Circle of Rembrandt Harmensz. van Rijn, circa 1630

The reverse bears a seal of the Accademia delle… Arti in Venice, with a double-headed eagle (presumably dating from the Imperial Austrian administration in the 19^th century);

Private collection;

Whence acquired by the present owner.

The model for this painting occurs in a small number of mostly small-scale paintings, some traditionally connected with Gerrit Dou (1613–1675) when he was in Rembrandt’s atelier in Leiden around 1629–32, some depicting an old woman praying and some reading. She has been traditionally identified as Rembrandt’s mother, although not on any sound basis. Most of these have lapsed from recent literature on Dou, but a few have stayed the course, including two of an Old Woman Reading: one in the Musée du Louvre, Paris (signed),¹ and the other, an unsigned work in the Gemäldegalerie, Dresden.² They have counterparts in two early works by Rembrandt (1606–1669): a small painting on copper of c. 1630 in Salzburg, Residenzgalerie (which depicts an older model),³ and an old woman, probably the prophetess Anna, in the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam.⁴ All these subjects stem from a preoccupation with old age, also seen in a number of works painted in Leiden around the same time by Jan Lievens (1607–1674). Of these four paintings, the composition of the present work, but not the model, is closest to the Salzburg Rembrandt, with which its author was probably familiar. The handling of the old woman’s hands, with short transverse brushstrokes, is similar, as are her pursed thumbs, while the present work’s longer fingers and dirty fingernails are less so but are equally keenly observed.

This painting is evidently the work of a talented artist in Rembrandt’s circle in Leiden, probably a pupil. There are elements such as the purple clothing that are more reminiscent of Lievens, but the guiding influence is that of Rembrandt, and of the artists associated with Rembrandt or his likely pupil, Gerrit Dou is the most plausible candidate. We know from Jan Orlers (1570–1646) that he was a pupil of Rembrandt, but the lack of other securely attributable paintings by him from this period means that there is as yet not enough clear evidence to advance an attribution to him, even though he is the most likely candidate.

A dendrochronological analysis of the panel conducted by Professor Peter Klein reveals the youngest heartwood ring is from 1614, yielding an earliest possible use of c. 1623, and a more plausible use date from the end of the 1620s. 

¹ https://collections.louvre.fr/en/ark:/53355/cl010062132

² https://skd-online-collection.skd.museum/Details/Index/271096

³ https://rkd.nl/images/38948

⁴ https://www.rijksmuseum.nl/en/collection/object/Old-Woman-Reading-Probably-the-Prophetess-Anna--c40e58abcb8b5d2d29343e130836d538