Old Woman with Fur Cap

Dated to 1630, the painting was created while Dou was still working in Rembrandt's studio in Leiden, prior to Rembrandt's departure for Amsterdam in 1631. The work eventually entered the collection of the Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, where it resides in the Gemaeldegalerie. While the specific ownership chain and accession details for this panel are not fully documented in early records, the broader historical reception of Dou's works featuring this model is well established. Similar portraits of this old woman, such as the Old Woman Reading now in the Rijksmuseum, were historically presented as works by Rembrandt depicting his mother, a designation accepted until the end of the 19th century. By 1901, scholars like Wilhelm Martin began correctly reattributing such works to Dou based on stylistic characteristics, leading to the proper identification of the Berlin panel.

Gerrit Dou became Rembrandt's first pupil in 1628, studying under him in Leiden until about 1631. During this period, Dou adopted Rembrandt's choice of subject matter, dramatic lighting, and careful draftsmanship, as seen in Old Woman with Fur Cap. After Rembrandt left Leiden, Dou's style gradually shifted away from his teacher's impasto toward a highly refined technique, establishing him as the progenitor of the Leiden fijnschilders, or fine painters. This school, active from around 1630 to 1710, concentrated on a minute style of painting depicting daily life with extraordinary precision. Dou's dedication to perfection was legendary; he worked extremely slowly, made his own paints and brushes, and applied finely ground paint in multiple thin layers. His paintings became highly sought after by collectors, making him one of the top-earning artists in Europe, even though his demanding process eventually led him to stop taking portrait commissions.

As an early work, Old Woman with Fur Cap stands as a vital record of the artistic exchange between Rembrandt and his first pupil, capturing the moment before their styles diverged. The broader tradition of misidentifying the model as Rembrandt's mother persisted for centuries, culminating in exhibitions like the 2005 show Rembrandt's Mother, Myth and Reality at Museum De Lakenhal in Leiden, which sought to disentangle the historical reality from the myth. Dou's legacy, anchored by his early Rembrandtesque portraits and later domestic genre scenes, profoundly influenced subsequent generations. His pupils and followers, including Frans van Mieris the Elder and Gabriel Metsu, continued the fijnschilder tradition well into the 18th century. While his laboriously perfected style eventually drew criticism for becoming tedious in the hands of his imitators, his works remain marvels of refinement and technical virtuosity.