Old Man with a Gold Chain

1631

Rembrandt van Rijn (Dutch, 1606–1669)

This compelling figure—fancifully adorned with a steel gorget (armor protecting the throat and upper chest), golden chain, and plumed beret—represents a new commodity on the Northern European art market: a tronie, or character study. While artists had created such studies since the 1500s, Rembrandt and his colleague Jan Lievens made these images into more affordable alternatives to portraits, heightening their appeal by introducing bold visual elements like dramatic lighting, whimsical costumes, and dynamic poses. Rembrandt and his colleagues painted this model frequently; although he has been called “Rembrandt’s father,” recent research suggests that the “Old Man” may have been the keeper of an almshouse in Leiden, the Netherlands.

Although tronies were less expensive than commissioned portraits, Rembrandt invested just as much skill in them. The attention given to the folds of flesh beneath the eyes, the prickly, tightly trimmed beard, and the highlights in the gorget and gold chain reveal a talented painter engaged in the joys of painting. The prominent gold chain appears in several works from Rembrandt’s Leiden and Amsterdam periods: He must have had one in his studio. But unlike his acclaimed peers Peter Paul Rubens and Anthony van Dyck, Rembrandt never received one as a gift from a royal patron.

Status: On View, Gallery 213
Department: Painting and Sculpture of Europe

Artist: Rembrandt van Rijn
Title: Old Man with a Gold Chain
Place: Holland (Artist's nationality:)
Date Dates are not always precisely known, but the Art Institute strives to present this information as consistently and legibly as possible. Dates may be represented as a range that spans decades, centuries, dynasties, or periods and may include qualifiers such as c. (circa) or BCE.: 1631
Medium: Oil on panel
Inscriptions: Monogramed lower left: RHL
Dimensions: 83.1 × 75.7 cm (32 3/4 × 29 3/4 in.); Framed: 105.1 × 99.5 cm (41 3/8 × 39 3/16 in.)
Credit Line: Mr. and Mrs. W. W. Kimball Collection
Reference Number: 1922.4467
IIIF Manifest The International Image Interoperability Framework (IIIF) represents a set of open standards that enables rich access to digital media from libraries, archives, museums, and other cultural institutions around the world. Learn more.: https://api.artic.edu/api/v1/artworks/95998/manifest.json

Wilhelm Bode, “Der junge Rembrandt und seine Werkstatt: Betrachtungen vor einem Bildnis von Rembrandts Vater im Besitz von Herrn Julius Boehler in München,”Zeitschrift für bildende Kunst n.s. 23 (1912), pp. 210-12, ill.
Francis de Miomandre, “Les Idées d’un amateur d’art (Collection Marcel de Nemes),”L’Art et les Artistes 16 (1913), pp. 249-50, ill. 255.
Wilhellm R. Valentiner, The Art of the Low Countries, Garden City, New York, 1914, p. 243, no. 6.
C. Hofstede de Groot, A Catalogue Raisonné of the Works of the Most Eminent Dutch Painters of the Seventeenth Century Based on the Work of John Smith, trans. Edward G. Hawke, vol. 6, 1916, pp. 321-22, no. 675.
Anne Lisle Booth, “Sympathy in Portrait Painting,” The Fine Arts Journal 35 (1917), p. 106 ill.
Art Institute of Chicago, Handbook of Sculpture, Architecture, Paintings, and Drawings, Chicago, 1920, p. 60, no. 764.
“Notes. The Kimball Collection,” Bulletin of the Art Institute of Chicago 14 (1920), p. 77.
Wilhelm R. Valentiner, Rembrandt. Wiedergefundene Gemälde (1910-1920), Klassiker der Kunst, Stuttgart and Berlin, 1921, pp. 17 ill, XVI, no. 19.
Art Institute of Chicago Annual Report, Chicago, 1922, ill. p. 50.
Art Institute of Chicago, Handbook of Sculpture, Architecture and Paintings, Chicago, 1922, p. 65, no. 764.
John C. van Dyck, Rembrandt and his School. A Critical Study of the Master and his Pupils with a New Assignment of their Pictures, New York, 1923, p. 111.
Walter Heil, “Die Rembrandt-Ausstellung in Detroit,” Pantheon 6 (1930), p. 380.
Josephine Walther, “The First Great Rembrandt Exhibition in America,” The Antiquarian, 14, 5 (1930), p. 82.
Alan Burroughs, “New Illustrations of Rembrandt’s Style,” Burlington Magazine 59 (1931), p. 4, pl. IIB (x-radiograph detail).
Wilhelm R. Valentiner, Rembrandt Paintings in America, New York, 1931, n. pag, , no. 5, ill.
Art Institute of Chicago, A Guide to the Paintings in the Permanent Collection, Chicago, 1932, pp. 17-19, ill.
“Will Show Rembrandt with His Pupils’ Work,” Art Digest 10 (1 Dec. 1935), p. 7.
“Chicago Art Institute to Hold Rembrandt Exhibition,” Art News 34, 10 (1935), p. 3.
A[braham] Bredius, the Paintings of Rembrandt, Vienna and London, 1937, p. 5, no. 81, fig. 81.
Jakob Rosenberg, Rembrandt, Cambridge, Mass., 1948, pp. 43, 256, fig. 60.; rev. ed. Rembrandt, Life and Work, London, 1964, p. 71, fig. 60.
Ludwig Münz, “Rembrandts Bild von Mutter und Vater,”Jahrbuch der Kunsthistorischen Sammlungen in Wien n.s. 14 (1953), p. 166.
“Rembrandt and His Circle, Chicago,” The American Magazine of Art 29 (1936), p. 49.
Claude Roger Marx, Rembrandt, [Paris], [1960], p. 124, no. 22, ill.
Kurt Bauch, Rembrandt Gemälde, Berlin, 1966, p. 9, no. 129, fig. 129.
Horst K. Gerson, Rembrandt Paintings, Amsterdam, 1968, pp. 18, 30, no. 46, fig. 46.
Giovanni Arpino and Paolo Lecaldano, Rembrandt, Milan, 1969, n. pag., no. 45, ill.
Horst Gerson, Rembrandt, The Complete Edition of the Paintings by A. Bredius, rev. ed. of Bredius 1937, London, 1971, p. 554, no. 81, fig. 81.
Rembrandt Harmensz van Rijn, ed. V. Loewinson-Lessing, Leningrad, 1975, n. pag., under no. 2.
Art Institute of Chicago, 100 Masterpieces, Chicago, 1978, p. 20.
J. Bruyn, “Een onderzoek naar 17de-eeuwse schilderijformaten, voornamelijk in Noord-Nederland,” Oud Holland 93 (1979), p. 108.
Stichting Foundation Rembrandt Research Project, A Corpus of Rembrandt Paintings, vol. 1, 1625-1631, ed. J. Bruyn, B. Haak, S.H. Levie, P.J.J. van Thiel, and E. van de Wetering, The Hague, Boston and London, 1982, pp. 391-7, ill., figs. 1, 2-6, no. A42.
Gary Schwartz, Rembrandt, his life, his paintings, New York, 1985, p. 65, fig. 54.
Peter C. Sutton, A Guide to Dutch Art in America, Grand Rapids, 1986, pp. 49-50, fig. 66.
Christian Tümpel, Rembrandt. Mythos und Methode, Antwerp, 1986, pp. 188, 406, no. 131.
Christian Tümpel, Rembrandt, Paris, 1986, pp. 188, 405, no. 131.
Art Institute of Chicago Master Paintings, Chicago 1988, ed., James N. Wood and Katharine Lee, Chicago, 1988, p. 30, ill.
Walter Liedtke, “Dutch Paintings in America. The Collectors and their Ideals” in Great Dutch Paintings in America, exh.cat, The Hague, Mauritshuis, 1990, p. 35.
Ernst van de Wetering, “The invisible Rembrandt: the Results of technical and Scientific Examination” in Rembrandt: The Master and his Workshop, exh. cat., Berlin, Altes Museum, 1991 (traveled to Amsterdam and London), p. 92, fig. 113.
Walter Liedtke, “Rembrandt’s ‘Man in a gorget and plumed cap’ in J. Paul Getty Museum,” Burlington Magazine 137 (1995), p. 460.
Walter Liedtke in Rembrandt/Not Rembrandt in The Metropolitan Museum of Art: Aspects of Connoisseurship, exh. cat., New York, Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1995, vol. 2, p. 44, under no. 2.
Ernst van de Wetering, Rembrandt. The Painter at Work, Amsterdam, 1997, p. fig. 13.
Ben Broos, “Rembrandt and his picturesque universe. The artist’s collection as a source of inspiration” in Rembrandt’s Treasures, exh. cat., Amsterdam, Museum Het Rembrandthuis, 1999, p. 124, fig. 83.
Emilie E.S. Gordenker, “The Rhetoric of Dress in Seventeenth-Century Dutch and Flemish Portraiture,” The Journal of the Walters Art Gallery 57 (1999), p. 92, 94, fig. 8.
A[lan] C[hong] in Rembrandt Creates Rembrandt. Art and Ambition in Leiden, 1629-1631, exh. cat., Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Boston, 2000, p. 123, under no. 17, fig. 17a.
Ernst van de Wetering, A Corpus of Rembrandt Paintings, vol. VI: Rembrandt’s Paintings Revisited - A Complete Survey (Springer: Dordrecht, 2014), pp. 35, 117, 510, 705, 716, no. 58.
Ige Verslype, “Materiaal-technisch onderzoek: wat maakt een Rembrandt een Rembrandt?,” in Rembrandt in perspectief: De veranderende visie op de meester en zijn werk, ed. Jaco Rutgers and Mieke Rijnders (Zwolle: Waander Uitgevers, 2014), p. 226, fig. 8.14.
Jeroen Giltaij, Het grote Rembrandt boek. Alle 684 schilderijen, Zwolle, 2022, p. 98, no. 97.
Christine Slottved Kimbriel and Louis Newman with contributions from Kamila Gora, “Double-take: Rembrandt’s c.1631 ‘Old Man with a Gold Chain’ and its highly exacting copy,” Hamilton Kerr Institute Bulletin 10 (2024), pp. 127-136, fig. 2.
James Rondeau, ed., Paintings at the Art Institute of Chicago: Highlights of the collection (New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 2025), 37 (ill.).
Gary Schwartz, “Fraternal Vermeer and identical Rembrandt twins,” Schwartzlist, October 17, 2025, https://www.garyschwartzarthistorian.nl/442-fraternal-vermeer-and-identical-rembrandt-twins/
Gary Schwartz, “The transparent connoisseur 11: Autograph replicas,” Schwartzlist, March 26, 2026, https://www.garyschwartzarthistorian.nl/447-the-transparent-connoisseur-11-autograph-replicas/
Dalya Alberge, “Painting considered workshop copy is in fact by Rembrandt, expert says,” The Guardian, March, 30, 2026, https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2026/mar/30/rembrandt-old-man-with-a-gold-chain-painting-copy-art-institute-chicago
Ruth Lopez, “Copy of Rembrandt portrait on display in Chicago is by the master himself, scholar claims,” The Art Newspaper, March, 30, 2026, https://www.theartnewspaper.com/2026/03/30/rembrandt-old-man-gold-chain-copy-autograph-art-institute-chicago
Vittoria Benzine, “Is This a Real Rembrandt? One Art Historian Thinks So,” artnet, March 30, 2026, https://news.artnet.com/art-world/rembrandt-old-man-newman-chicago-2759978
Andy Battaglia, “Scholar Attributes Long-Suspected ‘Workshop Copy’ Painting to Rembrandt,” ARTnews, March 30, 2026, https://www.artnews.com/art-news/news/rembrandt-attribution-art-institute-chicago-1234779406/
Anna Stibbe, “Vermeende Rembrandt-kopie is volgens een expert tóch geschilderd door de meester zelf,” de Volkskrant, March 31, 2026, https://www.volkskrant.nl/cultuur-media/vermeende-rembrandt-kopie-is-volgens-een-expert-toch-geschilderd-door-de-meester-zelf~b411776c/
Michele Debczak, “This Painting Was Thought to Be a Workshop Copy of a Rembrandt. Now, One Scholar Argues It’s the Real Deal,” Smithsonian Magazine, April 2, 2026, https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/this-painting-was-thought-to-be-a-workshop-copy-of-a-rembrandt-now-one-scholar-argues-its-the-real-deal-180988473/
Merlijn Schoonenboom, “Wéér een nieuwe Rembrandt ontdekt (misschien). Maar wat is nou het belang ervan?,” NRC, April 10, 2026, https://www.nrc.nl/nieuws/2026/04/09/weer-een-nieuwe-rembrandt-ontdekt-misschien-maar-wat-is-nou-het-belang-ervan-a4925045
James Rondeau, ed., Highlights of the Art Institute of Chicago (New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 2026), 74, 258, no. 49, (ill.).

Düsseldorf, Städtische Kunsthalle, Sammlung des Kgl. Rates Marczell von Nemes, Budapest, 1912, no. 43.
Detroit Institute of Arts, Loan Exhibition of Paintings by Rembrandt, no. 8.
Art Institute of Chicago, A Century of Progress, 1933, no. 74
Art Institute of Chicago, A Century of Progress, 1934, no. 104
Art Institute of Chicago, Paintings, Drawings, and Etchings by Rembrandt and his Circle, 1935/1936, traveled to Worcester Art Museum
New York, Wildenstein and Co., Loan Exhibition of Rembrandt, Under the High Patronage of His Excellency, Dr. Eelco N. van Kleffens, Ambassador of the Netherlands, for the Benefit of the Public Education Association, 1950, no. 2.
Art Institute of Chicago, European Portraits 1600-1900 in The Art Institute of Chicago, 1978, no. 2.
Boston, Museum of Fine Arts, Rembrandt’s Journey: Painter, draughtsman, etcher, 2003/2004, no. 30, traveled to Art Institute of Chicago
Raleigh, North Carolina Museun of Art, Rembrandt Paintings in America, October 1, 2011-January 1, 2012; Cleveland Museum of Art, February 1, 2012-May 1, 2012; Minneapolis Institute of Arts, June 24, 2012-September 16, 2012 [Minneapolis only].

Jacob Alewijn, Amsterdam; by descent to his widow Margaretha Helena Graafland (died 1766); sold Amsterdam, June 10, 1767, no. 14, to Ketelaar, “Rembrandt. Het Hoofd van een Oud Man, zynde een Kniestuk, Levensgroote, met een dokere Mantel om, en een gouden Keten met een Medaille om den hals. Het hoofd is van vooren en op zyde te zien; gekeerd naar den linker Schouder, en gedekt met een Fluweelen Muts, voorzien met een groote Pluim. Zynde zeer helder, krachtig en uitvoorig op Paneel geschilderd. Hoog 35, breed 30 duim”(The head of an old man, knee-length and life size, wearing a dark cloak and a golden chain with a medallion around his neck. The head is seen from the front and to one side, turned toward the left shoulder, and covered with a velvet cap with a large plume. 90 x 77.1 cm) [For the identification of the consignor at this sale, see Rembrandt Research Project 1982, with evidence that the height of the picture was later slightly reduced]. Matthew Piers Watt Boulton, Tew Park, Oxfordshire; his estate sale Christie’s, London, December 9, 1911, no. 14, as the Father of Rembrandt for £220 10s. to Shepherd [annotated sale catalogue at Frick Art Reference Library; for the identity of 1922.4467 and the painting in the Boulton sale, see Bode 1912]. Lippmann, London, with a half share acquired by P. and D. Colnaghi, London, February 12, 1912 [letter from Lavinia Davies, Colnaghi, to Susan Wise, 28 November, 1977 in curatorial file]; Colnaghi sold their share in March, 1912, with Lippmann, Knoedler, and Julius Böhler sharing ownership in the picture [letter of Lavinia Davies cited above]; sold by Böhler to Marczell de Nemes, Budapest, 17 June, 1912; offered for sale Galerie Manzi, Joyant, Paris, 17-18 June, 1913, no. 60, as Portrait du père de Rembrandt, bought in and returned to Julius Böhler in July 1913 [letter from Julius Böhler to Susan Wise, September 20, 1977 in curatorial file]; sold by Julius Böhler to Reinhardt, New York [letter from Böhler cited above; in a letter of June 14, 1977, Julius Böhler noted that Reinhardt was the American representative for their firm]; sold to Mrs. W. W. Kimball, (died 1921), Chicago, by 1914 [Valentiner 1914]; bequeathed, 1922.

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