Head of Christ (Rembrandt, Philadelphia)

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Head of Christ
Rembrandt Harmensz. van Rijn, Dutch (active Leiden and Amsterdam) - Head of Christ - Google Art Project.jpg
Artist Rembrandt   OOjs UI icon edit-ltr-progressive.svg
Year1600s
Medium oil paint, oak panel
Dimensions35.8 cm (14.1 in) × 31.2 cm (12.3 in)
Location Philadelphia Museum of Art
Owner John G. Johnson, Charles Sedelmeyer   OOjs UI icon edit-ltr-progressive.svg
Collection Philadelphia Museum of Art, Charles Sedelmeyer, Charles Sedelmeyer collection  OOjs UI icon edit-ltr-progressive.svg
Accession No.Cat. 480  OOjs UI icon edit-ltr-progressive.svg
Identifiers RKDimages ID: 232218

Head of Christ is a 17th-century painting by Rembrandt's workshop. It shows Christ with a beard and long dark hair. It is in the collection of the Philadelphia Museum of Art, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. [1]

Contents

Description

Rembrandt created several similar heads in varying poses, possibly as devotional objects. Today about a dozen are known. This one came into the collection via the John G. Johnson bequest. This face of Christ relates very closely to depictions found in two prints by Rembrandt that portray Christ preaching to an attentive audience. [1]

This painting was documented by Hofstede de Groot in 1914, who wrote; "163. HEAD OF CHRIST. Wb. 324; B.-HdG. 412. Almost in full face. Long dark curls and a thin full beard. In a reddish-brown cloak. Half-length, about half life size. Painted about 1656-58. Oak panel, 13 inches by 11 1/2 inches. Mentioned by Vosmaer, p. 555; by Bode, p. 523; by Dutuit, p. 53. In the collection of Madame de Saulcy, Paris. In the collection of the Comte de la Bégassière, Paris. In the possession of the Paris dealer C. Sedelmeyer, "Catalogue of 100 Paintings," vii. No. 33. In the collection of John G. Johnson, Philadelphia, 1914 catalogue, No. 480." [2]

The painting was included in most Rembrandt catalogs of the 20th-century, only recently being rejected as an autograph by the latest RRP catalog. It is, however, still connected with Rembrandt's workshop and is grouped together with all the other versions. In 2004, dendrochronological analysis determined that the source of the oak panel—both the original from the seventeenth century—and the main one came from the Baltic/Polish regions. The analysis yielded a probable creation date of 1628 or later. [3] It was included in the 2011 exhibition "Rembrandt and the Face of Jesus" held in the museums of Detroit (DIA), Philadelphia (PMA) and Paris (Louvre) from April 21, 2011 – to February 12, 2012, no. 40.

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References

  1. 1 2 "Head of Christ". Philadelphia Museum of Art.
  2. 163. Head of Christ" in Hofstede de Groot, 1914 PD-icon.svg This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain .
  3. DeWitt, Lloyd; Slive, Seymour (2011). Rembrandt and the Face of Jesus. Philadelphia: Philadelphia Museum of Art. ISBN   978-0-300-16957-7.