Flora (Rembrandt, Hermitage)

Last updated
Flora
Saskia as Flora
Harmensz van Rijn Rembrandt - Flora - Google Art Project.jpg
Artist Rembrandt   OOjs UI icon edit-ltr-progressive.svg
Year1634
Medium oil paint, canvas
Dimensions125 cm (49 in) × 101 cm (40 in)
LocationHermitage hall 254 - Rembrandt hall
Collection Hermitage Museum   OOjs UI icon edit-ltr-progressive.svg
Identifiers RKDimages ID: 22571
Bildindex der Kunst und Architektur ID: 30129361

Flora or Saskia as Flora (Bode 336; Dut. 267; Wb. 412; B.-HdG. 189) is a 1634 oil-on-canvas painting by Rembrandt, depicting his wife Saskia van Uylenburgh as the goddess Flora. It is held by the Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg.

Contents

Description

The life-size quarter-length work was painted in Amsterdam, during a period when the young artist was experiencing early success. He married Saskia in June 1634, and he made several paintings of her in the guise of characters from ancient myth, similar to his other character portraits (tronies). This work is thought to depict Saskia as Flora, Roman goddess of spring and flowers. She is standing in a grotto, looking towards the viewer, swathed in an extravagant and exotic costume of silk and satin with silver embroidery, with long hanging sleeves and a blue mantle, and wears a large pearl earring. She has a floral headdress over her long hair, including a multicoloured "broken" tulip. She is also carrying a staff also decorated with leaves and flowers.

The painting measures 125 cm × 101 cm (49 in × 40 in). It is signed and dated below Flora's right hand, "Rembrandt f (…) 34".

Rembrandt's paintings of Flora may have drawn some inspiration from the painting of Flora by Titian, then held in the collection of Alfonso Lopez, the Spanish ambassador in Amsterdam. A different composition of Saskia as Flora (1635) is held by the National Gallery, London, now known as Saskia van Uylenburgh in Arcadian Costume, and a painting of Saskia with a Red Flower (1641) is in the Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister, Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden. After Saskia's death in 1642, a 1654 painting depicts Hendrickje Stoffels as Flora, now held by the Metropolitan Museum of Art, although the facial features of the subject also resemble Saskia

Rembrandt also painted Saskia as other female figures from ancient myth, including Bellona (1633, Metropolitan Museum of Art) and Minerva (1635, The Leiden Collection of Thomas Kaplan and Daphne Recanati Kaplan).

Provenance

The early provenance of the painting is not clear. It was put up for sale in Amsterdam in 1770 from the estate of Herman Aarentz, who was a bailiff and councillor (rentmeester  [ nl ] and gemeensman) in Deventer. It was "bought in" by the auction house for 2600 florins, and later acquired by Catherine II, Empress of Russia. It entered the Russian imperial collection at the Hermitage in St Petersburg before 1774, and it remains in the collection at the Hermitage. In 2017 it was loaned to the Hermitage branch in Amsterdam for some months.

It was catalogued by Cornelis Hofstede de Groot in 1915, who recorded that it was sometimes wrongly called The Jewish Bride. [1]

See also

Notes

  1. Entry 206 for ''Flora in Hofstede de Groot, 1915

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Willem Drost</span> Dutch painter

Willem Drost was a Dutch Golden Age painter and printmaker of history paintings and portraits.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Govert Flinck</span> Dutch painter (1615–1660)

GovertTeuniszoon Flinck was a Dutch painter of the Dutch Golden Age.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Saskia van Uylenburgh</span> Wife of Rembrandt van Rijn

Saskia van Uylenburgh was the wife of painter Rembrandt van Rijn. In the course of her life, she was his model for some of his paintings, drawings and etchings. She was the daughter of Rombertus Uylenburg, the mayor as well as the justice of the Court of Friesland.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rembrandt</span> Dutch painter and printmaker (1606–1669)

Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn, usually simply known as Rembrandt, was a Dutch Golden Age painter, printmaker, and draughtsman. An innovative and prolific master in three media, he is generally considered one of the greatest visual artists in the history of art. It is estimated Rembrandt produced a total of about three hundred paintings, three hundred etchings, and two thousand drawings.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jacob Adriaensz Backer</span> Dutch painter

Jacob Adriaensz Backer was a Dutch Golden Age painter. He produced about 140 paintings in twenty years, including portraits, religious subjects, and mythological paintings. In his style, he was influenced by Wybrand de Geest, Rubens and Abraham Bloemaert. He is also noted for his drawings of male and female nudes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hendrick van Uylenburgh</span> Dutch art dealer

Hendrick Gerritszoon van Uylenburgh was an influential Dutch Golden Age art dealer who helped launch the careers of Rembrandt, Govert Flinck, Ferdinand Bol and other painters.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Titus van Rijn</span> Son of Rembrandt

Titus van Rijn was the fourth and only surviving child of Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn and Saskia van Uylenburgh. Titus is best known as a figure or model in his father's paintings and studies but also because of a legal case as preferential heir.

<i>Self-Portrait Wearing a White Feathered Bonnet</i> Self-portrait by Rembrandt

Self-portrait wearing a white feathered bonnet is an oil painting attributed to the Dutch painter Rembrandt. It is signed and dated 1635. It was traditionally regarded as a Rembrandt self-portrait until 1968, when it was rejected on stylistic grounds in the Rembrandt catalogue raisonné by Horst Gerson. In 2013, art historian Ernst van de Wetering re-attributed the painting as an original Rembrandt. It is one of over 40 painted self-portraits by Rembrandt.

<i>A Polish Nobleman</i> 1637 painting by Rembrandt

A Polish Nobleman is a 1637 painting by Rembrandt depicting a man in a costume of Polish szlachta (nobility). The identity of the subject of the painting is unclear, and has given rise to several different interpretations. The view that the figure's dress is clearly Polish is not universally held and it may have been a self-portrait.

<i>Portrait of Jan Six</i> 1654 painting by Rembrandt

Portrait of Jan Six is a 1654 oil-on-canvas painting by the Dutch painter Rembrandt van Rijn. Having been handed down many generations, via the direct descendants of the portrait's subject, Jan Six, the work remains in the Six Collection in Amsterdam.

<i>Pendant portraits of Maerten Soolmans and Oopjen Coppit</i> Pair of paintings by Rembrandt

The pendant portraits of Maerten Soolmans and Oopjen Coppit are a pair of full-length wedding portraits by Rembrandt. They were painted on the occasion of the marriage of Maerten Soolmans and Oopjen Coppit in 1634. Formerly owned by the Rothschild family, they became jointly owned by the Louvre Museum and the Rijksmuseum in 2015 after both museums managed to contribute half of the purchase price of €160 million, a record for works by Rembrandt.

<i>The Rape of Ganymede</i> (Rembrandt) Painting by Rembrandt

The Rape of Ganymede is an oil painting of 1635 by the Dutch Golden Age painter Rembrandt, depicting the myth of Ganymede. It is in the collection of the Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister in Dresden.

<i>Head of Christ</i> (Rembrandt, New York)

Head of Christ is a 1650s painting by Rembrandt's workshop. It shows Christ with a beard and long dark hair. It is in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

<i>Portrait of an Old Woman with Folded Hands</i> 1640 portrait painting

Portrait of an Old Woman is a c. 1640 portrait painting painted in the style of Jacob Adriaensz. Backer. It shows an old woman with folded hands. It is in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

<i>Oval Portrait of a Woman</i> (Rembrandt, New York)

Oval Portrait of a Woman is a 1633 portrait painting painted by Rembrandt. It shows a woman with a millstone collar and diadem cap. It is in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

<i>Portrait of a Young Woman with a Fan</i> 1633 painting by Rembrandt

Portrait of a Young Woman with a Fan is a 1633 portrait painting by Rembrandt. It shows a woman holding a fan, pendant to Portrait of a Man Rising from His Chair. It is in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

<i>Portrait of a Woman Wearing a Gold Chain</i> 1634 painting by Rembrandt

Portrait of a Woman Wearing a Gold Chain is a 1634 portrait painted by Rembrandt. It shows a smiling woman with a triple lace collar. It is in the collection of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.

<i>Portrait of a 62-year-old Woman</i> (Rembrandt) 1632 painting by Rembrandt van Rijn

Portrait of a 62-year-old Woman, possibly Aeltje Pietersdr Uylenburgh is a 1632 portrait painting painted by Rembrandt. It is an oil on panel in oval format depicting an elderly woman with a small and sober millstone collar. It is in the collection of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.

<i>Portrait of Petronella Buys</i> 1635 painting by Rembrandt

Portrait of Petronella Buys (1610–1670) is a 1635 portrait painting painted by Rembrandt. It shows a young woman with a very large and impressive millstone collar. It is in a private collection.

<i>David and Jonathan</i> (Rembrandt)

David and Jonathan is a painting by the Dutch painter Rembrandt, made in 1642, now in the collection of the Hermitage Museum in Saint Petersburg, Russia. Painted on oak, it is one of the works, together with the Hellenistic sculpture acquired in 1850, The Venus de Taurida, with which the Hermitage began their collection in 1882.

References