The Vanishing Rembrandts - ACE249.3

Berlin. Rembrandt exhibition, the first in the newly unified city. Commentary lists different views of Rembrandt’s work over the years: today’s is the "consistent reliable, and efficient" Rembrandt. A Self Portrait. Ernst van de Wetering, Rembrandt Research Project, on the "pictorial intelligence" and range of Rembrandt’s work. Details from Belshazzar’s Feast (c.1635). Van de Wetering on the need to be as clear as possible about exactly what Rembrandt did and what was done by others. Self Portrait of Rembrandt (c.1640). Commentary points out that past misattribution has caused the work of Rembrandt’s pupils to be neglected. The Project is redressing this. Van der Wetering says that Rembrandt would have defined a style copied by his pupils. Sketch/mezzotint of art class drawing nude. Portrait of Rembrandt (c.1633) by Govaert Flinck, formerly thought of as a self portrait. Self Portrait (1639) of Flinck, looking like Rembrandt. Flinck’s Rembrandt as Shepherd with Staff and Flute (c.1636). Ferdinand Bol’s Zelfportret op dertigjarige leeftijd (1644-1650). Bol is now believed to be the painter of Man in a Golden Helmet (c.1650). Brown talking about Rembrandt’s pupils, including some previously unknown, such as Willem Drost, now believed to be responsible for The Centurion Cornelius (1655) (also known as The Unmerciful Servant) (Wallace Collection). Interior of Wallace Collection. Originally thought to have a dozen Rembrandts, most now thought of as copies or fakes. Former "self portrait" now known as Rembrandt in a Black Cap (1637). Portrait of a Young Boy in Fancy Dress or A Boy in Fanciful Costume (1633), oil painting version of etching The Good Samaritan (1630); were all disallowed. Portrait of Titus, The Artist’s Son (c.1657), the only one now believed to be an authentic Rembrandt. John Ingamells, Wallace Collection, London, talking about how carefully the Committee had gone about their work and how scrupulous they’d been in weighing the evidence. Brown talking about the importance of this authentication work. Jan Pellicorne and His Son Caspar (c.1632-1634) and Susanna van Collen, Wife of Jean Pellicorne, and Her Daughter Eva Susanna Pellicorne (c.1632-1634) from the Wallace Collection; Brown finds it hard to believe that these are not by Rembrandt himself. Ingamells says that only their Titus is now absolutely authenticated, and gives his reasons for being convinced that it must be a genuine Rembrandt. A "self portrait" in the Wallace Collection now believed to be a 19th Century fake or pastiche, (listed as An Officer in a Plumed Hat).