresses the sword of martyrdom close to his body.A study of the painting shows that the sword wasinserted while the previous paint layer was stillwet. Rembrandt’s distinctive features, round eyes,and bulbous nose, and his age (55) are unidealizedand unheroic, characterizing the saint not as aChristian soldier or scholar but as the humble andundeserving recipient of divine grace. Unlike otherportrayals of the apostle on view in this exhibition,Rembrandt as Saint Paul gazes somewhatquizzically at the viewer, asserting the artist’sspiritual identification with Paul and, perhaps, thesaint’s human limitations.

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The Apostle Bartholomew Little is known about Bartholomew, who was believed to have spread the Gospel in Armenia. His attribute, a knife, refers to the manner of his martyrdom, when he was skinned alive.

The Apostle Bartholomew, 1657 The Putnam Foundation, Timken Museum of Art, SanDiego Rembrandt employed a dynamic pose and stronglighting to convey the vigorous energy of thisproselytizing saint. The energetic and relativelyyouthful treatment of the apostle may have beenpaired with the imposing portrayal of thecontemplative Apostle Paul of the same date from thecollection of the National Gallery of Art (above).

The Apostle Bartholomew, 1661

The J. Paul Getty Museum As in the 1657 depiction of Bartholomew, the knifeis incidental to the description of the apostle’scharacter, conveyed here through the short, choppybrushwork in the face. Only the gray, sagging flesh ofthe hand alludes to his fate. One of several apostlesubjects executed in 1661, this painting presents thesaint in an assertive frontal stance, which may be theresult of Rembrandt’s desire to vary the poses amonga group of these substantial figures.

Other Apostles

The Apostle James the Major, 1661 Private Collection John’s brother and one of the apostles closest toChrist, James the Major was often depicted as apilgrim wearing a cloak and carrying a staff and a hat.Traditional attributes of pilgrimage, scallop shells,appear on both his shoulder and hat. Legend relatesthat he carried out his mission in Spain and wasburied there.

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The Apostle Simon, 1661 Kunsthaus Zürich Simon’s contemplative state contrasts with his robustfigure. Said to have preached the gospel inMesopotamia and Syria with St. Jude, he rests uponthe handle of a broad saw, the symbol of hismartyrdom (he was sawed in half for his beliefs).

The Apostle James the Minor, or Possibly Christ with a Pilgrim’s Staff, 1661 The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York The resemblance of this youthful figure toRembrandt’s images of Christ, and the lack ofobvious attributes, has contributed to variousinterpretations of the subject. The apostle’straditional resemblance to Christ, combined with thestaff or club just visible in the foreground and thetemple setting, led to a recent identification of thesubject as James the Minor, first bishop of Jerusalem.While certain elements, such as the scratching in wetpaint, recall Rembrandt’s technique, the overallhandling is less assured and descriptive and is likelythe work of a pupil.

Saint Bavo, about 1662–65 Göteborgs Konstmuseum, Sweden This bearded, dark-eyed man may be Bavo, amedieval Flemish knight who abandoned hisdissolute habits to embrace an acetic life as a hermit.He was the patron saint of two of the largestchurches in the Low Countries, Saint Bavo inHaarlem and Saint Baafs in Ghent. However, like theapostles Bartholomew and James the Major,Rembrandt’s depiction diverged from Catholicpictorial tradition. Bavo appears here in his worldlyguise, wearing armor and carrying a falcon, symbolsof his past indulgences. His horse and a page standbehind him.

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Other Religious Figures Christ In apostle series it was traditional to include a representation of Christ with his disciples. It is not known whether either of the images exhibited here was part of such a series or was paired with a representation of the Virgin.

Christ, 1657–61 Hyde Collection, Glens Falls, New York Christ appears here according to Dutch convention,as a young man with long, brown hair and a beard.The model for this work was probably painted fromlife and may have been one of the young Jewish menwho served as the inspiration for some ofRembrandt’s other religious subjects. In the early 20th

century, the central portion of the image was cutaway and removed by thieves, and it was laterreattached. The lower section of the painting hasbeen restored, and Christ’s left hand is a modernreconstruction.

The Resurrected Christ, 1661 Bayerisches Staatsgemäldesammlungen, Alte Pinakothek, Munich While the frontality of his pose, with the wound inhis side just visible, recalls medieval icons,Rembrandt characterized Christ in particularly humanand compassionate fashion, with a direct gaze andparted lips. The painting was probably originallyrectangular, a format that would have permitted theinclusion of Christ’s gesture, perhaps to the wound inhis side.

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Hendrickje Stoffels, Possibly as the Sorrowing Virgin, 1660 The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York Stoffels was Rembrandt’s companion from about 1647until her death in 1663. The artist’s reputation wasshaken when, in 1654, Hendrickje became pregnantand was punished by the Dutch Reformed Church. Sheis sympathetically portrayed here in the guise of abiblical figure in a work that is unfinished. Her richcloak with fur collar and her elaborate hair ornamentrecall Mary Magdalene. Her matronly appearance hasled other scholars to propose that Rembrandt, inspiredby a print series of the apostles from about 1590 (alsoon view in the exhibition), portrayed her—anguishedand alone—as the Virgin of Sorrows.

The Virgin of Sorrows, 1661 Musée Départemental d’Art Ancien et Contemporain, Épinal, France While the half-length and frontal format of this work issimilar to the other religious figures Rembrandtpainted during this period, it is unlikely that it was partof a series of apostles. Although she may have beenpaired with Christ or The Resurrected Christ, thewoman’s slightly bowed pose, and particularly thehand pressed to her chest, are in keeping with visualtraditions of portraying the Virgin isolated by sorrowafter the Crucifixion.

A Bearded Man in a Cap, 165(7?) The National Gallery, London The model for this portrait is thought to havebeen one of Rembrandt’s many Jewishacquaintances. He was fascinated by theirpicturesque appearance, which represented forhim an earlier, biblical time, and by the hardshipsthey endured as immigrants to Amsterdam. Hisfeatures inspired Rembrandt’s treatment of theApostle Paul (National Gallery of Art, Washington).

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A Man in a Red Cap, Possibly an Evangelist, 1660 Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen, Rotterdam This figure appears to be a portrait, though the subject,whether contemporary or historical, is unclear.Standing before an open volume, quill in hand, he maybe one of the four evangelists, a businessman, or ascholar. While the paint surface is worn and some ofthe delicate details of the costume are lost,Rembrandt’s use of the palette knife can be seendefining the edge of the desk.

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A Monk Reading, Possibly Saint Francis, 1661 Sinebrychoff Art Museum, Helsinki Despite the long-standing ban against religious ordersin the Netherlands, Rembrandt’s depictions of monksfrom the late 1650s reveal his fascination with the livesof holy figures. The broadly executed brown cloak,with its rough seams, envelops the older man andleaves his face in shadow. The brilliant light thatilluminates the edge of the folded vellum sheetemphasizes his absorption in the text.

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