Bust of an Old Man
Attributed to Gerrit Dou(Leiden 1613 – 1675 Leiden)

ca. 1640–45
oil on oval panel
20.4 x 17.8 cm
JvS-101© 2020 The Leiden Collection

Bust of an Old Man
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How to cite
Van Tuinen, Ilona. “Bust of an Old Man” (2017). In The Leiden Collection Catalogue, 2nd ed. Edited by Arthur
K. Wheelock Jr. New York, 2017–20. https://theleidencollection.com/artwork/bust-of-an-old-man/ (archivedMay 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 little oval painting barely measures the size of a human hand, yet its

Comparative Figures

powerful, bust-length representation of an old man with piercing eyes
operates like a magnetic force: it commands our attention and pulls us
closer, imploring us to return the man’s gaze with equal intensity. Illuminatedby a strong light coming from the upper left, the man’s face is turned toward
us, the shimmering highlights of his short, silver hair, long moustache, andmodest beard in contrast with the dark background. His rather unassuming
attire consists of a nondescript brown coat over a blue shirt and a simple

Fig 1. Detail of Bust of an Old
Man, JvS-101, showing theforehead with rich impasto
highlights

pleated white collar, the strings of which are carelessly resting on his clothingrather than tucked away. The informality of this little painting indicates that
this is not a commissioned portrait, but a tronie, a study of a facial type orexpression. Indeed, the old man’s exceptionally stern look and furrowed
brow betray an individual with a strong character.
With impeccable mastery, this tronie appears to have been executed quickly.
The artist merely indicated the contours of the sitter’s proper left ear, whichis entirely in the dark, and used a single brushstroke to suggest the presenceof his right one. Instead, he focused on the intricate reflections of light on theman’s aged skin. With swift strokes of a relatively broad brush he built up
the cheeks by alternating brown and creamy pink hues. He used a slightly
thinner brush for the single dark brown line above the man’s proper righteye. For the man’s impressive furrows between his eyes, the artist appliedFig 2. Gerrit Dou, Bust of a
Bearded Man, ca. 1642–45, oil onpanel, 18.4 x 14.9 cm, National
Gallery of Art, Washington,
Corcoran Collection (William A.
Clark Collection), 2014.136.32

broad strokes of flesh tones and slightly thinner strokes of darker paint forthe shadows in between the wrinkles. He executed the forehead in a rich© 2020 The Leiden Collection

Bust of an Old Man
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impasto of pinks and creams, culminating in the protruding white highlights
just below the hairline (fig 1). Unlike these intact paint layers, the dark areasof the painting have suffered from abrasion due to over-cleaning, particularlyin the man’s clothing, the pupils of his eyes, and along the peripheries of thebackground.[1] The abrasion in the mantle reveals the sketchy brushwork ofan earlier paint stage, probably the undermodeling.
This unpublished work was unknown until it appeared on the art market in2003 as attributed to Jan van Staveren (1613/14–69), a presumed student ofGerrit Dou (1613–75).[2] It is, however, highly unlikely that Van Staveren, withhis smooth brushwork and somewhat wooden figures, is the artist who madethis loosely painted, vivacious bust.[3] The appearance of the old man
certainly differs from Van Staveren’s generally fantastical tronies, in which
the sitters’ features and expressions are more generic.[4] The sitter insteadFig 3. Gerrit Dou, Schoolmaster,
1645, oil on panel, 27 x 19.4 cm,
Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge,
inv. no. 33, © The FitzwilliamMuseum, Cambridge

resembles Gerrit Dou’s small, oval Bust of a Bearded Man, dated ca.
1642–45, at the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. (formerly at theCorcoran Gallery of Art) (fig 2).[5] The man in the latter painting in fact has
the same strong nose, bushy grey beard, long mustache, deep-set eyes, andpronounced brow, leaving no doubt that the two paintings are of the samesitter.
The Washington, D.C. tronie is one of Dou’s most informal, freely executed
paintings, but it is still more refined than the Leiden Collection painting.
Unlike the latter work, with its thick, patchy strokes, Dou modeled theWashington painting using his characteristic short, individual brushstrokes.
The hair and beard of the man depicted in that painting were also renderedmore carefully, and one can distinguish individual strands of grey
curls.[6] There are, however, also some important similarities between theseFig 4. Gerrit Dou, Self-Portrait
Holding a Portrait of His Parentsand Brother, ca. 1649, oil on
panel, 27 x 23 cm, Herzog Anton
Ulrich-Museum, Braunschweig

works. The handling of the shaded sides of the two faces and the indicationof the proper left ears are almost identical in both paintings; moreover,alternating brown and cream hues were used to model the wrinkles in
between the eyes. These correlations, together with the high quality of thepresent painting and the immediacy of the portrait, make it plausible that Dou
also painted this work. If so, Dou here appears to have captured the sitter ina quick, initial sketch, before executing the more thought out Washington
painting, which would explain the slight differences in painting technique.[7]Thesitterdepictedinbothtronies

canalsoberecognizedinDou’s Schoolmaster, 1645, in which an old teacher, surrounded by thechildren he is helping to read, looks directly at the viewer (fig 3).[8] The stern

Fig 5. Detail of Gerrit Dou, SelfPortrait Holding a Portrait of His
Parents and Brother, ca. 1649, oilon panel, 27 x 23 cm, Herzog
Anton Ulrich-Museum,
Braunschweig

expression and position of the man’s head are identical to those in the© 2020 The Leiden Collection

Bust of an Old Man
Page 4 of 8Leiden Collection panel. Dou may well have referred to the latter painting
when executing Schoolmaster, using it as a reference point for the teacher’sfacial expression.
Traditionally, the model in the Washington painting has been identified as
Dou’s father, the glass painter Douwe Jansz (ca. 1584–1656).[9] The
appearance of his father is known from Dou’s Self-Portrait, ca. 1649, in
Braunschweig, in which the artist holds a small portrait of his parents andbrother (fig 4) (fig 5).[10] Although scholars have expressed some doubt as towhether the sitter in the Washington painting is identical to that in the family
portrait, the two men have similar facial features, including the pronounced,
straight nose, deep-set eyes, beard, and moustache.[11] The similarities areeven more pronounced between the sitters in the Leiden Collection tronie
and the Braunschweig painting, since both men face the viewer and wear
similar collars. In the early 1640s, when the Leiden Collection andWashington paintings were executed, Douwe Jansz would have been in his
late fifties or early sixties, an age that corresponds with the age of the sitterin each work.[12] It seems appropriate to reconsider the traditional
identification of this sitter as Dou’s father, an identification that would help toexplain the intimate character of the work. Dou may well have been able torender this figure so expressively because he knew the sitter so well.[13]At least two nearly identical versions of the painting exist. The first wasoffered for sale at a 1900 auction in Florence, with a mistaken attribution toFerdinand Bol (1616–80).[14] The second was in the Sir Charles TurnerCollection as by Thomas de Keyser (1596–1667) until 1908, after which
Abraham Bredius attributed it to Dou.[15] A third painting, formerly in theBaron van der Felz Collection, is a free copy after the Washington painting,in which the sitter is facing left and directed at the viewer, with an expression
strikingly similar to the Leiden Collection panel.[16] Unfortunately, thelocations of these paintings are unknown, making any kind of stylisticcomparison impossible. Judging from old photographs, however, theseworks appear to be flatter in execution and more generic than the presentwork, which suggests that the Leiden Collection panel is, indeed, the original.

- Ilona van Tuinen, 2017

© 2020 The Leiden Collection

Bust of an Old Man
Page 5 of 8Endnotes

1. See the Technical Summary. Annette Rupprecht observes that in these dark passages, small
spots of ground and bare wood have been exposed. It is not known when this damaging
treatment took place.
2. Sale, Christie’s, London, 12 December 2003, no. 42 (unsold). On the relationship between
Jan van Staveren and Gerrit Dou, see Piet Bakker’s biography on the former in thiscatalogue.
3. See, for instance, the signed Jan van Staveren painting in this catalogue, Esther before
Ahasuerus, JvS-100, in which the paint is applied more evenly and meticulously and in which
the pointed facial types differ greatly from the features of this man.
4. See for instance, Tronie of an Old Man in a Turban, attributed to Van Staveren (sale,Bonhams, London, 5 May 2006, no. 45).
5. Ronni Baer, “Bust of a Man,” in “The Paintings of Gerrit Dou (1613–1675)” (PhD diss. New
York University, 1990), no. 39; eadem, “Bust of a Man,” in Ronni Baer, Gerrit Dou 1613–1675:
Master Painter in the Age of Rembrandt, ed. Arthur K. Wheelock Jr. (Exh. cat. Washington
D.C., National Gallery of Art; London, Dulwich Picture Gallery; The Hague, Mauritshuis) (NewHaven, 2000), 84–85, no. 11. Many thanks to Arthur K. Wheelock Jr. and Dominique Surh formentioning the Washington painting in relation to the painting discussed here.
6. For a discussion of Dou’s technique in this painting, see Ronni Baer, “Bust of a Man,” inRonni Baer, “Gerrit Dou 1613–1675: Master Painter in the Age of Rembrandt,” ed. Arthur K.
Wheelock Jr. (Exh. cat. Washington D.C., National Gallery of Art; London, Dulwich PictureGallery; The Hague, Mauritshuis) (New Haven, 2000), 84–85, no. 11.
7. I am indebted to Arthur K. Wheelock Jr. for the conversations we had about this work and forhis suggestion of an attribution to Dou. I would like to extend my thanks to Ronni Baer for
generously conveying her opinion on the attribution of this painting (e-mail correspondence ofJuly 2014 on file at the Leiden Collection, New York). Baer places the work in the circle ofDou. She notes that Bust of an Old Man comes closest in execution to Bust of an Old Womanin Brodick Castle (oil on panel with an arched top, 11.5 x 8.7 cm, Isle of Arran [Scotland],Brodick Castle, National Trust for Scotland; see Ronni Baer, “Old Woman,” “The Paintings ofGerrit Dou [1613–1675]” [PhD diss. New York University, 1990], no. 32, where Baer dates thework to ca. 1640), especially in the “broad sketchiness of the garment,” but that the “scale ofthe brushwork is different,” especially since the Leiden Collection work does not contain the“multi-hued, very small, individual brushstrokes.”
8. See Ronni Baer, “Bust of a Man,” in Ronni Baer, Gerrit Dou 1613–1675: Master Painter in theAge of Rembrandt, ed. Arthur K. Wheelock Jr. (Exh. cat. Washington D.C., National Gallery of© 2020 The Leiden Collection

Bust of an Old Man
Page 6 of 8Art; London, Dulwich Picture Gallery; The Hague, Mauritshuis) (New Haven, 2000), 84–85,
no. 11.
9. For a discussion of this conception, initiated by John Smith in 1829 and supported by WilhelmMartin, see Ronni Baer, “Bust of a Man,” “The Paintings of Gerrit Dou (1613–1675)” (PhD
diss. New York University, 1990), no. 39; Ronni Baer, “Bust of a Man,” in Ronni Baer, Gerrit
Dou 1613–1675: Master Painter in the Age of Rembrandt, ed. Arthur K. Wheelock Jr. (Exh.
cat. Washington, National Gallery of Art; London, Dulwich Picture Gallery; The Hague,
Mauritshuis) (New Haven, 2000), 84–85, no. 11.
10. See Ronni Baer, “Self-Portrait,” in “The Paintings of Gerrit Dou (1613–1675)” (PhD diss.
New York University, 1990), no. 56.
11. For scholars who have expressed their doubts about this identification, see Arthur K.
Wheelock Jr., “A Reappraisal of Gerard Dou’s Reputation,” in The William A. Clark Collection:
An Exhibition Marking the 50th Anniversary of the Clark Collection at the Corcoran Gallery ofArt (Exh. cat. Washington D.C., The Corcoran Gallery of Art) (Washington, D.C., 1978), 61;
Ronni Baer, “Bust of a Man,” in “The Paintings of Gerrit Dou (1613–1675)” (PhD diss. New
York University, 1990), no. 39; eadem, “Bust of a Man,” in Ronni Baer, Gerrit Dou 1613–1675:
Master Painter in the Age of Rembrandt, ed. Arthur K. Wheelock Jr. (Exh. cat. Washington
D.C., National Gallery of Art; London, Dulwich Picture Gallery; The Hague, Mauritshuis) (NewHaven, 2000), 84–85, no. 11.
12. See Ronni Baer, “Bust of a Man,” in “The Paintings of Gerrit Dou (1613–1675)” (PhD diss.
New York University, 1990), no. 39, who suggests that the Braunschweig painting might wellhave been a commemorative painting, executed ca. 1649, after the deaths of Dou’s motherin 1647 and Dou’s brother in 1649. This would help to explain why Dou’s father, with hisdark rather than grey hair, looks younger than his age in 1649, and younger than in the New
York and Washington paintings.
13. By comparison, when we see Dou’s drawn oval portrait of his mother, signed and dated
1638, her strong gaze, full of character and depth, is equally striking. See Gerrit Dou, Portraitof the Artist’s Mother, 1638, black chalk and ink with white highlights, 19.1 x 16.8 cm, Muséedu Louvre, Paris, inv. 22.579, published in Frits Lugt, Musée du Louvre: Inventaire Généraldes Dessins des Ecoles du Nord, 3 vols. (Paris, 1929), 34, no. 248.
14. Bust of a Middle-Aged Man, dating, technique, and measurements unknown, formerly in thePrincess Marie Wassilievna Woronzow Collection (her sale, Florence, Sambon, 23 April
1900, no. 465). Albert Blankert rejected the attribution to Bol, see Albert Blankert, Ferdinand
Bol (1616–1680): Rembrandt’s Pupil (Doornspijk, 1982), no. R 158, under “RejectedAttributions.” There are a few very small differences between the present work and the panel
auctioned in Florence, such as the position of the man’s collar and the height of his head.
15. Bust of a Man, oil on oval panel, 18 x 14.5 cm, formerly in the Sir Charles Turner Collection(his sale, Rudolph Lepke, Berlin, 17 November 1908, no. 37). This painting, if the© 2020 The Leiden Collection

Bust of an Old Man
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measurements are correct, is slightly smaller than the Leiden Collection work. Otherdifferences are the distance between the man’s head and the edge of the painting at topright. According to a note on the RKD photo mount, this painting was last seen at art dealer E.
Burg Berger in Berlin in ca. 1943. The same mount records that Abraham Bredius thought thepainting to be by Dou.
16. Bust of a Man, technique and measurements unknown, formerly in the L. A. S. J. Baron van
der Felz Collection in Brummen, the Netherlands. See also Ronni Baer, “Bust of a Man,” in“The Paintings of Gerrit Dou (1613–1675)” (PhD diss. New York University, 1990), no. 39,
who was the first to list this painting as a free copy after the former Corcoran work (now at theNational Gallery of Art).

Provenance(Sale, Christie’s, London, 12 December 2003, no. 42 (unsold); [The Weiss Gallery, London]).
From whom acquired by the present owner, 2004.

References
Yeager-Crasselt, Lara. “The Leiden Collection and the Dutch Golden Age.” In The Age ofRembrandt and Vermeer: Masterpieces of The Leiden Collection. Edited by Polina
Lyubimova, 17; 28, n. 5. Translated by Daria Babich and Daria Kuzina. Exh. cat. Moscow,The Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts; St. Petersburg, The State Hermitage Museum.
Moscow, 2018.

Versions
Versions and Copies

1. Formerly attributed to Ferdinand Bol, Bust of a Middle-Aged Man, dating, technique, andmeasurements unknown, formerly in the Princess Marie Wassilievna Woronzow Collection(her sale, Florence, Sambon, 23 April 1900, no. 465).

2. Formerly attributed to Thomas de Keijser, Bust of a Middle-Aged Man, oil on oval panel, 18 x
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Bust of an Old Man
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14.5 cm, formerly in the Sir Charles Turner Collection (his sale, Rudolph Lepke, Berlin, 17
November 1908, no. 37).

Technical Summary
The support, a single oval plank of vertically grained oak, is unthinned and uncradled and has
hand tool marks and machine tool marks.[1] A horizontally oriented bevel cuts across the upper
midpoint and an oval shaped bevel follows the circumference of the remaining plank. There is a
black stencil, a black inscription, white chalk, blue tape, and white label remnants but no importstamp or panel maker’s mark along the panel reverse.
A light-colored ground has been thinly and evenly applied. An additional light-colored fill material
appears to have been previously applied to the thickness of the entire outer edge of the oval
panel. Narrow crescents of the light-colored fill, which have been toned brown, are present along
the thickness of the left and right panel edges. The upper and lower edges have been trimmed,
the fill material removed, and the bare wood exposed.
The paint along the background and garment is fairly thin, while a halo of opaque denser paintsurrounds the figure’s head. The flesh tones and horizontal brush strokes that create the creasesof the brow, mustache, and white collar have been applied with slightly raised brushwork.
No underdrawing or compositional changes are readily apparent in infrared images captured at
750–1000 nanometers or in the X-radiograph.
The painting is unsigned and undated.
The painting has not undergone conservation treatment since its acquisition in 2003 and remains
in a fair state of preservation.

Technical Summary Endnotes

1. The characterization of the wood is based on visual examination only.

© 2020 The Leiden Collection