NIVÅ.- A painting once celebrated as an authentic work by Rembrandt, later dismissed as a problematic copy and labeled a scholarly “dark horse,” is now returning to public view in Denmark—this time with renewed context and careful caution.
Study of an Elderly Man (c. 1645–1649) is on display at Nivaagaards Malerisamling, where it has been placed on long-term deposit by its private owner. The museum presents the painting not as a rediscovered masterpiece, but as an intriguing work likely produced within Rembrandt’s workshop—offering visitors a rare glimpse into the complex reality of 17th-century artistic production.
The painting depicts an elderly man seated slightly turned to the right, his gaze drifting past the viewer. His right hand is tucked discreetly into his waistcoat, a gesture associated in the period with dignity, authority, and moral restraint. The image is calm and restrained, yet psychologically charged—qualities long associated with Rembrandt and his circle.
The story behind the painting, however, is anything but calm.
In the early 20th century, the work circulated on the art market under various titles and attributions. In the 1920s, it was offered in London as A Jewish Rabbi and attributed to Salomon Koninck, a known follower of Rembrandt. In 1935, it reappeared at Christie’s, this time confidently sold as a Rembrandt. Soon after, it made its way to Denmark, where prominent art historian Karl Madsen endorsed the attribution.
That confidence would not last.
By the 1960s, doubts had taken hold. An unpublished report by a senior curator at the National Gallery of Denmark rejected the Rembrandt attribution, suggesting the painting was a copy of a nearly identical work in the Hermitage Museum. From that point on, the Danish version became known in academic circles as a “dark horse”—a work so troublesome it was better left out of attribution debates altogether.
Recent research has brought the painting back into focus. Over several years, Rembrandt specialist Jørgen Wadum, professor emeritus and special consultant at Nivaagaard, has examined the work using technical analysis and provenance research, comparing it with the latest international Rembrandt scholarship. His conclusion reflects a broader scholarly consensus: none of the eight known painted versions of this popular motif can be securely attributed to Rembrandt himself. Instead, the strongest candidates—including the Hermitage painting and the Danish version—are now believed to be workshop copies based on a lost original by the master.
The motif belongs to the genre known as a tronie—not a portrait of a real individual, but a study of character, expression, light, and costume. Such works were often produced collaboratively in workshops, making attribution particularly challenging centuries later.
For Nivaagaard’s Malerisamling, the painting’s value lies precisely in this uncertainty. “This is a work that shows how art history actually works,” the museum notes—through shifting interpretations, new technologies, and evolving standards of evidence.
To mark the painting’s return to public view, the museum will host a lecture on February 3, in which Wadum will trace the painting’s improbable journey through speculation, misattribution, fires, fraud, and modern research.
In the end, Study of an Elderly Man may never reclaim the name Rembrandt alone—but its story, layered with ambition, error, and discovery, may be even more compelling.
