Old Testament Figure, Probably KingSolomon
Arent de Gelder(Dordrecht 1645 – 1727 Dordrecht)

ca. 1685–90
oil on canvas
105.3 x 94.5 cm
signed on separate piece of canvas: “ADe Gelderf.” (“AD” in ligature)
AG-104© 2024 The Leiden Collection

Old Testament Figure, Probably King Solomon
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How to cite
Manuth, Volker. “Old Testament Figure, Probably King Solomon” (2017). In The Leiden Collection Catalogue, 3rd ed.
EditedbyArthurK.

WheelockJr.

andLaraYeager-Crasselt.

NewYork,

2020–23.

https://www.theleidencollection.com/archive/ (archived December 2023).
A PDF of every version of this entry is available in this Online Catalogue's Archive, and the Archive is managed by apermanent URL. New versions are added only when a substantive change to the narrative occurs.

The sumptuously dressed Oriental ruler in Arent de Gelder’s imposing, life-sizedComparative Figures

painting has all the attributes of power, including an exotic turban elaborately wound
and adorned with pearls, a costly ermine cloak, and a gold scepter, but his demeanor
is that of a man weighed down by worldly concerns. With his eyes lowered anddarkened in shadow and a facial expression that is resolute but muted, he stares off to
his right, undoubtedly reflecting deeply on issues of moral and ethical consequence.
The specific matters that have come before this potentate are not known, largely
because painting is a fragment of a history painting that was originally much larger.
At some point the canvas support was cropped on the left.[1] It is likely that this ruler
is an Old Testament king.[2] Arent de Gelder’s King David, now in Amsterdam, whichcan be dated to 1680–83 (fig 1), and the figure of Ahasuerus in Ahasuerus andFig 1. Aernt de Gelder, King David,1680–85, oil on canvas, 109.5 x 114.5
cm, Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam, SKA-2695

Haman of 1682–85, now in Birmingham (fig 2), wear comparable cloaks of royal
distinction.[3]One can deduce the identity of this particular Old Testament king through aconsideration of his age. For example, his youthfulness makes him unlikely to beKing David. As in De Gelder’s Amsterdam painting (fig 1), King David wastraditionally portrayed as a bearded old man after his accession to the throne. It is also
unlikely that the painting depicts the Persian king Ahasuerus, despite the fact that hewas often portrayed holding a golden scepter, since he was generally shown as anelderly man with a beard (fig 2).[4] De Gelder’s painting Esther’s Banquet of ca. 1680
in Dordrecht, in which the king is younger and beardless, cannot serve as a point ofreference, because his face is largely a recent reconstruction.[5]The Old Testament figure’s youthful appearance and beardlessness suggest that he isFig 2. Arent de Gelder, Ahasuerus andHaman, 1680–84, oil on canvas, 138.5
x 116.8 cm, The Barber Institute ofFine Arts, University of Birmingham,
Edgbaston© 2024 The Leiden Collection

Old Testament Figure, Probably King Solomon
Page 3 of 7King Solomon. It is conceivable that the complete scene represented Solomon passing
judgment on two women, both of whom claimed to be the mother of the same child(1 Kings 3:16–28). In this scene Solomon is traditionally portrayed as a young king on
the throne, frequently passing judgment while pointing down with his scepter. There
are numerous depictions of this composition. Worthy of mention is an engraving byBoëtius Adamsz Bolswert after a lost painting by Peter Paul Rubens (1577–1640) (fig3). Another prominent example would have been known to De Gelder, namely, themarble relief by Artus Quellinus the Elder (1609–68) in the tribunal (vierschaar) of
the Amsterdam town hall built between 1650 and 1664 (fig 4).
De Gelder, Rembrandt’s last pupil, remained faithful to his master’s late expressive
style throughout his career, even in the face of the prevailing classicizing fashion.

Fig 3. Boëtius Adamsz Bolswert after
Peter Paul Rubens, The Judgment ofSolomon, 1630–33, engraving, 44 x
51.3 cm, The Metropolitan Museum ofArt, New York, The Elisha Whittelsey
Collection, The Elisha Whittelsey
Fund, 1951, 51.501.7016,
www.metmuseum.org

Although his sense of form was less stable than Rembrandt’s, his palette was moreadventurous and colorful, partly through his effective use of colored grounds andother under layers of paint. Arnold Houbraken describes how De Gelder varied hisapplication of paint to depict different textiles and patterns: he “scratched out theappearance of the embroidery or the threads of the fringe with the butt of hispaintbrush, or by any means possible, if only it furthered his aim; and it is astonishing[6]

how natural and powerful such an approach sometimes looks from a distance.” The
present painting beautifully exemplifies this technique, for such scratching into thewet paint, both broad and thin, occurs everywhere on the figure’s clothing. De

Fig 4. Artus Quellinus the Elder,Group above Portal, Magistrates’Chamber, 1655, marble relief, Royal
Palace (Paleis op de Dam),
Amsterdam, © Stichting Koninklijk
Paleis Amsterdam

Gelder’s vigorous technique of scratching is particularly evident in Solomon’s brownrobe, where it both enlivens its form and gives it structure. De Gelder’s characteristic
warm palette and his richly varied application of paint have an amazing ability tocapture the surface qualities of different materials in a suggestive but convincing way.
It is difficult to date this picture precisely on the basis of stylistic comparison because
De Gelder dated few works from the 1690s and later. His Self-Portrait as Zeuxis inFrankfurt (fig 5) displays certain similarities to Old Testament Figure, Probably KingSolomon with regard to palette and brushwork, which suggests a date of around
1685–90.

Fig 5. Arent de Gelder, Self-Portrait
as Zeuxis, Who Portrays an Ugly Old
Woman, 1685, oil on canvas, StädelMuseum, Frankfurt am Main, ©
Städel Museum – U. Edelmann –ARTOTHEK- Volker Manuth, 2017

© 2024 The Leiden Collection

Old Testament Figure, Probably King Solomon
Page 4 of 7Endnotes
1. This reduction is evident by the lack of cusping on the left edge of the canvas. The painting wasoriginally signed. The signature survives on a separate strip of canvas (8 x 41 cm), which must have been
cut off when the canvas was cut. The current location of the strip with the signature is unknown.
2. For the most recent discussion of the iconography of the painting, see Volker Manuth in Dirck Bijker,
et al., Arent de Gelder (1645–1727), Rembrandts laatste leerling (Exh. cat. Dordrecht, Dordrechts
Museum; Cologne, Wallraf-Richartz-Museum) (Ghent, 1998), 180–81, no. 25 (ill.).
3. For the painting in the Rijksmuseum, see Werner Sumowski, Gemälde der Rembrandt-Schüler, 6 vols.
(Landau and Pfalz, 1983–94), 2: no. 788 (ill.); Joachim Wolfgang von Moltke, Arent de Gelder,Dordrecht 1645–1727 (Doornspijk, 1994), 28, 70, no. 21 (ill.) and in Dirck Bijker et al., Arent de Gelder(1645–1727), Rembrandts laatste leerling (Exh. cat. Dordrecht, Dordrechts Museum; Cologne, WallrafRichartz-Museum) (Ghent, 1998), 162–63, no. 18 (ill.). For the painting in the Barber Institute of Fine
Arts, Birmingham, see Sumowski, 2:1164, no. 739 (ill.); Joachim Wolfgang von Moltke, Arent deGelder, Dordrecht 1645–1727, 36, 72, no. 26 (ill.); and Dirck Bijker, et al., Arent deGelder (1645–1727), Rembrandts laatste leerling (Exh. cat. Dordrecht, Dordrechts Museum; Cologne,Wallraf-Richartz-Museum) (Ghent, 1998), 156–57, no. 16 (ill.).
4. Written communication (4 January 1995) from Peter Kidd to Otto Naumann Ltd., New York. The
association of Ahasuerus with the golden scepter stem from the account of Esther’s meeting withAhasuerus: “And it was so, when the king saw Esther the queen standing in the court, that she obtained
favor in his sight: and the king held out to Esther the golden scepter that was in his hand. So Esther drew
near, and touched the top of the scepter” (Esther 5:2).
5. When the restoration was carried out in Dordrecht in 1998, the physiognomy of the young king in thepainting in the Leiden Collection served as an example for the badly damaged face of the figure in theDordrecht painting. See Dirck Bijker et al., Arent de Gelder (1645–1727), Rembrandts laatste leerling(Exh. cat. Dordrecht, Dordrechts Museum; Cologne, Wallraf-Richartz-Museum) (Ghent, 1998), 154.
6. “Krabt de gedaante van het borduursel, of de draden der franje daar uit met zyn penceelstok,zonderende geene wyzen uit, als zy maar tot zyn oogmerk behulpig zyn; en ’t ist e verwonderen hoe
natuurlyk en kragtig zulk doen somwylen zig in affstant vertoont.” Arnold Houbraken, De grooteschouburgh der Nederlantsche konstschilders en schilderessen, 3 vols. (Amsterdam, 1718–21; revised
edition published in The Hague, 1753; reprinted in Amsterdam, 1980), 3:207–8.

Provenance© 2024 The Leiden Collection

Old Testament Figure, Probably King Solomon
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Private collection, Portugal, and thence by descent.
Private collection, Boston [Lepore Fine Arts, Newburyport, Mass., 1993; Otto Naumann, Ltd., NewYork, 1993].
Mr. and Mrs. Bert van Deun, Oberageri, Switzerland, by 1997 [Otto Naumann, Ltd., New York, 2004].
From whom purchased by the present owner in 2004.

Exhibition History
Dordrecht, Dordrechts Museum, “Arent de Gelder (1645–1727), Rembrandts laatste leerling,” 10October 1998–17 January 1999; Cologne, Wallraf-Richartz-Museum, 17 January–19 May 1999. Ghent,
1998, 188–89, no. 25 [lent by Bert van Deun].
Boston, Museum of Fine Arts, on loan with the permanent collection, January 2015–February 2016 [lentby the present owner].
Beijing, National Museum of China, “Rembrandt and His Time: Masterpieces from The LeidenCollection,” 17 June–3 September 2017 [lent by the present owner].
Shanghai, Long Museum, West Bund, “Rembrandt, Vermeer and Hals in the Dutch Golden Age:Masterpieces from The Leiden Collection,” 23 September 2017–25 February 2018 [lent by the presentowner].
Moscow, The Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts, “The Age of Rembrandt and Vermeer: Masterpiecesof The Leiden Collection,” 28 March 2018–22 July 2018 [lent by the present owner].
St. Petersburg, The State Hermitage Museum, “The Age of Rembrandt and Vermeer: Masterpieces ofThe Leiden Collection,” 5 September 2018–13 January 2019 [lent by the present owner].
Abu Dhabi, Louvre Abu Dhabi, “Rembrandt, Vermeer and the Dutch Golden Age. Masterpieces fromThe Leiden Collection and the Musée du Louvre,” 14 February–18 May 2019 [lent by the presentowner].
Amsterdam, Hermitage Amsterdam, “Rembrandt and his Contemporaries: History Paintings from The
Leiden Collection,” 4 February–27 August 2023, no. 15 [lent by the present owner].

References
Sumowski, Werner. Gemälde der Rembrandt-Schüler. 6 vols. Landau and Pfalz, 1983–94, 6:3712, no.
2291a.
Manuth, Volker. “Een koning uit het Oude Testament.” In Arent de Gelder (1645–1727), Rembrandts
laatste leerling. Edited by Dirk Bijker, et. al., 180, no. 25. Exh. cat. Dordrecht, Dordrechts Museum;© 2024 The Leiden Collection

Old Testament Figure, Probably King Solomon
Page 6 of 7Cologne, Wallraf-Richartz-Museum. Ghent, 1998.
Yeager-Crasselt, Lara. “Old Testament Figure, Probably King Solomon.” In Rembrandt and His Time:Masterpieces from The Leiden Collection. Edited by Lara Yeager-Crasselt, 166–67; 190, no. 73.
Translated by Li Ying. Exh. cat. Beijing, National Museum of China. Beijing, 2017.
Long Museum, West Bund. Rembrandt, Vermeer and Hals in the Dutch Golden Age: Masterpieces fromThe Leiden Collection. Exh. cat. Shanghai, Long Museum, West Bund. Shanghai, 2017, 185–86.
Yeager-Crasselt, Lara. “Old Testament Figure, Probably King Solomon.” In The Age of Rembrandt andVermeer: Masterpieces of The Leiden Collection. Edited by Polina Lyubimova, 78–79; 232, no. 6.
Translated by Daria Babich and Daria Kuzina. Exh. cat. Moscow, The Pushkin State Museum of FineArts; St. Petersburg, The State Hermitage Museum. Moscow, 2018.
Ducos, Blaise, and Lara Yeager-Crasselt, eds. Rembrandt, Vermeer and the Dutch Golden Age.
Masterpieces from The Leiden Collection and the Musée du Louvre. Exh. cat. Abu Dhabi, Louvre Abu
Dhabi. London, 2019, 103, no. 34. [Exhibition catalogue also published in French and Arabic.]
Wheelock, Arthur K., Jr., Christiaan Vogelaar, and Caroline van Cauwenberge. Rembrandt and His
Contemporaries: History Paintings from The Leiden Collection. Exh. cat. Amsterdam, Hermitage
Amsterdam. Zwolle, 2023, 74–75, no. 15. [Exhibition catalogue also published in Dutch.]
Wheelock, Arthur K., Jr. “Rembrandt and Dutch History Painting from The Leiden Collection. InRembrandt and his Contemporaries: History Paintings from The Leiden Collection. Edited by Arthur K.
Wheelock Jr. and Caroline Van Cauwenberge, 18, no. 15. Exh. cat. Amsterdam, Hermitage Amsterdam.
Zwolle, 2023. [Exhibition catalogue also published in Dutch.]

Technical Summary
The painting is a fragment of a larger composition. The support, a single piece of medium-weight, plainweave fabric, has been reduced in size along the length of the left edge and has been lined. The tacking
margins have been removed, and there is cusping along the upper, right and lower edges. An inventory
number handwritten in a radio-opaque medium is located in the upper right quadrant of the support reverse.
There are no wax collection seals, stencils, paper labels or import stamps along the lining or stretcher reverse.
A light-colored ground has been thinly and evenly applied. The paint has been applied in loose, fluid
brushstrokes of transparent glazes through the brown background, figure’s turban, brown garment, proper left
sleeve, fur robe, and red drapery, which allow a light-colored underlayer to show through, and more opaquely
through the fleshtones. Dabs of highlights through the ornamentation along the figure’s turban, in the jewelencrusted band across his chest, and along the scepter handle have been applied in low impasto. Details along
the figure’s brown garment have been scratched into glazes of wet paint with both a half-centimeter-wide tooland the pointed end of the back of a brush. The turban plume has been created entirely by scratching into thewet paint of the brown background with the pointed end of the back of a brush and allowing the lightunderlayer to show through.
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Old Testament Figure, Probably King Solomon
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No underdrawing is readily apparent in infrared images captured at 780–1000 nanometers, but the images
reveal a compositional change to the figure’s proper left hand. Originally, only the tip of the thumb peeked
out from behind the index finger. Subsequently, the tip of the thumb was shortened and the entire length of
the thumb was added.
The painting is unsigned and undated. An 8 cm-high by 41 cm-wide fragment of the fabric removed from theleft edge bore the original signature.[1] A 1993 image shows the painting with an 8 cm-high fabric addition
composed of two sections attached to the width of the upper edge. The left section was the fragment bearing
the signature. Sometime prior to 1995, both sections of the addition were removed and the fragment bearing
the signature was retained and framed.[2]The painting underwent conservation treatment in 1993 prior to its acquisition and remains in a good state ofpreservation.[3]Technical Summary Endnotes

1. Werner Sumowski, Gemälde der Rembrandt-Schüler in vier Bänden, 6 vols. (Landau, 1983), 6:3712, no.
2291a, reproduced in color p. 3885.
2. Unfortunately, the framed signature fragment could not be located. Canvas weave analysis of thesignature fragment and painting support could provide information regarding the original position of thesignature and the painting’s original overall dimensions.
3. The painting was examined on-site with no stereomicroscope. Magnification provided by 5x Optivisor.

© 2024 The Leiden Collection