6572 - Rembrandt Harmensz. van Rijn - School

Rembrandt Harmensz. van Rijn - School School. Actor with a wide-brimmed hat (Pantalone). Brushwork in brown, washed in gray. 8.3 x 6.3 cm. Circa 1635–1639. In terms of subject matter, our drawing can be compared to a work by Rembrandt in the Hamburger Kunsthalle (Inv. No. 22417). The full-length drawing depicts an actor in the role of “Pantalone.” In the “Commedia dell’Arte,” this character represents the vain but unsuccessful lover who, along with the “Dottore” and the “Capitano,” belonged to the group of “Vecchi” (Old Men). Such plays were performed in the open air at fairs in Holland. Rembrandt dispenses with the customary mask, yet the actor’s physiognomy—with an aquiline nose and goatee—corresponds to the traditional archetype in its caricatured exaggeration. - The Earl of Dalhousie’s collector’s stamp (Lugt 717a) appears on drawings preserved in two 18th-century albums. One contained drawings by Rembrandt and his school; the other, Italian drawings from the 16th and 17th centuries. These two albums were acquired in 1922 by P. and D. Colnaghi & Co., London. Shortly thereafter, the first album was sold to the Paul Cassirer gallery in Berlin, which sold the sheets individually. Half of the works by Rembrandt’s pupils in the Earl of Dalhousie’s album were drawings by Nicolaes Maes; stylistically, however, our sheet is much closer to the works of Ferdinand Bol. Provenance: Earl of Dalhousie, Scotland (Lugt 717a). Unidentified JG Collection (Lugt 1460d). P. and D. Colnaghi, London 1922. Paul Cassirer, Berlin 1922. Ketterer, Stuttgart, 17th auction on May 19, 1953. Philipp Herrmann Collection, Karlsruhe (Lugt 1352a). - Please ask for condition reports for individual lots, as the condition is usually not mentioned in the catalog. - Please ask for condition reports for individual lots, as the condition is usually not mentioned in the catalog.