About the Artwork
The long, curly hair, square chin, thick eyebrows, and modeled cheekbones of the young man represented here are recognizable as those of Titus van Rijn, Rembrandt’s son and only surviving child, who was born in 1641. Rembrandt documented Titus’s upbringing over the course of numerous paintings. This work seems to represent him as an adolescent, which would place this painting in the mid- to late 1650s. With its averted gaze and dramatic lighting, Bust of a Youth also projects an otherworldly mood that transcends the genre of the portrait. In fact, the artist may have used this painting as a point of departure for his Saint Matthew and the Angel of 1661, now in the Musée du Louvre, Paris. The angel who whispers into Matthew’s ear wears the features of the young Titus.
Bust of a Youth
early 1660s
Circle of Rembrandt Harmensz van Rijn
1606-1669
Dutch
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Oil on oak panel
Unframed: 16 × 13 3/4 inches (40.6 × 34.9 cm) Framed: 24 7/8 × 22 5/8 × 4 7/8 inches (63.2 × 57.5 × 12.4 cm)
Paintings
European Painting
Bequest of Mr. and Mrs. Lawrence P. Fisher
68.301
Public Domain
Markings
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Provenance
September 5, 1853, presented at auction, "Madame Veuve J.H. Molkenboer." (Amsterdam, The Netherlands);purchased by V. Houten.
Dr. Marcel Lermoyéz [1858–1929] (Paris, France);
1928, Howard Young Galleries (New York, New York, USA);
Mr. and Mrs. Lawrence P. Fisher (Detroit, Michigan, USA);
1968–present, bequest to the Detroit Institute of Arts (Detroit, Michigan, USA)
For more information on provenance, please visit:
Provenance page (opens in a new tab)Exhibition History
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The exhibition history of a number of objects in our collection only begins after their acquisition by the museum, and may reflect an incomplete record.
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Suggest Feedback (opens in a new tab)Published References
Catalog des tableaux anciens et modernes, de l'ecole Hollandaise, dessins, estampes et oeuvres d'estampes, provenant de la succession de Madame veuve J.H. Molkenboer, née Schenkhuizen. Sales cat., Het Huis met de Hoofden. Amsterdam, September 6, 1853, p. 12, no. 18 [as by Rembrandt van Rhyn, sold to von Houten].
Valentiner, Wilhelm R. Rembrandt Wiedergefundene Gemälde. Stuttgart and Berlin, 1921, p. xxii, no. 80, (fig. 80). Reprint, Berlin and Leipzig, 1923, p. xxvii, no. 89, (fig. 85) [as representing Titus as Mars or Alexander].
"Detroit Museum Opens Rembrandt Loan Exhibition." Art News 28, no. 30 (April 26, 1930): pp. 3, 13.
Heil, W. "Die Rembrandt-Ausstellung in Detroit." Pantheon 6 (August 1930): pp. 380-383 (ill.).
Heil, Walter. "The Lawrence P. Fisher Collection in Detroit." The Antiquarian 15, no. 6 (December 1930): p. 45 (ill.); p. 108.
The Thirteenth Loan Exhibition of Old Masters: Paintings by Rembrandt. Exh. cat., DIA. Detroit, 1930, p. 12, cat. 57 (ill.) [as lent by Mr. Lawrence P. Fisher].
Valentiner, W.R. "Important Rembrandts in American Collections." Art News 29, no. 39 (August 16, 1930): pp. 3-84 (ill.) [supplement, as a rectangular format].
Valentiner, Wilhelm R. Rembrandt Paintings in America. New York, 1931, no. 125 (ill.).
Bredius, Abraham. Rembrandt Gemälde. Vienna, 1935, p. 6, no. 125 (ill.) [as from the collection of Lermoyez in Paris].
Bredius, Abraham, ed. The Paintings of Rembrandt. London, 1937, p. 8, no. 125 (ill.).
McCall, George Henry. Catalogue of European Painting and Sculpture from 1300-1800. Exh. cat., New York World's Fair. New York, 1939, p. 148, cat. 303.
Valentiner, William R., and Alfred M. Frankfurther. Masterpieces of Art: Exhibition at the New York World's Fair 1939, Official Souvenir Guide and Picture Book. Exh. cat., New York World's Fair. New York, 1939, no. 303.
Loan Exhibition of Paintings by Frans Hals and Rembrandt. Exh. cat., Los Angeles County Museum of Art. Los Angeles, 1947, p. 73, cat. XXVI (ill.).
Bauch, Kurt. Rembrandt Gemälde. Berlin, 1966, p. 13, no. 230 (ill.) [as "Ein Engel"].
Arpino, Giovanni, and Paolo Lecaldano. L'Opera pittorica completa di Rembrandt. Milan, 1969, p. 128 [listed under "Altre opera rembrandtiane già considerate dalla critica o presenti in pubbliche raccolte"].
Bredius, Abraham. Rembrandt. London, 1969, pp. 113, 558, no. 125 (ill.).
Butler, Joseph T. "The American Way with Art." The Connoisseur 172, no. 694 (December 1969): 305-309; pp. 306-307, (fig. 5).
Hills, Lee, and Willis F. Woods. "Annual Report." Bulletin of the DIA 48, no. 1 (1969): pp. 4, 19 (ill.).
Rembrandt after Three Hundred Years. Exh. cat., Art Institute of Chicago. Chicago, 1969, pp. 39, 102, cat. 16 (ill.).
Young, Mahonri Sharp. "A Massing of Masterpieces." Apollo 90, no. 94 (December 1969): pp. 524-527; p. 525, (fig. IX).
De Grace, Margaret. "This Month's Cover." D.A.C. [Detroit Athletic Club] News (March 1970): pp. 51, 53, (front cover ill.).
Brown, Christopher. "Rembrandt's Portrait of a Boy." Connoisseur 193, no. 777 (November 1976): pp. 217-219; p. 219, note 4.
Keyes, George S., et al. Masters of Dutch Painting: The Detroit Institute of Arts. London, 2004, pp. 182-183, no. 74 (ill.) [as by circle of Rembrandt van Rijn].
Keyes, George S. "A Brief History of the European Paintings Collection at the Detroit Institute of Arts with a Focus on the Dutch School." In The European Fine Art Fair Handbook (TEFAF Maastricht). s-Hertogenbosch, Netherlands, 2005, p. 13.
Franken, Michiel. "Learning by Imitation: Copying Paintings in Rembrandt's Workshop." In Rembrandt Quest of a Genius, ed. Ernst van de Wetering. Amsterdam, 2007, pp. 152-153, (fig. 160) [as by workshop of Rembrandt].
Wetering, Ernst van de. Rembrandt's Paintings Revisited: A Complete Survey, vol. 6. Dordrecht, 2015, p. 426, no. 288, (fig. 6); pp. 668-669, (ill.) [as "Titus posing for a study of an angel" by Rembrandt].
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Credit Line for Reproduction
circle of Rembrandt Harmensz van Rijn, Bust of a Youth, early 1660s, oil on oak panel. Detroit Institute of Arts, Bequest of Mr. and Mrs. Lawrence P. Fisher, 68.301.
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