REMBRANDT VAN RIJN (LEIDEN 1606-AMSTERDAM 1669)
"The Shipbuilder and his Wife": Jan Rijcksen (1560/2-1637) and his Wife, Griet Jans
Signed and dated 1633Oil on canvas | 113.8 x 169.8 cm (support, canvas/panel/stretcher external) | RCIN 405533
This extraordinary double portrait has three of Rembrandt’s trade-marks: light, texture and humour. Cool daylight floods in from the left (from a window which does not appear), explaining all the forms and spaces in a composition without obvious perspective. The figures have a finely hewn presence as if the paint were moulded plaster. Their interaction is urgent, touching and slightly absurd.
Acquired by George IV in 1811, when Prince Regent
Acquired by George IV in 1811, when Prince Regent