Rediscovered Rembrandt Portraits May Be the Artist’s Smallest Paintings
about 10 months ago (12/14/2023)
Rediscovered Rembrandt Portraits May Be the Artist’s Smallest Paintings Skip to content Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn, portraits of Jan van der Pluym and Jaapgen Caerlsdr (1635), oil on panel, each 7 7/8 x 6 1/2 inches (all photos by Olivier Middendorp, courtesy Rijksmuseum) Emerging from private holdings for the first time in nearly two centuries, a rediscovered pair of Rembrandt portraits is now on a long-term loan for public display at the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam. At nearly eight inches tall each, the portraits of Jan Willemsz van der Pluym and his wife Jaapgen Caerlsdr, whose son married the artist’s cousin, are said to be the smallest formal paintings (excluding studies) the Old Master ever created. Created in 1635, the ovular paintings on panel remained in the family for over a hundred years until they were auctioned by the children of the couple’s great-great-grandson in 1760 following his death.