PRESS RELEASE

London | +44 (0) 207 293 6000 | Mitzi Mina| mitzi.mina@sothebys.com

Hanae Rebelo| hanae.rebelo@sothebys.com

FINGERPRINTS, THOUGHT TO BE THOSE OF

REMBRANDT,
REVEALED ON RARE OIL SKETCH BY THE
DUTCH MASTER

Rembrandt van Rijn, Study of the Head of a Young Man, circa 1655
Oil on oak panel. 25.5 x 20.1 cm.; 10⅙ x 7⅞ in.
Estimate: in the region of £6 million

LITTLE-KNOWN PAINTING TO BE HIGHLIGHT OF SOTHEBY’S

OLD MASTER SALE IN DECEMBER

ON THE MARKET FOR THE FIRST TIME IN 60 YEARS

LONDON, 21 November 2018: Buried in the original layer of paint in the lower edge of the 17th-
century oil sketch are two fingerprints - presumably those of the painting's creator - Rembrandt van
Rijn. Pressed into wet paint, the prints, which are most certainly impressions of the artist’s thumb,
had been hidden underneath overpaint and darkened varnish layers and were only recently
discovered during technical examination and restoration. The distinguishing marks, while difficult to
prove conclusively, are believed to be the only known fingerprints of the Dutch master.

A highlight of Sotheby’s Old Masters Evening Sale on 5 December, Study of a Head of a Young Man, a
little-known masterpiece, will be offered with an estimate in the region of £6 million. A touching
portrayal of Christ, the work until recently hung in the artist’s house in Amsterdam and comes to the
market for the first time in 60 years.

In preparation for its display as part of the

seminal exhibition Rembrandt and the Face of
Jesus (the Louvre, Paris; the Philadelphia
Museum of Art and the Detroit Institute of Arts,
2011-2012), the painting underwent extensive
examination using pigment analyses,
dendrochronology, x-ray and infra-red
imagining. Conducted by Dr Arie Wallert and Fingerprints found on the lower-edge of the painting
Michel van de Laar, scientific researcher and
conservator, both formerly of the Rijksmuseum, the investigations revealed, among other crucial
facets of the painting that securely positioned the work in Rembrandt's oeuvre, two fingerprints on
the bottom edge of the painting.

George Gordon, Worldwide Co-Chairman of Sotheby’s Old Master Paintings said: “While as far as we
know no comparable finger- or thumb- prints of Rembrandt have been found in other works in order
to confirm the conclusion, the discovery of the marks in the original layer of paint along the lower
edge make their connection to the artist highly credible.

As the foremost master of the Western artistic tradition, Rembrandt is an artist who draws
great interest from collectors around the world, so for a rare sketch such as this to be personalised
in such a way, makes the painting all the more interesting.”

Speaking of the discovery, Michel van de Laar, Conservator, Amsterdam, said: “As in other colour
sketches by the artist, the work was also determined to have been executed in one sitting - a practice
known at the time as ten eersten opmaken - 'to complete the whole concept in one go', where
additional colours and layers are hastily applied, even before the underlay has a chance to dry. Prone
to smudging, the technique could only be accomplished by the most skilled of painters.

An under laying sketch in brown is locally left exposed and is finished only with a very simple pallet.
Changes and retouches of the artist are recognizable yet give a certain dynamic. The discovery of the
fingerprints, is further testament to the speed with which the work was likely executed and provides
fresh insight into Rembrandt's complex but swift painting technique.”

Revered among the great masters of the Dutch Golden Age, Rembrandt was a prolific painter,
draughtsman and etcher whose ingenuity inspired some of the most celebrated European artists of
the 17th to the 19th centuries. Highly coveted, many of his masterpieces form the highlights of some
of the greatest private and public art collections in the world, with paintings, particularly of this
quality and condition, rarely coming to the open market.
Speaking of the painting, Gordon added: “While Rembrandt mastered a range of styles and subject
matter from genre paintings and landscapes to religious works, he is most celebrated for his studies
of the human image. Admired for their emotional and psychological intensity and combined with a
deeply personal understanding of light, space and atmosphere, these studies, whether of himself or
of others, exemplify Rembrandt’s exceptional painterly ability and his intense preoccupation with
direct observation and the study of people.”

Dating from around 1650, Study of the Head of a Young Man, measuring just over ten inches, is one
of a small series of informal but intensely moving oil sketches painted by Rembrandt of the same
young man, from the neighbourhood in Amsterdam where the artist lived. As in others from the
series, of which the best known is one in the Gemäldegalerie in Berlin, Rembrandt envisions his
model as Jesus Christ, seen here with his hands clasped in prayer. Imparting the basic kindness and
refined human nature of Christ, not as a deity but as a man, this powerful and touching portrait was
one of seven oil sketches of the Head of Christ featured in the exhibition Rembrandt and the Face of
Jesus for which the painting underwent examination. More recently, it hung on loan in the Museum
Het Rembrandthuis in Amsterdam – Rembrandt’s home – in the room near his studio where he
slept, where in his inventory drawn up a few years later in 1656 are recorded two “tronies” (studies)
of Christ by Rembrandt, one of which is most likely this oil sketch.

Seen with head inclined upward and hands clasped, it is likely that Rembrandt intended this
depiction of the youthful Jesus as a study for a Christ in the Garden of Gethsemene, a subject he
treated in several intensely moving drawings and an etching, but in no surviving
painting. Regardless of the ultimate intention, this work stands today as a testament to
Rembrandt’s mastery of handling paint on a reduced scale, and his ability to render human
emotions. Of this particular sketch, the great art historian Jacob Rosenberg wrote that it “moves a
step further from reality toward a more idealized expression of mildness and humility. But
Rembrandt’s transition from the realistic to the imaginary is so subtle, that it is almost impossible to
draw a borderline between the two.”

Event: On Friday 30 November, join conservator Michel van de Laar at Sotheby’s London to find out
more about what he and Dr Arie Wallert discovered during the examination and cleaning of the
painting, and how much they learnt from this about how Rembrandt painted. Further details to be
announced soon.

Exhibition: Sotheby’s London: 30 November – 5 December

Sale: Sotheby’s London Old Masters Evening Sale: 5 December

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*Estimates do not include buyer’s premium. Prices achieved include the hammer price plus buyer’s premium and are net of any fees paid
to the purchaser where the purchaser provided an irrevocable bid.
Images are available upon request

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