# Rembrandt Laughing

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Painting by Rembrandt, c. 1628

Rembrandt Laughing Artist Rembrandt van Rijn Year c. 1628 Catalogue 2013.60 Type Oil on copper Dimensions 22.2 cm × 17.1 cm (8.7 in × 6.7 in) Location J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles

***Rembrandt Laughing*** is a c. 1628 [oil on copper](/source/Oil_on_copper) painting by the [Dutch](/source/Dutch_people) painter [Rembrandt van Rijn](/source/Rembrandt_van_Rijn). It is an elaborate study of a laughing face, a [tronie](/source/Tronie), and, since it represents the painter himself, one of over 40 [self-portraits by Rembrandt](/source/Self-portraits_by_Rembrandt), probably the earliest elaborate one. The painting, which was only recently discovered, is now in the [J. Paul Getty Museum](/source/J._Paul_Getty_Museum), [California](/source/California).

## Description

The painting shows a laughing man, bareheaded, with his head tilted back, dressed in a deep purple robe, surrounded by a rougher brown woolen cape. He also wears a polished metal [gorget](/source/Gorget), a piece of armor which is protecting the throat. The man's face has the features of the young Rembrandt, shown as a laughing soldier.[1] His hair is long, "fluffy", light and dark blond, as in other Rembrandt portraits of the period (e.g. [Self-Portrait in a Gorget](/source/Self-Portrait_in_a_Gorget) in Nuremberg). He is looking directly at the viewer. The brushwork is sure, sensitive, spontaneous and bold, sometimes precise, sometimes broad and loose, and it clearly reveals the hand of a genius, who precisely knows how to best capture the transitory reaction of laughing.

## History of the painting

Similar to many other Dutch paintings of the 17th century, the early stage of this painting's life in Holland, after it left Rembrandt's Leiden studio in which it was created, is not known. Still, the painting was previously known from the late 18th, or, more probably, early 19th century print by Flemish engraver [Lambertus Antonius Claessens](/source/Lambertus_Antonius_Claessens), who reproduced it as a work by [Franz Hals](/source/Franz_Hals).[2]

In the 18th or 19th century it was owned by a French collector who wrote an inscription on its back: *"Democrite Philosophe [?] son [?] profonde meditation des (de?) [?] faiblesses (?) [?] tous ensemble. Nous concevons mille différ? nous formons mille projets que nous ne (?) pouvons executer. C?est une espece de folie r[?] ce Philosophe Je (se?) ris."*[3] Despite that explanation, the painting is probably not representing Rembrandt as the laughing philosopher [Democritus](/source/Democritus), because in the Dutch painting of the period, he is regularly shown with a [globe](/source/Globe). After that, the painting was lost, and its whereabouts unknown.

Thanks to the Claessen's print, it was mentioned in 1933 in Kurt Bauch's book on Rembrandt, and even before that, in Ernest Wilhelm Moes's book on Dutch painting.[4]

In 2007, it suddenly appeared in an auction in [Gloucestershire](/source/Gloucestershire), England, but just as the work of "a follower of Rembrandt". The reason was that although photos of the painting had been emailed to the experts at the [Rijksmuseum](/source/Rijksmuseum) in [Amsterdam](/source/Amsterdam) before the sale, "their response was pretty dismissive", as auctioneer Philip Allwood has said. So the painting was estimated at just £1000-1500, but was sold for £2.2 m.[5]

In 2013 the painting was sold to the Getty Museum in California for £16.5m[6]

## Attribution

Although from the very first sight it is clear that this painting is a [masterpiece](/source/Masterpiece), it was still necessary to prove that it was painted by Rembrandt himself. To that end [Ernst van de Wetering](/source/Ernst_van_de_Wetering), professor [emeritus](/source/Emeritus) at the [University of Amsterdam](/source/University_of_Amsterdam) and Chair of the [Rembrandt Research Project](/source/Rembrandt_Research_Project) undertook extensive research, and published his results in the "Kroniek van het Rembrandthuis" in 2007. His conclusion that the painting offered at the auction in Gloucestershire is a genuine Rembrandt was argued through a variety of evidence.

The first piece of evidence was Rembrandt's [monogram](/source/Monogram) in the corner of the painting. The RHL monogram (meaning: Rembrandt Harmenszoon Leidensis, i.e.: Rembrandt, son of Harmen from Leiden) is a particular type of signature that Rembrandt used only in 1628 and possibly in late 1627 or early 1629. The fact that the letters of the monogram were written in the wet paint of the surface is of major importance for dating the painting.[7] Still, the problem was that Rembrandt sometimes signed his pupils' paintings, as a kind of guarantee that they had come from his studio.[8]

The size and nature of the copper sheet on which the painting was made is evidence, since Rembrandt also used this standard size for his [etchings](/source/Etching) usually dated to 1628, such as *St Peter and St John at the Temple Gate*.[9]

The third piece of evidence came after analysis of the painting with [electron emission](/source/Electron_emission) radiography. It showed that the laughing figure was painted on top of an earlier (probably unfinished) painting very similar to the history pieces painted by Rembrandt at that time, such as *David with the Head of Goliath before Saul*, now in Basel.[10]

Rembrandt's interest in rendering effects, well known from his famous etchings of the same period, is also proof of attribution to Rembrandt.[11]

And lastly, a possible free copy of this painting, made by Rembrandt's pupil or a follower, now probably in the collection of Edmond de Rothschild, might also be proof of attribution to Rembrandt of the Gloucestershire tronie.[12]

## See also

- [Self-portraiture](/source/Self-portraiture)

- [Self-portraits by Rembrandt](/source/Self-portraits_by_Rembrandt)

- [List of paintings by Rembrandt](/source/List_of_paintings_by_Rembrandt)

## Footnotes

1. **[^](#cite_ref-1)** Rembrandt painted a picture of the same subject, with a different model and different pose, again c. 1630. See [List of paintings by Rembrandt](/source/List_of_paintings_by_Rembrandt).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-2)** Wetering 2007, 19

1. **[^](#cite_ref-3)** Getty 2021

1. **[^](#cite_ref-4)** Wetering 2007, 19-20

1. **[^](#cite_ref-5)** Capon 2008

1. **[^](#cite_ref-6)** Jenkins 2013

1. **[^](#cite_ref-7)** Wetering 2007, 24

1. **[^](#cite_ref-8)** Turner 2000, 269

1. **[^](#cite_ref-9)** Wetering 2007, 27

1. **[^](#cite_ref-10)** Wetering 2007, 28-30

1. **[^](#cite_ref-11)** Wetering 2007, 30-31

1. **[^](#cite_ref-12)** Wetering 2007, 31

## Bibliography

- Turner 2000 – Turner, Jane: From Rembrandt to Vermeer / 17th-Century Dutch Artists (Grove Dictionary of Art), New York, 2000

- [Wetering 2007 – Wetering, Ernest van de: Rembrandt Laughing, c. 1628 - a painting resurfaces, Kronik van het Rembrandthuis, Amsterdam, 2007, p. 18-40](https://docplayer.net/9551270-18-k-r-o-n-i-e-k-v-a-n-h-e-t-r-e-m-b-r-a-n-d-t-h-u-i-s-2-0-0-7.html)

- [Capon 2008 - Capon, Alex: Rembrandt portrait sold in Cotswolds now authenticated, 2008.](https://www.antiquestradegazette.com/news/2008/rembrandt-portrait-sold-in-cotswolds-now-authenticated/)

- [Jenkins 2013 - Jenkins, Tiffany: Let Rembrandt's self-portrait leave Britain, July 17, 2013](https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/jul/17/let-rembrandt-leave-britain)

- [Getty 2021 - The J. Paul Getty Museum: Rembrandt Laughing](https://www.getty.edu/art/collection/objects/263156/rembrandt-harmensz-van-rijn-rembrandt-laughing-dutch-about-1628/)

## External links

- ["Rembrandt Laughing" on loan to The Toledo Museum of Art, 2011](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=btVNLJ1pNrQ)

- [Ernst van de Wetering on "Rembrandt Laughing", 2011](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q_3R3oFKEC8)

- [Podcast: Anne Woollett on "Rembrandt Laughing", March 15, 2017](http://blogs.getty.edu/iris/audio-anne-woollett-on-rembrandt-laughing/)

v t e Rembrandt Lists of drawings, etchings, paintings, prints, self-portraits Paintings The Senses (1624–25) The Stoning of Saint Stephen (1625) Suffer little children to come unto me (1620s) History Painting (1626) Balaam and the Ass (1626) The Baptism of the Eunuch (1626) Bust of a Man Wearing a Gorget and Plumed Beret (1626) Tobit and Anna with the Kid (c. 1626) The Flight into Egypt (1627) The Parable of the Rich Fool (1627) The Artist in his Studio (1628) Samson and Delilah (1629–30) Jeremiah Lamenting the Destruction of Jerusalem (1630) Anna and the Blind Tobit (c. 1630) The Raising of Lazarus (c. 1630–1632) Andromeda Chained to the Rocks (1631) The Anatomy Lesson of Dr. Nicolaes Tulp (1631) Christ with a Staff (1631) Christ on the Cross (1631) Old Man with a Gold Chain (c. 1631) Philosopher in Meditation (1632) The Abduction of Europa (1632) Adoration of the Magi (1632–1633) The Shipbuilder and his Wife (1633) The Storm on the Sea of Galilee (1633) 2 A Lady and Gentleman in Black (1633) Raising of the Cross (1633) Descent from the Cross (1633) Vision of Zacharias in the Temple (1633) Diana Bathing with her Nymphs with Actaeon and Callisto (1634) Flora (1634) Judith at the Banquet of Holofernes (1634) Descent from the Cross (1634) Belshazzar's Feast (1635) Minerva (1635) The Prodigal Son in the Brothel (c. 1635) Raising of the Cross (study) (c. 1635) The Rape of Ganymede (1635) The Entombment of Christ (1635) Samson Threatening His Father-In-Law (1635) The Standard Bearer (1636) Danaë (1636) The Blinding of Samson (1636) Landscape with Arched Bridge (c. 1636-1637) The Preacher Eleazar Swalmius (1637) The Archangel Raphael Leaving Tobias' Family (1637) The Stone Bridge (1637) The Wedding Feast of Samson (1638) Landscape with the Good Samaritan (1638) Still Life with Peacocks (c. 1639) The Girl in a Picture Frame (1641) The Scholar at the Lectern (1641) The Night Watch (1642) Concord of the State (1642) David and Jonathan (1642) Boaz and Ruth (1643) The Woman Taken in Adultery (1644) Joseph's Dream (1645) Holy Family with Angels (1645) The Mill (1645–1648) Abraham Serving the Three Angels (1646) Susanna and the Elders (1647) Head of Christ (1648) The Kitchen Maid (1651) Descent from the Cross (1650–1652) Saul and David (c. 1652) 1 Aristotle with a Bust of Homer (1653) A Woman Bathing in a Stream (1654) Bathsheba at Her Bath (1654) The Polish Rider (1655) 1 Slaughtered Ox (1655) Pallas Athena (c. 1655) The Anatomy Lesson of Dr. Deijman (1656) Jacob Blessing the Sons of Joseph (1656) Courtesan at her Mirror (1657) Saint Bartholomew (1657) Moses Breaking the Tablets of the Law (1659) Ahasuerus and Haman at the Feast of Esther (1660) The Denial of Saint Peter (1660) Titus as a Monk (1660) The Conspiracy of Claudius Civilis (1661) Saint Matthew and the Angel (1661) Syndics of the Drapers' Guild (1662) Homer Dictating his Verses (1663) The Jewish Bride (1664) Lucretia (1664) 1 David and Uriah (c. 1665) Young Woman with a Lapdog (1665) Lucretia (1666) The Return of the Prodigal Son (1662–1669) Simeon in the Temple (c. 1669) Landscape with a Castle Portraits Portrait of Nicolaes Ruts (1631) Portrait of a Man (1632) Portrait of a Woman (1632) Portrait of Jacob de Gheyn III (1632) Portrait of a 62-year-old Woman (1632) Portrait of a Man Rising from His Chair (1633) Portrait of a Young Woman with a Fan (1633) Oval Portrait of a Woman (1633) Portrait of a Woman Wearing a Gold Chain (1634) Pendant portraits of Maerten Soolmans and Oopjen Coppit (1634) Portrait of Petronella Buys (1635) A Polish Nobleman (1637) Portrait of Maria Trip (1639) Portrait of Jan Six (1654) Portrait of Floris Soop (1654) Portrait of Hendrickje Stoffels (1654–1656) Portrait of Catharina Hooghsaet (1657) Portrait of a Man (1657) Portrait of a Man with Arms Akimbo (1658) Portrait of a Young Man in an Armchair (1660) Portrait of Dirck van Os (c. 1662) Portrait of Gerard de Lairesse (1665–1667) Self-portraits Self-Portrait with Dishevelled Hair (1628) Rembrandt Laughing (1628) Self-Portrait (1629) Self-Portrait in a Gorget (c.1629) Portrait of a Young Man with a Golden Chain (1635) (disputed) Self-Portrait Wearing a White Feathered Bonnet (1635) Self-Portrait with an Architectural Background (c. 1639) Self-Portrait at the Age of 34 (1640) Self-Portrait (1652) Self-Portrait in a Black Beret and Gold Chain (1654) Self-Portrait (1658) Self-Portrait with Beret and Turned-Up Collar (1659) Self-Portrait (1660) Self-Portrait as the Apostle Paul (1662) Self-Portrait as Zeuxis Laughing (1662) Self-Portrait with Two Circles (1665–1669) Self-Portrait (c. 1669) Self-Portrait at the Age of 63 (1669) Drawings and prints (including etchings) Joseph and Potiphar's Wife (1634) Bearded Old Man (1634) River with Trees (1634) The Artist and his Model (1639) The Death of the Virgin (1639) The Mill (1641) The Three Trees (1643) The State Bed (1646) Portrait of Jan Six (1647) Hundred Guilder Print (1647–1649) Conus Marmoreus (1650) Goldweigher's Field (1651) Doctor Fautrieus (1652) Descent from the Cross by Torchlight (1652) The Three Crosses (1653) The Virgin and Child with a Cat (1654) Christ Presented to the People (1655) Mughal drawings Collections Rembrandt House Museum Rembrandt in Southern California Rembrandt studies Connoisseurs and scholars Rembrandt Research Project Rembrandt catalogues raisonnés 1908 1935 1968 1986 Related people Pupils Saskia van Uylenburgh (wife, model) Titus van Rijn (son, model) Geertje Dircx (mistress, model) Hendrickje Stoffels (mistress, model) Jacob Isaacsz. van Swanenburg (teacher) Pieter Lastman (teacher) Jan Lievens (colleague and friend) Hendrick van Uylenburgh (art dealer, patron) Jan Six (art collector, patron) Thomas Kaplan (art collector) Works about Rembrandt Cultural depictions of Rembrandt Rembrandt's Daughter (1827 painting) The Tragedy of a Great (1920 film) Rembrandt (1936 film) Rembrandt (1940 film) Rembrandt (1942 film) Rembrandt: A Self-Portrait (1954 documentary film) Rembrandt fecit 1669 (1977 film) The Anatomy Lesson (1995 novel) Rembrandt (1999 film) Stealing Rembrandt (2003 film) Nightwatching (2007 film) I Am Rembrandt's Daughter (2008 novel) Namesakes Rembrandt, Iowa Rembrandtplein Rembrandtpark Rembrandt (crater) Rembrandt (train) Vereniging Rembrandt (foundation) 1 Contested 2 Stolen in 1990

Authority control databases RKD ID

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Rembrandt Laughing](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rembrandt_Laughing) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rembrandt_Laughing?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.