Old Man with a White Beard
Attributed to Salomon Koninck(–)

ca. 1650
oil on panel
25.7 x 20.5 cm
RR-120© 2020 The Leiden Collection

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How to cite
DeWitt, David and Franziska Gottwald. “Old Man with a White Beard” (2017). In The Leiden Collection
Catalogue,2nded.

EditedbyArthurK.

WheelockJr.

NewYork,2017–20.

https://theleidencollection.com/artwork/an-old-man-with-a-white-beard/ (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 of an old man with a white beard is a tronie, a genre ofComparative Figures

painting that 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 facialexpressions. Tronies were generally painted in a loose or sketchy manner, ahandling that was contrary to the decorum generally expected from formal
portraiture, but one that allowed artists to demonstrate the expressiveness of
their brushwork.[3] As such they were valued as demonstrations of painterly
prowess, not only in the handling of materials and textures, but also in therendering of the human face and its passions.[4]The characteristics of the tronie are exhibited in exemplary fashion in thispainting of a 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, and part of the white beard against the surrounding

Fig 1. Salomon Koninck, A
Bearded Old Man in a Beret, at aBalustrade, Holding His Gloves,
1650, oil on panel, 57 × 46.5 cm,
Stichting Nederlands Kunstbezit,
1973, Instituut Collectie
Nederland, The Hague, inv. NK2694

darkness. The old man’s dress, consisting of a simple brown garment and asoft 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 toreact 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 de Groot, and later Valentiner, attributed it to Rembrandt van Rijn
© 2020 The Leiden Collection

Old Man with a White Beard
Page 3 of 7(1606–69).[7] Von Wurzbach connected it to Gerbrand van den Eeckhout(1621–74),[8] while Bauch thought that the artist could have been Adriaen
van Ostade (1610–85).[9] The closest comparisons to this work, however, arefound in the paintings of Salomon Koninck (1609–56). Three of Koninck’s
paintings feature a similar model with flowing white hair and beard, a strong
nose with a pointed tip, and distinctively small eyes with 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) isdated 1650, which is probably when all three of these works werepainted.[11] Although such tronies were valued as independent works of art
for eventual sale on the open market, they were also used as preparation forFig 2. Salomon Koninck, The Old
Bishop, ca. 1648, oil on panel,
59.5 × 52.5 cm, Gemäldegalerie
Alte Meister, Dresden, inv. 963

finished paintings. Indeed, Koninck depicted the same model in a number ofother guises, ranging from a scholar in his study to one of the elders inSusanna and the Elders.[12]An attribution of the Leiden Collection painting to Koninck can only betentatively proposed because the figure is more freely rendered than arethose in his finished paintings or on other tronies attributed to him, although
its sketchy appearance may indicate that the artist has here painted directlyfrom the model.[13] Nevertheless, this figure study does display the calm andmethodical buildup and palette of muted colors that are characteristic of
Koninck’s painting technique. The smooth, regular curves of the folds in theman’s costume resemble those seen in Koninck’s works, most specifically aloose head study by the artist now in Dresden (fig 2).[14]- David DeWitt and Franziska Gottwald, 2017

© 2020 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 der Malerei vom 15. Jahrhundert bis zu Rembrandt (Berlin andMunich, 2011).
2. In some cases the sitter would have been recognizable to contemporaries; for tronies basedon Rembrandt’s appearance, for example, this aspect would have been part of the value ofthe painting, without representing the person individually in the sense of a portrait. See 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), 35–36.
3. Ernst van de Wetering, “The Multiple Functions of Rembrandt’s Self-Portraits,” in Rembrandt
by Himself (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
by Himself (Exh. cat. London, National Gallery; The Hague, Mauritshuis) (London, 1999),
36–37.
5. See Dagmar Hirschfelder, Tronie und Porträt in der niederländischen Malerei des17. Jahrhunderts (Berlin, 2008), 66, fig. 31, for a comparable tronie of a peasant figure byAbraham Bloemaert, which he painted in the 1630s.
6. The old man’s expression of surprise is reminiscent of Rembrandt’s etching Self-Portrait witha 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(December 1912): 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 Bedeutungseines 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
© 2020 The Leiden Collection

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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 Rembrandt-Schüler (Landau andPfalz, 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, sale, Christie’s, London, 12 March 1976, lot 11 (ill.); see Werner
Sumowski, Gemälde der Rembrandt-Schüler in vier Bänden, 6 vols. (Landau and Pfalz,1983–94), 3: 1646, no. 1113; and Susanna and the Elders, 1649, oil on panel, 45 × 8.2 cm,Amsterdam, with Salomon Lilian Fine Art in 2004; see Sumowski, Gemälde der RembrandtSchüler (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 by Rembrandt).
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 petitsmaîtres hollandais de XVIIe siècle,” 28 April–10 July 1911, no. 118, as by Rembrandt [lent byÉduard Warneck, Paris].

© 2020 The Leiden Collection

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References
Dayot, Armand. Exposition rétrospective des grands et des petits maîtres hollandais du XVIIesiècle. Exh. cat. Paris, Jeu de Paume, Tuileries Gardens. Paris, 1911, 22, no. 118 (as byRembrandt).
Dayot, Armand. Grands et petits maîtres hollandais. Paris, 1912, 146, no. 130, [n.p.] (as byRembrandt).
Hofstede de Groot, Cornelis. “Nieuw ontdekte Rembrandts, II.” Overdrukt uit Onze Kunst(December 1912): 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 translatedby Edward G. Hawke, 6: 227, no. 432, as by Rembrandt. 8 vols. London, 1907–28. Originallypublished as Beschreibendes und kritisches Verzeichnis der Werke der hervorragendsten
höllandischen Maler des XVII. Jahrhunderts. 10 vols. 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 Bedeutungseines 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 felland use dates between 1634 and 1650.[1] The unthinned and uncradled panel has bevels along
the lower and right edges only. A vertical split and damage along the upper right corner havebeen reinforced along the reverse with a fine weave fabric patch, which wraps around onto thethickness of the upper panel edge.[2] The panel reverse has labels, one import stamp, andinscriptions but no wax seals or panel maker’s mark.
A light-colored ground has been thinly and evenly applied followed by paint applied with thintransparent glazes that defines the drapery folds and allows the underlayer to show through. Thebackground has been painted with low horizontal brushwork, and the old man’s hat and his facial
features have been executed with areas of slightly raised brushwork and low impasto.
During a 2006 restoration, the old man’s dark hat proved to be sensitive during cleaning. Twopigment samples were analyzed using Raman spectroscopy: “Sample (1) taken from the man’snose along the side of his proper right eye was found to be composed of vermilion and yellow ironoxide, most likely in the form of an ocher, and some white lead particles. Sample (2) taken close© 2020 The Leiden CollectionPowered by TCPDF (www.tcpdf.org)

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to the man’s proper right eyebrow was found to be composed mainly of a yellow iron oxide,similar to that observed in sample (1), in addition to some vermilion and lead particles. All thepigments identified are known to have been used since antiquity.” [3] In addition, infrared spectra
run on two samples found that “both samples were complex showing a mixture of organic andinorganic 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 metalsoap.” [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 at780–1000 nanometers.
The painting is unsigned and undated.
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 wide by 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.

© 2020 The Leiden Collection