A Corpus of Rembrandt Paintings

Abstract

The aim of this monumental work was to delimit Rembrandt's painted oeuvre, by reconsidering the authenticity of the paintings generally attributed to him. The authors tried to base their scholarly hypotheses and conclusions on a conception of his style and working methods formed over the years which is discussed at length in the introduction and for each catalogued painting, in turn. The book's contents (volume I covers the years 1625 to 1631, and volume II 1631 to 1634) are organized as follows: a preface, describing the history of the Project, its objective and working method, with a special entry discussing the limitations of the scientific method when applied to Rembrandt's work within its 17th century context. The introduction to the first volume includes 4 chapters: The Stylistic Development, Painting Materials and Working Methods, The Documentary Value of Early Graphic Reproductions, and A Descriptive Survey of the Signatures. The introduction to the second volume is divided into 5 chapters: Stylistic Features of the 1630s: The Portraits, The Canvas Support, Problems of Apprenticeship and Studio Collaboration, Patrons and Early Owners, and A Selection of Signatures. Biographical information is added to both introductions. The catalogue raisonné is presented in three sections according to how, in the authors' opinion, each of the paintings can be related to Rembrandt (positive, doubtful and negative attribution). Finally, the text for each entry comprises a descriptive, an interpretative and a documentary section. Sources of provenance information are listed; methods and results of research--scholarly as well as technical--such as tables of concordance of attribution, indexes of comparative material and literary sources are only some of the additional material presented in these volumes.