Tátrai Vilmos szerk.: A Szépművészeti Múzeum közleményei 90-91.(Budapest, 1999)

EMBER, ILDIKÓ: Some Minor Masters on the Peripheries of Rembrandt's Circle

SOME MINOR MASTERS ON THE PERIPHERIES OF REMBRANDT'S CIRCLE NEWLY ATTRIBUTED PAINTINGS BY ROMBOUT VAN TROYEN, JACOB VAN SPREEUWEN, WILLEM DE POORTER AND SAMUEL VAN HOOGSTRATEN Progress in Rembrandt-studies is marked not only by the periodical, highly controversial "trimming''

1 of the great master's oeuvre. Fortunately, in some cases the contested pieces receive new attributions, resulting in the identification of more and more works by Rembrandt's students, followers and imitators.

1 When this happens, we need at times to make certain adjustments in our former assessments of the activities of these lesser masters. In all likelihood this applies in the case of the four paintings discussed below. The Budapest collection is very rich in problematic works created under Rembrandt's influence. Each generation of art historians has done its share in suggesting more precise attributions for these works.

2 In the course of preparing the critical catalogue, keeping in mind the results of recent international research, we had to re-evaluate and in some cases change our earlier assessments. The first piece under discussion is stylistically linked to the so-called "preRembrandtists". This small panel, formerly in the collection of Count Kálmán Nyári in Pozsony/Bratislava, was sold at auction in 1923 as a work by Pieter Lastman, and was inventoried at the time of its acquisition by the Szépművészeti Múzeum in 1951 as a work by a follower of Lastman (fig. 71 ).

3 Andor Pigler in his 1954 catalogue as well as 1 To mention only the most important literature: Paralleling the activities of the Rembrandt Corpus (Volumes 1-3, The Hague - Dordrecht - Boston - London, 1982-89) Werner Sumowski in his two great monographs had undertaken the overview of the output of the "School of Rembrandt", in the broadest sense of the term. (The Drawings of the Rembrandt-School 1-9, 1979ff. and Die Gemälde der Rembrandtschüler 1-6, 1983ff. In addition, a series of exhibitions contributed to the resolution of certain side issues. The specific aim of the Amsterdam-Berlin-London exhibition realized in 1991-92, Rembrandt: Der Meister und seine Werkstatt, was the comparison and differentiation of works by the master and some of his students. In 1995-96 the exhibition Rembrandt Not Rembrandt re-evaluated the works in the Metropolitan Museum, New York belonging to the master's circle; the exhibition Rembrandts Academy at the Hoogsteder Gallery in The Hague also concentrated on the interconnections between the works of the master and his students, while the exhibition Rembrandt. A Genius and His impact. Melbourne - Canberra, 1997-98, cast light on certain aspects of the master's influence. 2 In the complete catalogues of the Old Masters Gallery Gábor Térey (1906, 1910, 1913, 1916, 1924) and Andor Pigler (1937, 1954, 1967) cite the opinions - frequently only orally communicated - of Dutch and German colleagues: C. Hofstede de Groot, A. Bredius, W. Martin, W. Bode, W. R. Valentiner, H. Gerson, and others. Ágnes Czobor has devoted a monograph to most of the works belonging here: Rembrandt és köre [Rembrandt and His Circle], Budapest 1969 (published in five languages). 3 Inv. No. 51.788, oil, inlaid oak panel, 32 x 52 cm, 1.5-2 cm missing along the left and upper edges from the original bevelled edge.