Portrait of a Man (Possible SelfPortrait)
Attributed to Pieter Verelst(Dordrecht 1616/18 – ca. 1678 Hulst?)

ca. 1645–50
oil on panel
37.3 x 31.8 cm
PV-100© 2020 The Leiden Collection

Portrait of a Man (Possible Self-Portrait)
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How to cite
Rahusen, Henriette. “Portrait of a Man (Possible Self-Portrait)” (2017). In The Leiden Collection Catalogue,2nd ed. Edited by Arthur K. Wheelock Jr. New York, 2017–20. https://theleidencollection.com/artwork/portraitof-a-man-possible-self-portrait/ (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.

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Portrait of a Man (Possible Self-Portrait)
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The earnest yet slightly bemused young man in this sympathetic portrait bust

Comparative Figures

engages the viewer with a direct gaze. His smooth face and wispy
moustache suggest that he is in his late twenties or early thirties, an age
appropriate for the stylish notched black beret atop his brown curls. The lightilluminating his face and the white, flat collar of his chemise enlivens thescene by accenting the gold or silver piping of his jacket. The base of aCorinthian column, visible at the right in the darkened background, is a
pictorial element indicating that—despite his relative youth—he is a man ofsubstance and gravitas.
Tree ring analysis of the panel reveals that the portrait was painted sometime
after 1645, a date consistent with the style of the sitter’s long, curly hair and[1]the shirt’s flat collar.

The manner in which the sitter gazes directly at theviewer suggests that the painting could be a self-portrait, perhaps patterned
after one of Rembrandt’s self-portraits of the late 1630s and early 1640s (figFig 1. Rembrandt van Rijn, SelfPortrait at Age 34, 1640, oil oncanvas, 102 x 80 cm, NationalGallery, London, inv. no. NG672,© National Gallery, London / Art
Resource, NY1). Nevertheless, the smooth, refined brushwork is uncharacteristic of anartist trained in Rembrandt’s workshop. This distinctive stylistic blend ofsmooth classicism and a Rembrandtesque pose is a fundamental reason for
attributing this work to Pieter Verelst, who, in the late 1640s, would havebeen about 30 years old, the approximate age of the sitter.[2] The self-portrait
hypothesis is strengthened by the existence of another bust-length portrait,
also attributed to Verelst (fig 2), in which the same young man similarly
engages the viewer with bold self-confidence.[3]Verelst began his artistic career in his native Dordrecht, probably in themid-1630s. Although it is unclear from whom he learned his craft, given themany connections that existed between Dordrecht artists and Rembrandt’sworkshop during the 1630s and 1640s, it is probable that he was trained byan artist familiar with Rembrandt’s stylistic innovations.[4] Verelst, who joined

Fig 2. Pieter Hermansz Verelst,
Portrait of a Young Man, Head andShoulders, Wearing a Hat with aRed Feather, ca. 1645, oil oncanvas, 63.5 x 53 cm, Sotheby’s,London, 5 April 1995, lot 192

the Dordrecht painters’ guild in 1638, was a versatile, even eclectic artist
who painted a wide range of subjects in different styles, among themportraits, tronies, and low-life genre scenes. In 1643 Verelst moved to TheHague, where he joined the Guild of Saint Luke that very year. It is notknown why he moved there, but it may have been because he believed hecould find clients for portraits among those associated with the States
General or the court of Stadholder Frederik Hendrik, the Prince of Orange.
Indeed, the formal portraits that Verelst painted in The Hague attest to his
considerable skill as an insightful portraitist, and his ability to adapt to thecourtlier stylistic model of Adriaen Hanneman (ca. 1603/4–71).
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After moving to The Hague, Verelst continued to paint images of scholars
and hermits, as well as tronies of young boys or old, bearded men situatedagainst a dark background in a Rembrandtesque manner. The portrait in theLeiden Collection fits entirely within that tradition. Although the face issmoothly modeled and the sitter has a dignified and elegant presence, as isappropriate for Verelst’s portrait style in The Hague, the manner in whichlight falls on his face and the way the beret shades his forehead and eyes
fully reflects Rembrandt’s manner. If indeed this is a self-portrait,
Verelst’s proud bearing provides a glimpse into the artist’s solid sense ofself, one that undoubtedly reflects the optimism he felt in his new artistic
circumstances.
In 1656, Verelst’s self-assurance allowed him to join Hanneman and46 other artists in breaking away from the Guild of Saint Luke to establish theConfrerie Pictura, a new professional organization. While Hanneman served
as the Confrerie’s first deacon, the membership regarded Verelst withsufficient respect to have him follow in Hanneman’s footsteps and elect him
deacon in 1659–60. Unfortunately, Verelst’s career did not end on a positivenote. In November 1668 debts and bankruptcy precipitated Verelst’s sudden
departure from The Hague, leaving his creditors a mere 410 guilders worth ofpossessions.[5] Despite the economic decline at the end of his career, thisstriking portrait is a testament to his artistic skills.

- Henriette Rahusen, 2017

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Portrait of a Man (Possible Self-Portrait)
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1. See, for example, Frans Hals, René Descartes, ca. 1649, Statens Museum for Kunst,Copenhagen, on permanent loan from the Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek (NCG inv. 998).
2. The painting was attributed to Verelst when it was sold by Sotheby’s, New York, 27 January
2007, lot 555.
3. The second portrait, sold at Sotheby’s, New York, in 1995, was attributed to Verelst byWerner Sumowski. See Sotheby’s, London, Old Master Paintings, sale 5201, 5 April 1995, lot
192. Catalogue notes indicate that Portrait of a Young Man, Head and Shoulders, Wearing aHat with a Red Feather was formerly attributed to Govaert Flinck (1615–60). In 1983,
Sumowski reattributed it to Verelst, dating the portrait to the period when Verelst’s work
revealed the strong influence of Rembrandt’s work of the 1630s. See Werner
Sumowski, Gemälde der Rembrandt-Schüler, 6 vols. (Landau and Pfalz, 1983–94), 1: 83, 97
color repro.
4. The influence of Rembrandt is evident in the work of a number of artists in Dordrecht in the1630s and 1640s, including those who are not documented as the master’s students. Twoartists from Dordrecht who did study with Rembrandt are Ferdinand Bol (1616–80) andSamuel van Hoogstraten (1627–78). The impact of Rembrandt’s style, however, is also
evident in the paintings of Paulus Lesire (1612–54/56) and Benjamin Gerrits Cuyp (1612–52).
5. G. H. Veth, “Aanteekeningen Omtrent Eenige Dordrechtsche Schilders, XXXIX PieterHermansz. Verelst en zijne zonen,” Oud Holland 14, no. 2 (1896): 99–112.

ProvenancePaul Hermann von Schwabach (1867–1938), Berlin, as by Rembrandt.
Frederick Mont (a.k.a. Adolf Frederick Mondschein), New York, 1950, as by Rembrandt.
Sdr. Charles Turner Collection, as by Rembrandt.
(Sale, Sotheby’s, New York, 27 January 2007, no 555, as attributed to Pieter Verelst[Salomon Lilian B. V., Amsterdam]).
From whom acquired by the present owner.

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The support, a single plank of vertically grained, rectangular eastern Baltic oak, is derived from atree felled after 1645, and has a conjectural usage date of 1645–77. The wedge-shaped plank isslightly wider than typical eastern Baltic boards and has bevels on all four sides, a steep narrow
one along the left edge.[1] The unthinned and uncradled panel has machine tool marks. A milky
wax coating has been applied to the panel reverse and extends onto the panel edges. A paperlabel remnant has been applied over the wax but there are no wax seals, import stamps, stencils,
inscriptions or panel maker’s marks.
A light-colored ground has been thinly and evenly applied followed by paint built up in successive
thin layers through the background and figure’s hair and hat, with thin paste consistency throughthe figure’s face, and with low impasto highlights along the edge of the figure’s garment. Drying
cracks have formed through all but the more opaquely applied flesh tones, but are mostpronounced in a vertical band along the left third of the composition.
No underdrawing or compositional changes are readily apparent in infrared images captured at
780–1000 nanometers, in the X-radiograph, or as pentimenti.
The painting is unsigned and undated.
The painting has not undergone conservation treatment since its acquisition and remains in agood state of preservation.

Technical Summary Endnotes

1. As viewed from the reverse. The characterization of the wood is based on Ian Tyers’sNovember 2010 dendrochronology report.

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