Rembrandt
Reunited
3 September – 10 November 2024
The focus exhibition Rembrandt Reunited reunites two Rembrandts painted in 1632. The two artworks previously belonged to the same private collection before being sold on separately in 1801. Now they are brought back together for the first time in 223 years as an outcome of an ambitious research project that have sought to prove or disprove whether Rembrandt originally painted the two portraits as a pair. The two paintings in question are Portrait of a 39-Year-Old Woman, owned by The Nivaagaard Collection, and Portrait of a 40-Year-Old Man, now in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.
Did Rembrandt Harmensz van Rijn paint the two portraits from 1632 as a pair to represent a husband and wife, as has been suggested on several occasions throughout history – or did the paintings simply belong to the same collection when they were sold separately in Paris in 1801? The enigma was sought resolved on 2 September, when heritage scientists and art historians met to collate the results from extensive technical analyses and archival finds – and took the opportunity to examine the two portraits side by side for the first time. Now, the exhibition is open to the public, unfolding the story to all.
About Rembrandt Reunited
A hundred and twenty years ago, the local squire in Nivå, Johannes Hage, bought a genuine Rembrandt painted in 1632, Portrait of a 39-Year-Old Woman. Today, the painting is on public display as part of The Nivaagaard Collection. Through the years, it has been suggested several times that the painting may be a counterpart – a pendant – to the same artist’s Portrait of a 40-year-old Man, which belongs to the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.
In conjunction with The Nivaagaard Collection’s current research project focusing on the collection of Dutch Baroque art – conducted by Dr Angela Jager, RKD-Netherlands Institute for Art History, with specialty advisor Prof. em. Dr Jørgen Wadum – a number of studies have in recent years been carried out to solve the enigma of how, and if, the two works are connected.
Furthermore, the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York has kindly agreed to lend their portrait to The Nivaagaard Collection in 2024, allowing audiences to see the two Rembrandts together again.
Rembrandt Harmensz van Rijn, Portrait of af 40-Year Old Man, 1632.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art/Art Resource/Scala, Florence.
Rembrandt Harmensz van Rijn, Portrait of a 39-Year Old Woman, 1632.
Nivaagaards Malerisamling. Photographer: David Kahr.
The experts: ‘We still don’t know!’ New knowledge raises new questions
After the international seminar at the Nivaagaard Collection on 2 September 2024 –which brought together experts, scholars and art historians to compile and compare the results from three years* of extensive technical analyses and archival finds and gave them their first-ever opportunity to examine the two portraits side by side – the main question remains open: when Rembrandt painted the two portraits in 1632, did he paint the sitters as husband and wife? While the answer to this riddle remains elusive, the assembled experts agree that the use of new technology and the act of reuniting the two paintings after 223 years apart have yielded new knowledge about how Rembrandt painted portraits in his young years – and formed a new basis for future research into pendants.
In order to interpret all the data produced by the research project behind REMBRANDT Reunited, it will be necessary to study a wider body of comparative material from among Rembrandt’s other works and among pendants in general. To put the issue plainly: How similar do two portraits have to be - both technically and stylistically – in order for them to represent a husband and wife? The experts are poised to take several next steps: for example, at the seminar plans emerged for a special themed issue of an international research journal, focusing specifically on pendants.
The studies undertaken of the two portraits have brought about crucial technical data that tells us more about the materials used by Rembrandt. We now know which pigments were used in the creation of the two Rembrandt portraits and that they are largely identical in this respect. We also know that the wood used for the panels on which the portraits are painted came from the same area in Lithuania – in fact, one of the boards (also known as planks or members) in each of the two panels even came from the same forest. Archives have been thoroughly searched, meaning that the line of provenance from 1801 to the present now appears clearer, but new sources and information may still surface. The gap in the ownership history from 1632 to 1801 still merits investigation, and such a study might also bring us closer to identifying the sitters. An archival record of two portraits by Rembrandt of a 39-year-old woman and 40-year-old man created in 1632 can be taken to suggest that the portraits are indeed pendants. Even so, no definitive evidence for the relationship between the man and woman portrayed has been unearthed as yet.
The Nivaagaard Collection has obtained greater and more accurate knowledge about its female portrait, which out of the two has undergone the most changes over time. These alterations have now been inspected and mapped by means of high-tech studies. The changes comprise: the hand with the book, which is a later addition; her right arm, which has been altered; the wart, which was painted over for a period of time; and not least the oval, which has had an extra edge added all around it. This latter amendment made it impossible to conclusively identify the wood on which the portrait is painted – until, that is, the DTU (Danish Technological Institute) was able to put a CT scanner at our disposal, allowing the most accurate dendrochronological study possible to be carried out. This is the first time that a Rembrandt has undergone a CT scan. With the studies undertaken in this project, the Nivaagaard Collection’s masterpiece has attracted international attention which will undoubtedly produce more results in the long term.
Delve behind the scenes REMBRANDT Reunited and follow the experts into the engine room: the presentation takes you very close to the two Rembrandt portraits, letting you take part in comparing and contrasting the scholars’ and scientists’ results, absorb the new information, study the paintings closely and form your own opinion: Were they husband and wife?
Highlights from the studies:
Scanning a Rembrandt
Both paintings have been subjected to art historical and technical studies. With the aid of dendrochronological studies, the origins and dating of the paintings was determined on the basis of the annual rings in the oak panels. A later addition around the portrait of the woman covered all the edges of the original panel, making it impossible to see the rings with the naked eye. In order to carry out dendrochronological studies of this portrait, a CT scan was made of the painting – the first ever CT scan of a Rembrandt. This revealed that the youngest planks in the panels come from trees felled in Lithuania after 1616 and 1625. Notably, one of the planks in the portrait of the woman comes from the same forest as one of the planks in the panel with the male sitter.
Later addition to the woman’s portrait
The pigments used for the paintings have been examined by means of advanced X-ray fluorescence analysis. This analysis makes it possible to compare Rembrandt’s painting technique in the two works. Combined with multispectral imaging, this has made it possible to create a reconstruction of the original composition of the female portrait before the hand with the prayer book was added. The technical study was combined with art historical research. Close scrutiny of the silver clasps on the prayer book established that the book was not painted in 1632, but in the second half of the seventeenth century. Extensive provenance research has been carried out and a multitude of archives and databases have been carefully combed in an effort to identify the two sitters. That question remains unanswered.
The research behind REMBRANDT Reunited
For decades, Rembrandt scholars have speculated whether the Portrait of a 40-Year-Old Man, painted by Rembrandt van Rijn in 1632, and Portrait of a 39-Year-Old Woman from the same year are in fact pendants. Both are painted on oak panels, they are oval in shape, about the same size and feature almost identical inscriptions to the right and left of the sitters. Furthermore, they were both part of the same private collection before being put up for sale in Paris in 1801.
The ongoing research activities at The Nivaagaard Collection have included multispectral imaging of the female portrait, which has confirmed the authenticity of the inscriptions. A subtle change made to the format of the portrait of the woman, adding a few centimetres all around, remains puzzling. The addition covers all the edges of the original panel, making it impossible to carry out a traditional dendrochronological study of the three boards that make up the panel of the Nivaagaard portrait. In order to compare the provenance and character of the Nivaagaard oak panel to that of the portrait at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, an extraordinary non-invasive CT scan of Portrait of a 39-Year-Old Woman was carried out at the DTU (Technical University of Denmark). Among other things, the scan enables the scholars to see the annual rings of the oak planks, pinpoint their origin precisely in terms of time and place, and compare this data with newly evaluated datasets pertaining to the Metropolitan panel.
The pigments of the paintings have been examined through advanced X-ray fluorescence analysis carried out on the portraits in New York and in Nivå, respectively. The analysis makes it possible to compare Rembrandt’s painting technique in the two works, and it may also provide an answer to the question of when a later addition, consisting of a hand and prayer book, was made to the Nivaagaard portrait.
However, the technical studies cannot stand alone. Extensive provenance studies have been carried out and a multitude of archives and databases have been carefully scrutinised to search for an identification of the two sitters. Further an art historical assessment is also required when compiling and comparing the results from scans, studies of the nature of the inscriptions, the dendrochronological analysis of the oak panels used for both paintings, and so on. Based on the analyses and the provenance studies, the scholars will carry out a new assessment of the two paintings next to each other, scrutinising aspects of style and composition. This will hopefully enable them to assess whether the two Rembrandt portraits are in fact pendants or not.
The exhibition has been made possible thanks to support from:
The Ministry of Culture Denmark’s Research Pool, Aage and Johanne Louis-Hansen’s Foundation,
Augustinus Foundation, Jorck’s Foundation, Lizzie and Ejler Ruge’s Art Foundation, and HIZKIA.
REMBRRANDT Reunited is the result of international collaboration and combined expertise. ‘Portrait of a 39-Year-Old Woman’ was examined by Nivaagaard’s Special Consultant in technical art history and conservation, Dr Jørgen Wadum and the Dutch art historian Dr Angela Jager from RKD–Netherlands Institute for Art History, together with specialists from SMK – National Gallery of Denmark, DTU (Technical University of Denmark) where an extraordinary non-invasive CT scan of ‘Portrait of a 39-Year-Old Woman’ was carried out, and the dendrochronologist Dr Aoife Daly and imaging specialist Camilla Perondi. The combined results were compared with analyses carried out on Portrait of a 40-Year-Old Man by conservators and heritage scientists at the Metropolitan Museum.
