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Identification and Creation

Object Number
1997.207
People
School of Rembrandt Harmensz. van Rijn, Dutch (Leiden 1606 - 1669 Amsterdam)
Title
Christ at the Well of Sychar
Classification
Drawings
Work Type
drawing
Date
17th century
Culture
Dutch
Persistent Link
https://hvrd.art/o/299430

Physical Descriptions

Medium
Brown ink, brown wash, and white opaque watercolor on cream antique laid paper, laid down
Dimensions
17.1 x 24.6 cm (6 3/4 x 9 11/16 in.), irregular
mount: 18.9 x 26.6 cm (7 7/16 x 10 1/2 in.)
Inscriptions and Marks
  • gallery label: former paper backing, ink on paper, printed, French: Three pieces of paper, apparently cut from the sale catalogue. 1) Vente a Amsterdam/ les 12-15 Décembre 1922/ Direction/ Frederik Muller & Cie./ (Ant. W. M. Mensing)/ Doelenstraat 16-18. 2) Dessins de Rembrandt/ Provenant de la collection Mr. F. J. M. A. Reekers,/ Amsterdam; d'un amateur Russe, etc. 3) 1902 Le Repas des Pauvres./ A l'avant-plan à droite, on voit un bassin et à gauche, deux figures/ debout. Au centre de l'avant-plan, un groupe de personnes accroupies/ et assises, qui attendent des tranches de pain qu'un d'eux est occupé/ à couper. Au-dessus de ce groupe apparait vers la droite, le Christ dans/ une grande auréole. Presque le quart du dessin à gauche en haut, est/ occupé par une assemblée d'environ quinze personnes qui se trouvent/ devant la colonnade d'un palais et regardent la scène./ Dessin à sépia et un peu rehaussé de blanc. - Haut. 17.3, larg. 24 cent.
  • gallery label: former paper backing, ink on paper, printed, German: Kunsthandlung/ Rath A.-G./ Basel/ Aeschenvorstadt 37. In center of label a cursive R surrounded by three black shields and a circle.
  • label: former paper backing, ink on paper, printed, German: Circular label: Dr. Tobias Christ. Basel/ Advokat und Notar.
  • exhibition label: former paper backing, ink on paper, printed and handwritten, Dutch & English: Printing in Dutch, handwriting in English. Tentoonstelling van Nederlandsche Kunst/ 1400-1900 Londen 1929/ drawing/ Kunstenaar: Rembrandt/ Onderwerp: Christ and the poor/ Eigenaar: Dr. Tobias Christ/ Adres: Langrgasse 30, Basel/ Kist no. 92 T. C. 101.
  • watermark: in drawing: foolscap



    Beta will not be made. Mount is too thick.
  • inscription: mount, lower right, graphite: Rembrandt [?]

Provenance

Recorded Ownership History
[Kunsthandlung Rath A.-G., Basel]. [Frederik Muller & Co., Amsterdam, 12-15 December 1922, lot 1902]. Tobias Christ, Basel, 1925, to his heirs, 1951. Private Collector, Basel, sold;[Sotheby's, London, 9 April 1981, lot 25H], sold; to [Vermeer Associates Limited, Brampton, Ontario, 1981], long-term loan to; Fogg Art Museum, 1981, sold; to Harvard University Art Museums, 1997.

NOTE: M. Rotermund remarked in 1951 ("Christus am Brunnen bei Sichar," p. 9) that the drawing was then in the possession of Dr. Christ's heirs in Basel. Note from Sotheby's to the subsequent owner (in file) identifies the drawing as bought in "the Christ sale."

Acquisition and Rights

Credit Line
Harvard Art Museums/Fogg Museum, Purchase through the generosity of an anonymous donor in honor of Werner H. Kramarsky
Accession Year
1997
Object Number
1997.207
Division
European and American Art
Contact
am_europeanamerican@harvard.edu
Permissions

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Publication History

  • William R. Valentiner, Die Handzeichnungen Rembrandts, E. Weyhe Gallery and Deutsche Verlags-Anstalt (New York and Stuttgart, Germany, 1925), vol. 1, p. 423, fig. 405
  • William R. Valentiner, Rembrandt; des Meisters Handzeichnungen, Deutsche Verlags-Anstalt (Stuttgart, Germany, 1925), vol. I, repr. p. 440, fig. 423
  • Cornelis Hofstede de Groot, "Einige Betrachtungen über die Ausstellung Holländischer Kunst in London", Repertorium für Kunstwissenschaft (1929), vol. L, no. 3, p. 141
  • Commemorative Catalogue of the Exhibition of Dutch Art, exh. cat., Oxford University Press (UK) (London, England, 1930), p. 209, no. 620
  • Hans-Martin Rotermund, "Christus am Brunnen bei Sichar", Oud Holland (1951), vol. LXVI, no. 1, pp. 9-15, fig. 1
  • Hans-Martin Rotermund, "The Motif of Radiance in Rembrandt's Biblical Drawings", Journal of the Warburg and Courtauld Institutes (London, England, 1952), vol. XV, nos. 3-4, pp. 110-11, pl. 22d
  • Otto Benesch, The Drawings of Rembrandt, Phaidon Press (Oxford, 1954 - 1957), vol. VI, no. A71, fig. 1679
  • Hans-Martin Rotermund, "Unidentifizierte bzw. missverstandene Zeichnungen Rembrandts zu biblischen Szenen", Wallraf-Richartz Jahrbuch (Cologne, 1959), 21, pp. 198-99, pl. 117
  • Jakob Rosenberg, Review of Otto Benesch, "The Drawings of Rembrandt", vols. III-VI, The Art Bulletin (1959), vol. 41, no. 1, pp. 108-19, pp. 117-18
  • Werner Sumowski, Bemerkungen zu Otto Beneschs Corpus der Rembrandt-Zeichnungen II (Bad Pyrmont, 1961), p. 26
  • Hans-Martin Rotermund, Rembrandts Handzeichnungen und Radierungen zur Bibel, Ernst Kaufmann Lahr (Stuttgart, Germany, 1963), pp. 187, 315, repr. p. 255, fig. 209
  • Egbert Haverkamp-Begemann, Review of H. M. Rotermund, "Rembrandts Handzeichnungen und Radierungen zur Bibel, Master Drawings (1966), vol. IV, no. 1, p. 50
  • Hans-Martin Rotermund, Rembrandt's Drawings and Etchings for the Bible, Pilgrim Press (Philadelphia, PA, 1969), pp. 187, 315, repr. p. 255, fig. 209
  • Otto Benesch, The Drawings of Rembrandt [enlarged ed.], Phaidon Press (Oxford, 1973), vol. VI, no. A71, fig. 1733

Exhibition History

  • Ausstellung von Kunstwerken des 15 bis 18 Jahrhunderts, aus Basler Privatbesitz, Kunstverein Basel, Basel, 04/15/1928 - 05/28/1928
  • Exhibition of Dutch Art 1450-1900, Royal Academy of Arts, London, 01/01/1929 - 03/31/1929
  • Rembrandt, Kunstmuseum Bern, Bern, 04/18/1937 - 05/30/1937
  • Rembrandt, Hokusai, van Gogh, Kunstmuseum Basel, Basel, 01/01/1952 - 02/29/1952
  • Rembrandt and His School: Drawings from the Museum Boymans-van Beuningen Rotterdam, Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Cambridge, 12/02/1989 - 01/28/1990

Subjects and Contexts

  • Dutch, Flemish, & Netherlandish Drawings

Verification Level

This record has been reviewed by the curatorial staff but may be incomplete. Our records are frequently revised and enhanced. For more information please contact the Division of European and American Art at am_europeanamerican@harvard.edu