Cropped - Men in oriental dress and two studies of a beggar in the half-figure.

An In-Depth Study of Rembrandt's Drawings from the Bonnat Album

Following a magnificent donation by Léon Bonnat, the Louvre acquired an album of 90 drawings by Rembrandt. This article delves into the master's graphic work, addressing the delicate questions of authenticity by comparing them to established benchmarks and the works of his pupils like Philips Koninck and Nicolaes Maes. It further explores the chronological evolution of Rembrandt's style, from his early detailed studies to the expressive, concise sketches of his later years, revealing the profound emotion and artistic genius captured in his 'drawn thoughts'.

Louis DemontsJune 12, 2026

The Musée du Louvre already owed to the generosity of M. Léon Bonnat one of the most beautiful and famous drawings by Michelangelo, the Portrait of Erasmus by Albrecht Dürer, and the pencil drawing by Ingres representing The Stamaty Family. M. Bonnat has just added to this magnificent gift an album containing 90 drawings by Rembrandt.¹

However important and varied these drawings may be, we cannot, in this context, undertake a general study of all of Rembrandt's drawings. Nor do we wish to compile an arid catalogue examining the authenticity and date of each of these precious sheets, or the often enigmatic subject it represents. Yet, after living for several weeks in the intimacy of these compositions and sketches—so aptly named, in both cases, "drawn thoughts"—one is haunted by a dual temptation: first, to enumerate the slightest reasons upon which one's assessments are based, and especially, to express with utter simplicity but with passion what has already been said a thousand times about the very character of Rembrandt's art, about the evolution of his mind, and to address, in this connection, the very problems of artistic emotion and creation.

A History of Scholarship

In 1869, Vosmaer was the first to catalogue 320 of Rembrandt's drawings; by 1877, this number had grown to 720, for which he attempted a chronological classification.² Then came the works of Dutuit³ and Emile Michel.⁴ In his book Die Handzeichnungen Rembrandts, published in Haarlem in 1906, M. Hofstede de Groot studied 1,613 drawings. Finally, from 1888 to 1910, Lippmann, and later M. Hofstede de Groot, published ten volumes, each containing 80 plates, reproducing the most important of Rembrandt's drawings held in public and private collections.⁵

The Emperor Akbar and Jahangir in Apotheosis

The Challenge of Authenticity

When faced with a drawing, the first question that arises is that of authenticity. Rembrandt's drawings are sometimes incorrect. Rembrandt had numerous pupils and many imitators; many forgeries were made in his style. With a Rembrandt drawing, the problem of authenticity is particularly delicate. To solve it, M. Hofstede de Groot compiled a list of works that can serve as "standards" or benchmarks.

Establishing Standards for Attribution

Rembrandt van Rijn

17th

An Analysis of Three Little-Known Paintings by Rembrandt

Crédits photos

The Emperor Akbar and Jahangir in Apotheosis · Wikimedia Commons
Men in oriental dress and two studies of a beggar in the half-figure. · Wikimedia Commons
The Entombment of Christ (over the Raising of Lazarus) · Wikimedia Commons
Amsterdam - Rijksmuseum - Late Rembrandt Exposition 2015 - Drawing of Christ Preaching · Wikimedia Commons
Rembrandt - The Entombment of Christ (over the Raising of Lazarus), T,14.6 · Wikimedia Commons
Cropped - Men in oriental dress and two studies of a beggar in the half-figure.

Notes

¹ About fifty of these drawings come from the collection of Mr. W. Russell, who had them brought together in a superb binding. The others, all of which belonged to illustrious collectors, mostly English, were added to the first group at various times by M. Bonnat. Some were exhibited at the Royal Academy in London in 1899 (nos. 174 to 198) and at the Bibliothèque Nationale in Paris in 1908. ↑

² Vosmaer, *Rembrandt, sa vie et ses oeuvres*; 2nd enlarged ed., Paris, Loones, 1877, in-8. ↑

³ *Catalogue historique et descriptif*; Paris, A. Lévy, 1885, in-4. On p. 94 is a catalogue of some drawings from the collection of M. Léon Bonnat. ↑

⁴ Emile Michel, *Rembrandt, sa vie, son oeuvre et son temps*; Paris, 1893, in-8. ↑

⁵ See also the publication by M. de Térey on the drawings preserved in Budapest; that of Mr. Arthur M. Hind on those in the British Museum; that of Dr. Karl Lilienfeld, of which only two volumes have appeared, devoted to the Rembrandt drawings preserved in Amsterdam and Berlin; the general collections of reproductions of drawings from the Albertina in Vienna, from Munich, Dresden, etc., and also the article by Mr. W. von Seidlitz published in the *Repertorium für Kunstwissenschaft*, 1914, pp. 116-127; finally, the catalogues of the Exhibitions in Amsterdam in 1898, at the Royal Academy in London in 1899, and at the Bibliothèque Nationale in Paris in 1908. ↑

⁶ The drawings in the Bonnat collection almost all bear the marks of a magnificent "pedigree." They were part of the collections of W. Esdaile, de Vos, Firmin-Didot, Galichon, etc. The precious mark L. B., the last to be affixed to them before the definitive "R. F." of the Musée du Louvre, adds further to their value. No 19th-century collection, except perhaps that of Mr. Heseltine in London, was indeed composed with such taste or knowledge. — We cannot here address the question of papers and their watermarks, which is also of great importance in the critique of authenticity. ↑

⁷ No. 22948 of the Louvre Inventory. ↑

⁸ Cf. Valentiner, "Remarques sur quelques tableaux de Rembrandt" (in *L'Art flamand et hollandais*, 1907, I, 22b). ↑

⁹ D. Rovinski, *L'OEuvre gravé des élèves de Rembrandt*; Saint Petersburg 1894, with folio atlas; cf. atlas, no. 412. ↑

¹⁰ W. Bode and C. Hofstede de Groot, *The Complete Work of Rembrandt* (translated by Auguste Marguillier); Paris, Ch. Sedelmeyer, 1897-1916, 8 vol. folio. ↑

¹¹ F. Lippmann, *Original drawings by Rembrandt reproduced in phototype*; Berlin, London, and Paris, 1888-1892, folio. ↑

¹² However, the analogy of the etchings with the drawings will allow for closer comparisons with them than with the paintings. ↑

¹³ Some *Beggars* are from 1630-1631, the period of his collaboration with Lievens. ↑

¹⁴ Rembrandt used gouache to mask parts of his compositions that he wished to rework. Over time, the gouache has decomposed, creating a stain, and the hidden line has reappeared, thus robbing certain drawings of their balance and harmony. We find numerous examples of this process in the Bonnat collection. In *The Vision of Daniel* (fig. 11), Rembrandt erased and reworked the symbolic horns of the ram so much that the paper is almost pierced through. ↑

¹⁵ Cf. W. Bode, *The Complete Work of Rembrandt*, vol. I, nos. 12 to 16, and vol. VIII, nos. 546 to 550. ↑

¹⁶ No. 22962 of the Inventory. ↑

¹⁷ See *Gazette des Beaux-Arts*, 1912, vol. II, pp. 479. ↑

¹⁸ In recent years of the journal *Oud Holland*, M. J. Veth has studied the influence of Italian engravings on Rembrandt, M. Nissen that of Honthorst and the "Tenebrosi"; M. Hoogewerff has pointed out the connections Rembrandt had with an Italian patron named Antonio Ruffo, a friend of Guercino and Calabrese. — We, in turn, point out a portrait of a woman attributed to P.F. Mola, preserved at the Accademia di San Luca in Rome, which has always struck us with its truly Rembrandtesque handling. ↑

¹⁹ Cf. Lippmann, 1st vol., 2nd series, pl. 51 to 100. ↑

²⁰ Which M. Hofstede de Groot declares doubtful. ↑

²¹ Reproduced in the *Gazette des Beaux-Arts*, 1908, vol. I, p. 459. ↑

²² Despite the opinion of the most recent critics, who usually deny Rembrandt the authorship of drawings as finished as this beautiful landscape, we remain resolutely faithful to the tradition that attributes them to him. Compare the drawing by Philips Koninck, more analytical and less concentrated in effect, which is preserved at the Albertina in Vienna (reproduced in *Handzeichnungen aller Meister aus der Albertina*; Vienna, in-4, vol. VII, 832). ↑

²³ See similar drawings in the Cabinet des Estampes in Paris, the British Museum, the Albertina, the Heseltine collection, and with M. Léon Bonnat. ↑

²⁴ Rembrandt would later treat the same subject, around 1655, to illustrate a work by the rabbi Menasseh ben Israel; this rabbi, whose portrait Rembrandt engraved, directed the mystical and kabbalistic school called Keter Torah. ↑

²⁵ Another study with variations for the same group is in the Berlin Print Room. ↑

²⁶ This drawing, which belonged to the engraver Seymour Haden, should be compared with the one in the Six collection: *Joseph Interpreting the Dreams*. One often finds, in Rembrandt's drawn work, drawings of almost identical composition for distinctly different subjects. ↑

²⁷ Until 1652, in the etching of *Saint Jerome*, for example, or in the *Hunts*, Rembrandt's lions are of a conventional and truly very clumsy design. ↑

²⁸ No. 22925 of the Inventory. ↑

²⁹ See at the Kunsthalle in Hamburg a drawing of the same handling representing an angel appearing to Hagar in the desert. ↑

³⁰ Some doubt may remain about its attribution to the master himself. ↑

³¹ In his recent and remarkable work on *The Etchings of Rembrandt*, M. Coppier reveals the influence that Joris van Schooten may have had on the master's early work. ↑

³² Similarly, the influence of Count Palatine Hendrik Goudt, in the engraved work. ↑

A History of Scholarship

The Challenge of Authenticity

Establishing Standards for Attribution

Rembrandt van Rijn

Sujets

Techniques

Mouvements