Follower of Rembrandt - A Young Man and a Girl Playing Cards [c.1645-50]

Follower of Rembrandt - A Young Man and a Girl Playing Cards [c.1645-50], originally uploaded by Gandalf's Gallery.

This painting was in England and attributed to Rembrandt as early as 1775. Subsequently it has been thought to be by Nicolas Maes, who was in Rembrandt's studio in the years around 1650. This is not, however, entirely persuasive and, more recently, the work has been attributed to another Dordrecht painter, Cornelis Bisschop (1630-1674), who knew Maes's work well and imitated it. However, no signed painting by Bisschop displays the broad handling which is so characteristic of this picture and this interesting attribution must, for the time being, remain speculative.

[Oil on canvas, 123.5 x 104 cm]

Follower of Rembrandt - A Man seated reading at a Table in a Lofty Room [c.1628-30]

Follower of Rembrandt - A Man seated reading at a Table in a Lofty Room [c.1628-30], originally uploaded by Gandalf's Gallery.

Until relatively recently attributed to Rembrandt, this work is now thought to be a work of an early, perhaps contemporary, follower of Rembrandt. The artist has imitated the style of Rembrandt's early years (1625-31) when he worked in his native Leiden, a style characterised by the precise treatment of detail and strong contrasts between light and dark. Rembrandt only painted this kind of subject in his early years in Leiden. However, this painting is significantly different in composition and technique from Rembrandt's work of that period. Moreover, the draughtsmanship is considered to be too heavy-handed and the volumes too ill-defined for the painting to be by Rembrandt. This picture was probably painted in Leiden in the late 1620s.

[Oil on oak, 55.1 x 46.5 cm]