Study of a Man with Curly Hair
School of Rembrandt van Rijn(–)

ca. 1643-45
oil on panel
16.6 x 13.8 cm
RR-123© 2020 The Leiden Collection

Study of a Man with Curly Hair
Page 2 of 5

How to cite
DeWitt, David. “Study of a Man with Curly Hair” (2017). In The Leiden Collection Catalogue, 2nd ed. Edited by
Arthur K. Wheelock Jr. New York, 2017–20. https://theleidencollection.com/artwork/study-of-a-man/ (archived
May 2020).
A PDF of every version of this entry is available in this Online Catalogue's Archive, and the Archive ismanaged by a permanent URL. New versions are added only when a substantive change to the narrativeoccurs.

This small panel depicts the bust of an old man with a beard. His torso faces

Comparative Figures

the viewer but his head turns to the right, so that his face appears in threequarter view. The light falling from the left accentuates the left cheek and ear,while the right side of his face and the eyes fall nearly completely in shadow.
The man’s curly hair is tousled and his short beard is unkempt. Particularly
noticeable is his large, round nose, which gives the man a “rough” aspect,indicating that he comes from a low social background. The feature of theknollnase (bulbous nose) has been clarified by Wayne Franits in light ofcontemporary physiognomic theories. Especially popular were the so-called
neusboeken (nose books) that illustrated various nasal forms accompaniedby satiric commentary. A large, bulbous nose, for example, was associatedFig 1. Workshop of Rembrandt
van Rijn, possibly Gerrit Dou andGovaert Flinck, Parable of theHidden Treasure, ca. 1630,Szépmüsézeti Múzeum, Budapest,inv. 342with the vices of drunkenness and smoking, and was considered suitable for
figures from the lower social orders.[1] Likewise, the loose brushwork in which
this nearly monochromatic brownish image is painted supports thisimpression: the man’s whole face appears to be painted in rapid strokes ofthe brush, which emphasize his wrinkles as well as his lack of grooming.
As with other paintings in The Leiden Collection (RR-101, RR-109, RR-120),
this tronie is based on a study from life.[2] In contrast, for example, to Studyof a Woman in a White Cap (RR-101), which should be understood primarily
as a study of light, this work presents a specific facial type—a roughfigure—that could be used in a larger composition. A total of four versions of
this study are known, all likely after a now-lost original by Rembrandt ofaround 1640.[3] The prototype probably remained in Rembrandt’s studio andFig 2. Rembrandt School, TheBeheading of John the Baptist, ca.
1645, oil on canvas, 149 × 121© 2020 The Leiden Collection

Study of a Man with Curly HairPage 3 of 5

was copied by assistants and pupils as an exercise, or used as a model for acm, Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam,inv. SK-A-91

figure in their own paintings. The same head appears, for example, inParable of the Hidden Treasure in Budapest, executed by an unknown
follower, with still-life details added in a much finer hand, perhaps that ofGerrit Dou (1613–75) (fig 1).[4] The farmer in this scene has the same type offace with the strikingly large nose, although he appears in mirror image andis rendered with a smoother handling of paint. The same figural type also
appears in The Beheading of John the Baptist in the Rijksmuseum (fig 2). In
both cases, Rembrandt’s prototype served as a model for a figure of low
social standing—the farmer in the depiction of the parable and the executioner
in the Rijksmuseum painting, still holding his sword.
It is not possible to date the present study with any precision, althoughdendrochronological analysis by Ian Tyers has demonstrated that the tree
from which the panel was taken was felled around 1636, which indicates an
earliest date of use around 1643.[5]- David de Witt, 2017

© 2020 The Leiden Collection

Study of a Man with Curly Hair
Page 4 of 5Endnotes

1. Wayne Franits, Dutch Seventeenth-Century Genre Painting: Its Stylistic and Thematic
Evolution (New Haven, 2004), 43.
2. Ernst van de Wetering “Rembrandt’s Oil Studies: New Light on an Old Problem,”in Rembrandt: Quest of a Genius, ed. Bob van den Boogert (Exh. cat. Amsterdam, Museum
Het Rembrandthuis; Berlin, Gemäldegalerie Staatliche Museen zu Berlin) (Zwolle, 2006),
178–207.
3. Rembrandt School, Study of a Head, ca. 1645, oil on panel, 19.5 × 15.5 cm, National Gallery,Oslo, inv. no. 1363, formerly Chr. Langaard collection; Rembrandt School, Head of an Old
Man, oil on panel, 20.9 × 17.6 cm, Philadelphia Museum of Art, John G. Johnson Collection,no. 476; Rembrandt School, Study of a Head, oil on panel, 21.5 × 18.5 cm, present location
unknown, formerly Matsukata Collection, Tokyo; Rembrandt School, Study of a Head, oil onpanel, 19.5 × 16.3 cm, present location unknown, formerly with art dealer Landry, Paris, 1952.
4. The museum attributes the work to Dou and, improbably, Rembrandt. Its landscapebackground draws heavily on the style of Hercules Seghers (1589/90–1633/38), whose work
was owned by Rembrandt and would have been present in his studio. The theme is drawn
from Matthew 13:44, and from the Gnostic Gospel of Thomas 109.
5. Ian Tyers, dendrochronology report, November 2010; this source of oak became unavailable
after 1650.

Provenance(Sale, Tajan, Paris, 15 December 2008, no. 56 [Salomon Lilian B. V., Amsterdam, 2008]).
From whom acquired by the present owner.

VersionsVersions and Copies

1. Rembrandt School, Study of a Head, ca. 1645, oil on panel, 19.5 x 15.5 cm, National Gallery,Oslo, inv. no. 1363; formerly Chr. Langaard collection.

2. Rembrandt School, Head of an Old Man, oil on panel, 20.9 x 17.6 cm, Philadelphia Museum© 2020 The Leiden CollectionPowered by TCPDF (www.tcpdf.org)

Study of a Man with Curly Hair
Page 5 of 5of Art, John G. Johnson Collection, no. 476.

3. Rembrandt School, Study of a Head, oil on panel, 21.5 x 18.5 cm, present location unknown,
formerly Matsukata Collection, Tokyo.

4. Rembrandt School, Study of a Head, oil on panel, 19.5 x 16.3 cm, present location unknown,
formerly with art dealer Landry, Paris, 1952.

Technical Summary
The support, a single plank of vertical, straight-grained, rectangular Eastern Baltic oak derived
from a tree felled after 1636, has bevels along all four sides.[1] The panel is unthinned anduncradled, and has machine tool marks along the left and right bevels. The panel reverse has twopaper label remnants, paper tape, and a numerical inscription, but no wax seals, import stamps,
stencils or panel maker’s marks.
A light-colored ground has been extremely thinly and evenly applied. The paint has been applied
as a thin glaze along the background, which allows the light underlayer to show through. Only theapplication of the darkest paint, most noticeably the eyes and nostrils but also the beard and baseof the neck, is visible as slightly raised, rounded brushwork. Very few of the flesh tones and facial
features are visible as radio-opaque forms in the X-radiograph, due either to the pigments
employed or the X-radiograph exposure. Either way, the extreme thinness is noteworthy.
No underdrawing is readily apparent in infrared images captured at 780–1000 nanometers. No
compositional changes are revealed in the images, in the X-radiograph, or as pentimenti. Furtherinvestigation at wavelengths that penetrate further into the infrared range may be useful.
The painting is unsigned and undated.
The painting was cleaned and restored in 2009 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.

© 2020 The Leiden Collection