{"data":{"id":95998,"api_model":"artworks","api_link":"https:\/\/api.artic.edu\/api\/v1\/artworks\/95998","is_boosted":true,"title":"Old Man with a Gold Chain","alt_titles":null,"thumbnail":{"lqip":"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhBQAFAPQAABQSEhcVFRkWFRoZFxoYGR4bGiglISsmIC0oIi4pIjApIjIsJDYwJzgwJzYxKjgxKDkzKj81Kj42K0A0Jko\/MUlBM0pCNk5FOAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAACH5BAAAAAAAIf8LSW1hZ2VNYWdpY2sOZ2FtbWE9MC40NTQ1NDUALAAAAAAFAAUAAAUVIIIMh9JI0\/JQlfRY1xEAjEMIQBECADs=","width":9859,"height":10740,"alt_text":"Portrait of man wearing voluminous black cloak, feathered hat, and gold medallion."},"main_reference_number":"1922.4467","has_not_been_viewed_much":false,"boost_rank":null,"date_start":1631,"date_end":1631,"date_display":"1631","date_qualifier_title":"","date_qualifier_id":null,"artist_display":"Rembrandt van Rijn (Dutch, 1606\u20131669)","place_of_origin":"Holland","description":"

This compelling figure\u2014fancifully adorned with a steel gorget (armor protecting the throat and upper chest), golden chain, and plumed beret\u2014represents a new commodity on the Northern European art market: a tronie<\/em>, or character study. While artists had created such studies since the 1500s, Rembrandt and his colleague Jan Lievens<\/a> 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 \u201cRembrandt\u2019s father,\u201d recent research suggests that the \u201cOld Man\u201d may have been the keeper of an almshouse in Leiden, the Netherlands.<\/p>\n

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\u2019s Leiden and Amsterdam periods: He must have had one in his studio. But unlike his acclaimed peers Peter Paul Rubens<\/a> and Anthony van Dyck<\/a>, Rembrandt never received one as a gift from a royal patron.<\/p>\n","short_description":"In his character studies, Rembrandt explored the effect of a single figure, made dramatic through the use of rich, subtle lighting and costumes, which the artist collected to transform his models. Here, the gold chain and steel gorget suggest an honored military career, while the plumed beret evokes an earlier time. The unidentified sitter, once thought to be the artist\u2019s father, was a favorite model.","dimensions":"83.1 \u00d7 75.7 cm (32 3\/4 \u00d7 29 3\/4 in.); Framed: 105.1 \u00d7 99.5 cm (41 3\/8 \u00d7 39 3\/16 in.)","dimensions_detail":[{"depth":null,"width":75,"height":83,"diameter":null,"clarification":null},{"depth":null,"width":99,"height":105,"diameter":null,"clarification":"Framed"}],"medium_display":"Oil on panel","inscriptions":"Monogramed lower left: RHL","credit_line":"Mr. and Mrs. W. W. Kimball Collection","catalogue_display":null,"publication_history":"Wilhelm Bode, \u201cDer junge Rembrandt und seine Werkstatt: Betrachtungen vor einem Bildnis von Rembrandts Vater im Besitz von Herrn Julius Boehler in M\u00fcnchen,\u201dZeitschrift f\u00fcr bildende Kunst n.s. 23 (1912), pp. 210-12, ill.\n\nFrancis de Miomandre, \u201cLes Id\u00e9es d\u2019un amateur d\u2019art (Collection Marcel de Nemes),\u201dL\u2019Art et les Artistes 16 (1913), pp. 249-50, ill. 255.\n\nWilhellm R. Valentiner, The Art of the Low Countries, Garden City, New York, 1914, p. 243, no. 6.\n\nC. Hofstede de Groot, A Catalogue Raisonn\u00e9 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.\n\nAnne Lisle Booth, \u201cSympathy in Portrait Painting,\u201d The Fine Arts Journal 35 (1917), p. 106 ill. \n\nArt Institute of Chicago, Handbook of Sculpture, Architecture, Paintings, and Drawings, Chicago, 1920, p. 60, no. 764.\n\n\u201cNotes. The Kimball Collection,\u201d Bulletin of the Art Institute of Chicago 14 (1920), p. 77.\n\nWilhelm R. Valentiner, Rembrandt. Wiedergefundene Gem\u00e4lde (1910-1920), Klassiker der Kunst, Stuttgart and Berlin, 1921, pp. 17 ill, XVI, no. 19.\n\nArt Institute of Chicago Annual Report, Chicago, 1922, ill. p. 50.\n\nArt Institute of Chicago, Handbook of Sculpture, Architecture and Paintings, Chicago, 1922, p. 65, no. 764. \n\nJohn 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.\n\nWalter Heil, \u201cDie Rembrandt-Ausstellung in Detroit,\u201d Pantheon 6 (1930), p. 380.\n\nJosephine Walther, \u201cThe First Great Rembrandt Exhibition in America,\u201d The Antiquarian, 14, 5 (1930), p. 82.\n\nAlan Burroughs, \u201cNew Illustrations of Rembrandt\u2019s Style,\u201d Burlington Magazine 59 (1931), p. 4, pl. IIB (x-radiograph detail).\n\nWilhelm R. Valentiner, Rembrandt Paintings in America, New York, 1931, n. pag, , no. 5, ill.\n\nArt Institute of Chicago, A Guide to the Paintings in the Permanent Collection, Chicago, 1932, pp. 17-19, ill. \n\n\u201cWill Show Rembrandt with His Pupils\u2019 Work,\" Art Digest 10 (1 Dec. 1935), p. 7.\n\n\u201cChicago Art Institute to Hold Rembrandt Exhibition,\u201d Art News 34, 10 (1935), p. 3. \n\nA[braham] Bredius, the Paintings of Rembrandt, Vienna and London, 1937, p. 5, no. 81, fig. 81.\n\nJakob Rosenberg, Rembrandt, Cambridge, Mass., 1948, pp. 43, 256, fig. 60.; rev. ed. Rembrandt, Life and Work, London, 1964, p. 71, fig. 60. \n\nLudwig M\u00fcnz, \u201cRembrandts Bild von Mutter und Vater,\u201dJahrbuch der Kunsthistorischen Sammlungen in Wien n.s. 14 (1953), p. 166.\n\n\u201cRembrandt and His Circle, Chicago,\u201d The American Magazine of Art 29 (1936), p. 49.\n\nClaude Roger Marx, Rembrandt, [Paris], [1960], p. 124, no. 22, ill.\n\nKurt Bauch, Rembrandt Gem\u00e4lde, Berlin, 1966, p. 9, no. 129, fig. 129.\n\nHorst K. Gerson, Rembrandt Paintings, Amsterdam, 1968, pp. 18, 30, no. 46, fig. 46.\n\nGiovanni Arpino and Paolo Lecaldano, Rembrandt, Milan, 1969, n. pag., no. 45, ill.\n\nHorst Gerson, Rembrandt, The Complete Edition of the Paintings by A. Bredius, rev. ed. of Bredius 1937, London, 1971, p. 554, no. 81, fig. 81.\n\nRembrandt Harmensz van Rijn, ed. V. Loewinson-Lessing, Leningrad, 1975, n. pag., under no. 2.\n\nArt Institute of Chicago, 100 Masterpieces, Chicago, 1978, p. 20.\n\nJ. Bruyn, \u201cEen onderzoek naar 17de-eeuwse schilderijformaten, voornamelijk in Noord-Nederland,\u201d Oud Holland 93 (1979), p. 108.\n\nStichting 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.\n\nGary Schwartz, Rembrandt, his life, his paintings, New York, 1985, p. 65, fig. 54.\n\nPeter C. Sutton, A Guide to Dutch Art in America, Grand Rapids, 1986, pp. 49-50, fig. 66.\n\nChristian T\u00fcmpel, Rembrandt. Mythos und Methode, Antwerp, 1986, pp. 188, 406, no. 131. \n\nChristian T\u00fcmpel, Rembrandt, Paris, 1986, pp. 188, 405, no. 131. \n\nArt Institute of Chicago Master Paintings, Chicago 1988, ed., James N. Wood and Katharine Lee, Chicago, 1988, p. 30, ill.\n\nWalter Liedtke, \u201cDutch Paintings in America. The Collectors and their Ideals\u201d in Great Dutch Paintings in America, exh.cat, The Hague, Mauritshuis, 1990, p. 35.\n\nErnst van de Wetering, \u201cThe invisible Rembrandt: the Results of technical and Scientific Examination\u201d in Rembrandt: The Master and his Workshop, exh. cat., Berlin, Altes Museum, 1991 (traveled to Amsterdam and London), p. 92, fig. 113. \n\nWalter Liedtke, \u201cRembrandt\u2019s \u2018Man in a gorget and plumed cap\u2019 in J. Paul Getty Museum,\u201d Burlington Magazine 137 (1995), p. 460.\n\nWalter 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.\n\nErnst van de Wetering, Rembrandt. The Painter at Work, Amsterdam, 1997, p. fig. 13.\n\nBen Broos, \u201cRembrandt and his picturesque universe. The artist\u2019s collection as a source of inspiration\u201d in Rembrandt\u2019s Treasures, exh. cat., Amsterdam, Museum Het Rembrandthuis, 1999, p. 124, fig. 83.\n\nEmilie 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. \n\nA[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.\n\nErnst 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.\n\nIge 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. \n\nJeroen Giltaij, Het grote Rembrandt boek. Alle 684 schilderijen, Zwolle, 2022, p. 98, no. 97.\n\nChristine Slottved Kimbriel and Louis Newman with contributions from Kamila Gora, \u201cDouble-take: Rembrandt\u2019s c.1631 \u2018Old Man with a Gold Chain\u2019 and its highly exacting copy,\u201d Hamilton Kerr Institute Bulletin 10 (2024), pp. 127-136, fig. 2. \n\nJames Rondeau, ed., Paintings at the Art Institute of Chicago: Highlights of the collection (New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 2025), 37 (ill.).\n\nGary Schwartz, \"Fraternal Vermeer and identical Rembrandt twins,\" Schwartzlist, October 17, 2025, https:\/\/www.garyschwartzarthistorian.nl\/442-fraternal-vermeer-and-identical-rembrandt-twins\/<\/a> \n\nGary Schwartz, \"The transparent connoisseur 11: Autograph replicas,\" Schwartzlist, March 26, 2026, https:\/\/www.garyschwartzarthistorian.nl\/447-the-transparent-connoisseur-11-autograph-replicas\/<\/a> \n\nDalya 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<\/a>\n\nRuth 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<\/a>\n\nVittoria 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<\/a>\n\nAndy 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\/<\/a>\n\nAnna Stibbe, \"Vermeende Rembrandt-kopie is volgens een expert t\u00f3ch 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\/<\/a> \n\nMichele 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\/<\/a> \n\nMerlijn Schoonenboom, \"W\u00e9\u00e9r 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<\/a> \n\nJames Rondeau, ed., Highlights of the Art Institute of Chicago (New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 2026), 74, 258, no. 49, (ill.).\n\nJustus Lange and Timo Tr\u00fcmper, eds., Rembrandt 1632. Entstehung einer Marke \/ Creation of a Brand, exh. cat. (Petersberg: Michael Imhof Verlage, 2026), 207n39, 234n30, 238 fig. 121, 240-241.","exhibition_history":"D\u00fcsseldorf, St\u00e4dtische Kunsthalle, Sammlung des Kgl. Rates Marczell von Nemes, Budapest, 1912, no. 43.\n\nDetroit Institute of Arts, Loan Exhibition of Paintings by Rembrandt, no. 8.\n\nArt Institute of Chicago, A Century of Progress, 1933, no. 74\n\nArt Institute of Chicago, A Century of Progress, 1934, no. 104\n\nArt Institute of Chicago, Paintings, Drawings, and Etchings by Rembrandt and his Circle, 1935\/1936, traveled to Worcester Art Museum\n\nNew 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.\n\nArt Institute of Chicago, European Portraits 1600-1900 in The Art Institute of Chicago, 1978, no. 2.\n\nBoston, Museum of Fine Arts, Rembrandt\u2019s Journey: Painter, draughtsman, etcher, 2003\/2004, no. 30, traveled to Art Institute of Chicago\n\nRaleigh, 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].","provenance_text":"Jacob Alewijn, Amsterdam; by descent to his widow Margaretha Helena Graafland (died 1766); sold Amsterdam, June 10, 1767, no. 14, to Ketelaar, \u201cRembrandt. 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\u201d(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\u2019s, London, December 9, 1911, no. 14, as the Father of Rembrandt for \u00a3220 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 B\u00f6hler sharing ownership in the picture [letter of Lavinia Davies cited above]; sold by B\u00f6hler to Marczell de Nemes, Budapest, 17 June, 1912; offered for sale Galerie Manzi, Joyant, Paris, 17-18 June, 1913, no. 60, as Portrait du p\u00e8re de Rembrandt, bought in and returned to Julius B\u00f6hler in July 1913 [letter from Julius B\u00f6hler to Susan Wise, September 20, 1977 in curatorial file]; sold by Julius B\u00f6hler to Reinhardt, New York [letter from B\u00f6hler cited above; in a letter of June 14, 1977, Julius B\u00f6hler 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.","edition":null,"publishing_verification_level":"Web Cataloged","internal_department_id":14,"fiscal_year":1923,"fiscal_year_deaccession":null,"is_public_domain":true,"is_zoomable":true,"max_zoom_window_size":-1,"copyright_notice":null,"has_multimedia_resources":true,"has_educational_resources":false,"has_advanced_imaging":false,"colorfulness":0,"color":{"h":40,"l":47,"s":8,"percentage":3.777659788870372e-6,"population":4},"latitude":41.8792539272729,"longitude":-87.6236207607479,"latlon":"41.879253927273,-87.623620760748","is_on_view":true,"on_loan_display":null,"gallery_title":"Gallery 213","gallery_id":2147483623,"nomisma_id":null,"artwork_type_title":"Painting","artwork_type_id":1,"department_title":"Painting and Sculpture of Europe","department_id":"PC-10","artist_id":40769,"artist_title":"Rembrandt van Rijn","alt_artist_ids":[],"artist_ids":[40769],"artist_titles":["Rembrandt van Rijn"],"category_ids":["PC-10","PC-831"],"category_titles":["Painting and Sculpture of Europe","Essentials"],"term_titles":["oil on panel","portraits: male subject","oil paint (paint)","oil painting","Renaissance","portrait","paint","organic material","painting","painting techniques","panel painting","17th Century","chains","panel (wood)","painting (image making)","painting","european painting","portraits","Century of Progress","world's fairs","Chicago World's Fairs","men","black (color)","hats","jewelry","fashion"],"style_id":"TM-5891","style_title":"Renaissance","alt_style_ids":["TM-13770"],"style_ids":["TM-5891","TM-13770"],"style_titles":["Renaissance","17th Century"],"classification_id":"TM-80","classification_title":"oil on panel","alt_classification_ids":["TM-12855","TM-10387","TM-9","TM-54"],"classification_ids":["TM-80","TM-12855","TM-10387","TM-9","TM-54"],"classification_titles":["oil on panel","portrait","paint","painting","european painting"],"subject_id":"TM-8581","alt_subject_ids":["TM-15580","TM-8658","TM-12169","TM-11299","TM-12176","TM-10121","TM-11845","TM-12109","TM-12623","TM-8663"],"subject_ids":["TM-8581","TM-15580","TM-8658","TM-12169","TM-11299","TM-12176","TM-10121","TM-11845","TM-12109","TM-12623","TM-8663"],"subject_titles":["portraits: male subject","chains","portraits","Century of Progress","world's fairs","Chicago World's Fairs","men","black (color)","hats","jewelry","fashion"],"material_id":"TM-2451","alt_material_ids":["TM-2601","TM-3644"],"material_ids":["TM-2451","TM-2601","TM-3644"],"material_titles":["oil paint (paint)","organic material","panel (wood)"],"technique_id":"TM-4273","alt_technique_ids":["TM-14210","TM-3971","TM-3975","TM-3891"],"technique_ids":["TM-4273","TM-14210","TM-3971","TM-3975","TM-3891"],"technique_titles":["oil painting","painting","painting techniques","panel painting","painting (image making)"],"theme_titles":["Essentials"],"image_id":"3eaab3a3-2b47-9fdd-121c-050f6b8d9ccb","alt_image_ids":[],"document_ids":["cbcafdef-b2aa-1efa-d634-e23d3febfec9"],"sound_ids":["cbcafdef-b2aa-1efa-d634-e23d3febfec9"],"video_ids":[],"text_ids":[],"section_ids":[],"section_titles":[],"site_ids":[],"suggest_autocomplete_boosted":"Old Man with a Gold Chain","suggest_autocomplete_all":[{"input":["1922.4467"],"contexts":{"groupings":["accession"]}},{"input":["Old Man with a Gold Chain"],"weight":26864,"contexts":{"groupings":["title"]}}],"source_updated_at":"2026-05-21T10:59:13-05:00","updated_at":"2026-08-27T15:11:44-05:00","timestamp":"2026-09-01T19:05:10-05:00"},"info":{"license_text":"The `description` field in this response is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 Generic License (CC-By) and the Terms and Conditions of artic.edu. 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