15/07/2026
Happy Birthday !
On the occasion of the artist’s 420th anniversary, we are sharing some art historical investigations with you:
Did these two portraits belong together?
And if so, in what relation did the sitters stand to each other?
These questions remain unsolved. But what we do know is: Rembrandt created the two portraits from the same roll of canvas. 🕵️♀️ They were definitely painted during the same time period and also dated to the year 1632.
The style of the paintings is very similar. In both portraits the hands of the sitters play a central role. But the composition itself is different. So, it is unlikely that the artworks were meant as a classical set of portraits showing husband and wife. Besides, new studies revealed some differences in the painting technique, for instance with regard to the composition of the ground layer.
Whatever the true nature of the relationship between these two portraits may have been, they can now be seen together in the exhibition „Rembrandt 1632. The Creation of a Brand“ at the Wilhelmshöhe Palace in !
Rembrandt’s “Portrait of a man trimming feathers“ is part of the collection of the Hessen Kassel Heritage and the „Portrait of a Young Woman“ has travelled from the at the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna in Vienna to meet its “counterpart“.
(1, 3, 5, 7): Rembrandt Harmensz. van Rijn, Portrait of a man trimming feathers, 1632
© Hessen Kassel Heritage
(1, 2, 4, 6, 8): Rembrandt Harmensz. van Rijn, Portrait of a Young Woman, 1632
© Paintings Gallery of the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna
