For decades in the Bredius Museum in The Hague, a 17th-century oil sketch entitled Lifting the Cross, was gathering dust in a corner because it was thought to be a Rembrandt copy. Dutch experts are now convinced that the painting is an original by the “Master of Light”.
The oil sketch was bought in 1921 by the Dutch art historian, collector and curator Abraham Bredius. He was then convinced that it was a real Rembrandt. However, later experts rejected the image as a clumsy imitation of a pupil of the Baroque master. They pointed out that the coarse brushstrokes did not correspond to Rembrandt’s technique.
Experts convinced by the “quality of the details”.
Research by restorer Johanneke Verhave and former chief curator of old paintings at Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen Rotterdam, Jeroen Giltaij, have now come to a different conclusion. “I have looked at this work over and over again. The brushstrokes. They are brilliant,” Giltaij, who “rediscovered” the sketch while researching a book about Rembrandt, told AFP. And even Verhave, who restored the painting and examined it together with Giltaij, is convinced that given the “quality of the details” is a real Rembrandt.
The results of Verhaves and Giltaij’s research were forwarded to the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam, which conducted its own material analysis using the latest technology. The experts “found nothing that contradicts an attribution to Rembrandt,” according to the Bredius Museum.
Sketch has been changed several times
Investigations using infrared radiation and X-ray scans further supported the two experts’ belief. “The investigation has shown that the sketch has been changed several times during the painting process,” says Verhave. “This shows that their creator changed his mind during the work – he obviously didn’t just copy another image.”
Giltaij admits that Rembrandt typically painted in a decidedly ‘precise and polished’ style. But in this case you have to keep in mind that it was a sketch in preparation for a painting, according to the expert. The expert points to the similarity with Rembrandt’s “The Raising of the Cross” from 1633, which can be seen in the Alte Pinakothek in Munich. Even the confidently drawn “broad brushstrokes” of the sketch would have convinced him “that Bredius is right”.
Source: Krone
I’m Wayne Wickman, a professional journalist and author for Today Times Live. My specialty is covering global news and current events, offering readers a unique perspective on the world’s most pressing issues. I’m passionate about storytelling and helping people stay informed on the goings-on of our planet.
