(Tourcoing ca. 1600–1638 Leiden)
Portrait of an older man, “Rembrandt’s Father”,
monogrammed centre right: JR (in ligature), with JDR below,
oil on panel, 65 x 51 cm, framed

Provenance:
Collection Michel van Gelder, Château Zeecrabbe, Uccle, Brussels (1914);
Art dealer, Paris;
Dorotheum sale, Vienna, 12th March 1974, Lot 113;
private collection, Austria

Kurt Bauch described Rembrandt’s student Jacques des Rousseaux (in: K. Bauch, Der frühe Rembrandt und seine Zeit, Studien zur geschichtlichen Bedeutung seines Frühstils, Berlin 1960, p 224): “He reinterpreted Rembrandt’s studies of heads; translated their inner motion into a pathos of external form, in opposition to Rembrandt. Rousseaux painted geriatric heads wearing beret or turban, furrowed character studies, apostles with attributes. The external dynamism of their trappings, including their expression, characterises his art”.

The so-called “Rembrandt’s Father” was portrayed on several occasions by Jacques des Rousseaux. The artist, who died at a comparatively young age, left behind a small œuvre made up of individual figures and tronies as well as a single two-person allegory.

Provenance:
Collection Michel van Gelder, Château Zeecrabbe, Uccle, Brussels (1914);
Art dealer, Paris;
Dorotheum auction, Vienna, 12th March 1974, Lot 113;
private collection, Austria

Kurt Bauch described Rembrandt’s student Ja