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Rembrandt Began a Biblical Painting. Another Artist Finished It 'Rather Crudely.' Now, Restorations Have Revealed the Long-Lost Original
Key takeaways
- Ellen Wexler | Writer and Special Projects Editor
- This supporting character is likely Rembrandt van Rijn, the artist himself.
- In 2014, art dealer Jan Six was flipping through a German auction house catalog when he noticed a painting with this familiar figure positioned in the background, looking straight ahead.
Ellen Wexler | Writer and Special Projects Editor
Add as preferred source Detail of Rembrandt s Let the Little Children Come Unto Me Sotheby's He’s hiding in The Night Watch, his right eye peeking out from behind a group of civic guardsmen. In Descent From the Cross, the same man stands on a ladder and helps lower Jesus’s body. He also appears in Christ in the Storm on the Sea of Galilee, clinging to his cap and gazing out at the viewer as the disciples weather a violent storm.
This supporting character is likely Rembrandt van Rijn, the artist himself. The 17th-century Dutch painter sometimes inserted himself into biblical or historical scenes. Because of these cameos, along with his many self-portraits, art historians have a clear sense of what Rembrandt looked like.