1631
oil
panel
From the collection of Art Institute of Chicago
Old Man with a Gold Chain is a 1631 oil by Rembrandt, a Baroque work, held at Art Institute of Chicago.
You see an old man in a fancy hat and gold chain, his face half-lit, half in shadow. This isn’t a portrait of someone real—it’s a *tronie*, a made-up character study. Rembrandt painted these to sell cheaply, dressing regular people in wild costumes to grab attention. The steel collar and gold chain look expensive, but the light on his wrinkled face feels real. Look up *chiaroscuro* to see how artists use light and dark like this.
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…
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…
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…
Read the full account in the museum source.
Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn (15 July 1606 – 4 October 1669), known mononymously as Rembrandt, was a Dutch Golden Age painter, printmaker, and draughtsman.
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