(Leiden 1613–1645 Amsterdam)
A woman in an oriental costume and veil,
oil on panel, 35 x 27 cm, framed

Provenance:
private collection, Belgium. We are grateful to Prof. Ernst van de Wetering for confirming on the basis of a photograph that the present painting is an autograph work by Joudreville. Together with Gerard Dou, Isaac de Joudreville numbered among the first pupils of Rembrandt. Ernst van de Wetering, who devoted an essay to our artist in 1983 (E. van de Wetering, “Isaac de Joudreville, A Pupil of Rembrandt”, in: The Impact of a Genius, Rembrandt, His Pupils and His Followers in the 17th Century, exh. cat., Amsterdam 1983, pp. 59–69), assumes that Rembrandt appreciated Joudreville to such an extent that he employed him as an assistant for tronies, portraits, and large-scale commissions. This makes it likely that Rembrandt also supervised his student’s independent works the latter completed in the master’s workshop. Joudreville entered Rembrandt’s workshop in 1629. When he became a complete orphan in 1630, Rembrandt had to make out receipts for Joudreville’s tuition to the young artist’s guardian, which have been preserved in the Municipal Archives of Leiden. Joudreville obviously also accompanied Rembrandt to Amsterdam, where he painted numerous Rembrandtesque tronies, including the present example. It clearly reveals the master’s influence, so that Rembrandt expert Van de Wetering was able to identify the present composition as an early work by Joudreville. It has not been possible to date to identify later works mentioned in documents describing the artist as a history and genre painter and portraitist. Some of Joudreville’s works are probably hidden in the oeuvres of Rembrandt or Gerard Dou.