Old Man with a White Beard
Attributed to Salomon Koninck

ca. 1650
oil on panel
25.7 x 20.5 cm
RR-120© 2024 The Leiden Collection

Old Man with a White Beard
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How to cite
De Witt, David and Franziska Gottwald. “Old Man with a White Beard” (2017). In The Leiden Collection Catalogue, 3rded.

EditedbyArthur

K.

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.

This small panel of an old man with a white beard is a tronie, a genre of painting that

Comparative Figures

emerged in the first half of the seventeenth century in the Northern
Netherlands.[1] Though based on living models, these bust-length figure paintings are
not portraits but rather character studies.[2] The models, whether old or young, often
sport fanciful costumes and show lively facial expressions. Tronies were generally
painted in a loose or sketchy manner, a handling that was contrary to the decorum
generally expected from formal portraiture, but one that allowed artists todemonstrate the expressiveness of their brushwork.[3] As such they were valued asdemonstrations of painterly prowess, not only in the handling of materials andtextures, but also in the rendering of the human face and its passions.[4]The characteristics of the tronie are exhibited in exemplary fashion in this painting ofa bearded old man turned slightly to the right. Light from the left strikes his face,creased by countless wrinkles, in such a way as to isolate the right eye, cheek, andpart of the white beard against the surrounding darkness. The old man’s dress,Fig 1. Salomon Koninck, A Bearded
Old Man in a Beret, at a Balustrade,
Holding His Gloves, 1650, oil on panel,
57 × 46.5 cm, Stichting Nederlands
Kunstbezit, 1973, Instituut Collectie
Nederland, The Hague, inv. NK 2694

consisting of a simple brown garment and a soft hat, identifies him as a person of low
social position.[5] The model stares off to the right with raised eyebrows and slightly
opened mouth, appearing to react in surprise to something not seen by the viewer.[6]The attribution of the Leiden Collection painting has been a matter of some dispute
since it first appeared on the market in the early twentieth century. Hofstede deGroot, and later Valentiner, attributed it to Rembrandt van Rijn (1606–69).[7] Von
Wurzbach connected it to Gerbrand van den Eeckhout (1621–74),[8] while Bauchthought that the artist could have been Adriaen van Ostade (1610–85).[9] The closest
comparisons to this work, however, are found in the paintings of Salomon Koninck

Fig 2. Salomon Koninck, The Old
Bishop, ca. 1648, oil on panel, 59.5 ×© 2024 The Leiden Collection

Old Man with a White Beard
Page 3 of 7(1609–56). Three of Koninck’s paintings feature a similar model with flowing whitehair and beard, a strong nose with a pointed tip, and distinctively small eyes with

52.5 cm, Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister,
Dresden, inv. 963

puffy rounded eyelids.[10] In each of these paintings the man is shown standing at abalustrade holding his gloves in his hand. The panel in The Hague (fig 1) is dated
1650, which is probably when all three of these works were painted.[11] Althoughsuch tronies were valued as independent works of art for eventual sale on the open
market, they were also used as preparation for finished paintings. Indeed, Koninck
depicted the same model in a number of other guises, ranging from a scholar in his
study to one of the elders in Susanna and the Elders.[12]An attribution of the Leiden Collection painting to Koninck can only be tentatively
proposed because the figure is more freely rendered than are those in his finishedpaintings or on other tronies attributed to him, although its sketchy appearance may
indicate that the artist has here painted directly from the model.[13] Nevertheless, thisfigure study does display the calm and methodical buildup and palette of muted
colors that are characteristic of Koninck’s painting technique. The smooth, regularcurves of the folds in the man’s costume resemble those seen in Koninck’s works,
most specifically a loose head study by the artist now in Dresden (fig 2).[14]- David de Witt and Franziska Gottwald, 2017

© 2024 The Leiden Collection

Old Man with a White Beard
Page 4 of 7Endnotes
1. Dagmar Hirschfelder, Tronie und Porträt in der niederländischen Malerei des 17. Jahrhunderts (Berlin,2008); Franziska Gottwald, Das Tronie: Muster, Studie, Meisterwerk; Die Genese einer Gattung derMalerei vom 15. Jahrhundert bis zu Rembrandt (Berlin and Munich, 2011).
2. In some cases the sitter would have been recognizable to contemporaries; for tronies based on
Rembrandt’s appearance, for example, this aspect would have been part of the value of the painting,without representing the person individually in the sense of a portrait. See Ernst van de Wetering, “TheMultiple Functions of Rembrandt’s Self-Portraits,” in Rembrandt by Himself (Exh. cat. London,National Gallery; The Hague, Mauritshuis) (London, 1999), 35–36.
3. Ernst van de Wetering, “The Multiple Functions of Rembrandt’s Self-Portraits,” in Rembrandt byHimself (Exh. cat. London, National Gallery; The Hague, Mauritshuis) (London, 1999), 9–11.
4. Ernst van de Wetering, “The Multiple Functions of Rembrandt’s Self-Portraits,” in Rembrandt byHimself (Exh. cat. London, National Gallery; The Hague, Mauritshuis) (London, 1999), 36–37.
5. See Dagmar Hirschfelder, Tronie und Porträt in der niederländischen Malerei des 17. Jahrhunderts(Berlin, 2008), 66, fig. 31, for a comparable tronie of a peasant figure by Abraham Bloemaert, which hepainted in the 1630s.
6. The old man’s expression of surprise is reminiscent of Rembrandt’s etching Self-Portrait with a Cap,
Open-Mouthed, 1630, 5.1 x 4.4 cm, Norton Simon Art Foundation, Pasadena, CA. M.1977.32.010.G(Bartsch 320).
7. Cornelis Hofstede de Groot, “Nieuw ontdekte Rembrandts, II,” Overdrukt uit Onze Kunst (December1912): 6; Wilhelm R. Valentiner, Rembrandt: Wiedergefundene Gemälde (1910–1920) in 120
Abbildungen (Stuttgart and Berlin, 1921), xx, 50, 131, no. 54.
8. Alfred von Wurzbach, Niederländisches Künstler Lexikon, 3 vols. (Vienna and Leipzig, 1906), 2:408.
9. Kurt Bauch, Der frühe Rembrandt und seine Zeit: Studien zur geschichtlichen Bedeutung seines Frühstils(Berlin, 1960), 233.
10. Significantly, this model does not appear in the work of any other artists.
11. For A Bearded Old Man in a Beret, at a Balustrade, Holding His Gloves, 1650, see Werner Sumowski,Gemälde der Rembrandt-Schüler, 6 vols. (Landau and Pfalz, 1983–94), 3: 1649, no. 1128. The other two
examples are Salomon Koninck, Bearded Old Man in a Beret, Holding His Gloves, at a Window, ca.
1650, oil on panel, 97 x 77 cm, Koninklijke Musea voor Schone Kunsten van België, Museum van Oude
Kunst, Brussels, inv. 3733; and Bearded Old Man in a Beret, Pointing to a Medal, ca. 1650, oil on panel,54.5 × 46.9 cm, private collection, Mainz. These are illustrated in Sumowski, Gemälde der RembrandtSchüler (Landau and Pfalz, 1983–94), 3: 1649, 1703–4, nos. 1127–30 (ill.).
12. Salomon Koninck, A Scholar in Contemplation at His Desk, ca. 1648/50, oil on canvas, 69 × 58.5 cm,© 2024 The Leiden Collection

Old Man with a White Beard
Page 5 of 7sale, Christie’s, London, 12 March 1976, lot 11 (ill.); see Werner Sumowski, Gemälde der RembrandtSchüler in vier Bänden, 6 vols. (Landau and Pfalz, 1983–94), 3: 1646, no. 1113; and Susanna and theElders, 1649, oil on panel, 45 × 8.2 cm, Amsterdam, with Salomon Lilian Fine Art in 2004; seeSumowski, Gemälde der Rembrandt-Schüler (Landau and Pfalz, 1983–94) 3: 1644, no. 1095, 1669 (ill.).
13. See, for example, the finished character of Bust of an Old Man in a Beret, ca. 1650, 61 × 47 cm, sale,Christie’s, New York, 30 January 2013, lot 207.
14. Werner Sumowski, Gemälde der Rembrandt-Schüler, 6 vols. (Landau and Pfalz, 1983–94), 3: 1647, no.
1117.

ProvenanceCharles Auguste Louis Joseph de Morny, Duke of Morny (1811–65).
Viardot, probably Louis Viardot (1800–83), Paris.
Éduard Warneck, Paris, by 1915 (his sale, Galerie Georges Petit, Paris, 27 May 1926, no. 69, as byRembrandt).
Arthur Sambon (1867–1947), Paris, as of 1929.
(Sale, Palais Galliera, Paris, 24 June 1968, as by “Rembrandt (?)”).
(Sale, Christie’s, London, 27 May 1977, no. 114, as circle of Rembrandt for £8,500).
[Johnny van Haeften, Ltd., London, by 2006, as circle of Rembrandt].
From whom acquired by the present owner in 2006.

Exhibition History
Paris, Jeu de Paume, Tuileries Gardens, “Rétrospective des grands et des petits maîtres hollandais deXVIIe siècle,” 28 April–10 July 1911, no. 118, as by Rembrandt [lent by Éduard Warneck, Paris].

References
Dayot, Armand. Exposition rétrospective des grands et des petits maîtres hollandais du XVIIe siècle. Exh.
cat. Paris, Jeu de Paume, Tuileries Gardens. Paris, 1911, 22, no. 118 (as by Rembrandt).
Dayot, Armand. Grands et petits maîtres hollandais. Paris, 1912, 146, no. 130, [n.p.] (as by Rembrandt).
Hofstede de Groot, Cornelis. “Nieuw ontdekte Rembrandts, II.” Overdrukt uit Onze Kunst (December© 2024 The Leiden Collection

Old Man with a White Beard
Page 6 of 71912): 6 (as by Rembrandt).
Hofstede de Groot, Cornelis. A Catalogue Raisonné of the Works of the Most Eminent Dutch Painters of
the Seventeenth Century Based on the Work of John Smith. Edited and translated by Edward G. Hawke, 6:
227, no. 432, as by Rembrandt. 8 vols. London, 1907–28. Originally published as Beschreibendes undkritisches Verzeichnis der Werke der hervorragendsten höllandischen Maler des XVII. Jahrhunderts. 10vols. Esslingen and Paris, 1907–28.
Valentiner, Wilhelm R. Rembrandt: Wiedergefundene Gemälde (1910–1920) in 120 Abbildungen.
Stuttgart and Berlin, 1921, xx, 50, 131, no. 54 (as by Rembrandt).
Bauch, Kurt. Der frühe Rembrandt und seine Zeit Studien zur geschichtlichen Bedeutung seines
Frühstils. Berlin, 1960, 233, no. 197 (as an uncertain attribution, possibly by Adriaen van Ostade).

Technical Summary
The support, a single plank of fairly thin, vertically grained, rectangular Eastern Baltic oak, has fell and use
dates between 1634 and 1650.[1] The unthinned and uncradled panel has bevels along the lower and rightedges only. A vertical split and damage along the upper right corner have been reinforced along the reverse
with a fine weave fabric patch, which wraps around onto the thickness of the upper panel edge.[2] The panel
reverse has labels, one import stamp, and inscriptions but no wax seals or panel maker’s mark.
A light-colored ground has been thinly and evenly applied followed by paint applied with thin transparent
glazes that defines the drapery folds and allows the underlayer to show through. The background has been
painted with low horizontal brushwork, and the old man’s hat and his facial features have been executed withareas of slightly raised brushwork and low impasto.
During a 2006 restoration, the old man’s dark hat proved to be sensitive during cleaning. Two pigment
samples were analyzed using Raman spectroscopy: “Sample (1) taken from the man’s nose along the side of
his proper right eye was found to be composed of vermilion and yellow iron oxide, most likely in the form ofan ocher, and some white lead particles. Sample (2) taken close to the man’s proper right eyebrow was foundto be composed mainly of a yellow iron oxide, similar to that observed in sample (1), in addition to somevermilion and lead particles. All the pigments identified are known to have been used since antiquity.” [3] Inaddition, infrared spectra run on two samples found that “both samples were complex showing a mixture oforganic and inorganic materials. Protein and oil or natural resin was evident in one sample, along with calcite
and other unidentified materials. The other sample showed features consistent with a metal soap.” [4] Martin
Bijl felt quite certain the panel was from the seventeenth century. In conclusion, the solubility of the old
man’s dark hat may have arisen from impurities and additives to the oil medium.[5]No underdrawing or compositional changes are readily apparent in infrared images captured at 780–1000
nanometers.
The painting is unsigned and undated.
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The painting was cleaned and restored in 2006 and remains in a good state of preservation.

Technical Summary Endnotes

1. The characterization of the wood is based on Ian Tyers’s 2010 dendrochronology report.
2. Split: 4.5 cm in from the upper right corner, 3.8 cm in from the lower right corner. Damage: 1 cm wideby 2 cm long. Patch: 7.5 cm long by 4.5 cm wide.
3. See “RR-120_Centeno_Analysis.pdf” on file at the Leiden Collection.
4. See “RR-120_JMartin_Analysis.jpeg” on file at the Leiden Collection.
5. See “RR-120_NKrieg_examination_report.jpg” on file at the Leiden Collection.

© 2024 The Leiden Collection