Saint Bartholomew

Rembrandt van Rijn is one of the greatest artists of all time and acclaimed for his compelling representations of the human condition. Known primarily for his portraits and landscapes, Rembrandt remained interested throughout his life in history and biblical painting. The subject of this large, dramatic painting from the artist's mature period is Saint Bartholomew, one of the twelve apostles. The apostle, flayed alive for his beliefs, holds in his right hand a butcher's knife, a symbol of his martyrdom. The saint's slightly unsettled pose and expression of deep thought suggest that he is contemplating his own demise. Rembrandt conveys a mood of introspection in his late works-in contrast to his earlier, more theatrical pictures-and renders light, textures, and the sense of form in space with complex schemes of loose brushwork and glazes. Getty Museum announces online resource to mark Rembrandt Anniversary Year, Rembrandt in Southern California: . To see the Press Release Click Here!.pdf) [1] The confusion between the Timken “St. Bartholomew” and the Getty Museum “St. Bartholomew” is resolved convincingly by Francis Broun (Sir Joshua Reynolds’ Collection of Paintings [Doctoral dissertation, Princeton University, 1987], pp. 45–47, no. 4). It now appears clear that the painter and collector Jonathan Richardson owned the Timken piece, not the Getty painting. [2] Though the identity of William Fauquier is uncertain, he may have been William Fauquier, London (1708–1788), who had been admitted to the Royal Society a few weeks before this sale, on January 29, 1747. Fauquier’s brother Francis (1703–1768) was colonial governor of Virginia. [5] The primary source regarding the Russian ownership history of the piece, including its sale to Agnew, is Alexander Davydoff (Russian Sketches: Memoirs [Hermitage Press, New Jersey, 1984], pp. 61–65, “St. Bartholomew”). This source corrects a number of inaccuracies, including the identity of the first Franco-Russian owner, the Count Laval (Broun, 1987, incorrectly suggests Anne-Adrien-Pierre de Montmorency, duc de Laval, b. 1768). The date given by Davydoff for Laval’s acquisition of “St. Bartholomew” (around 1790) corresponds well with the suggestion by Francis Broun (1987) that Reynolds had already disposed of the piece prior to his 1791 sale at Ralph’s, London. Mongan and Elizabeth Mongan, European Paintings in the Timken Art Gallery (San Diego, 1969), pp. 66, 67, 122-23, no. 23, ill.; Otto Benesch, Collected Writings, ed. Eva Benesch, 4 vols. (London, 1970-73), 1 (Rembrandt): 192-93, fig. 159; Claude Roger-Marx, Rembrandt (Florence, 1.992), p. 1-50, no. So; Christian Tiimpel, Rembrandt: All Paintings in Colour (Antwerp, 1993), pp. 341., 40I, no. So, ill.; Walter Liedtke, "Rembrandt and the Rembrandt Style in the Seventeenth Century," in Walter Liedtke, Hubert von Sonnenburg, et al., Rembrandt/Not Rembrandt in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, exh. cat., The Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York, 1995), 2:31, fig. 4. The Timken provides collection images to scholars, educators, publishing companies, commercial entities, and the public. Please review the TERMS GOVERNING REPRODUCTIONS OR PUBLICATION OF IMAGES . To proceed with your image request, fill out the Image Request Form and email it to [email protected] . This record has been reviewed by Timken Museum of Art staff and may be incomplete or contain errors. Our records are constantly revised. Inquiries about provenance are advised to contact the Director of Curatorial Affairs: [email protected] .