Artifact World Gallery
Get the iOS app

Portrait of a Man with a Breastplate and Plumed Hat by Rembrandt

Rembrandt · 1640-01-01

In December 2008, as global markets were collapsing, Rembrandt's Portrait of a Man with a Breastplate and Plumed Hat (1640) sold at Christie's London for 20.2 million pounds. The auction lasted just a few minutes. Two phone bidders pushed the price past the estimate, and the painting went to an American buyer whose identity stayed secret for months.

Look at the young man's face. Rembrandt built it with a raking highlight that carves the cheekbone from shadow, pooling darkness beneath the brow so the eyes feel contained and interior. The only warm saturated colour in the whole composition is the red feathered hat held loosely in his left hand, a sign of courtly ease, not battlefield readiness.

The buyer was Sheldon Adelson, the Las Vegas casino magnate. In 2017 he sold it privately, reportedly for less than he paid. The sale was partly orchestrated by a French art advisor later convicted of fraud and money laundering. The painting's current owner is unknown. It remains one of the very few major Rembrandt portraits from the 1640s not held by a museum. Where it hangs now is anyone's guess.

Details

The sitter's face emerges from total darkness.
The sitter's face emerges from total darkness.
A steel gorget at his throat signals officer rank.
A steel gorget at his throat signals officer rank.
His eyes hold a sober self-possession.
His eyes hold a sober self-possession.
Soft flowing curls fashionable among young Dutch gentlemen of the 1640s; Rembrandt renders individual locks against the dark ground with a few deft, loaded highlights , technique worth isolating
Soft flowing curls fashionable among young Dutch gentlemen of the 1640s; Rembrandt renders individual locks against the dark ground with a few deft, loaded highlights , technique worth isolating
A focused warm highlight precisely defines the cheek plane; the razor-thin transition from highlight to mid-tone to shadow here is the single best passage to demonstrate Rembrandt's technique to a camera
A focused warm highlight precisely defines the cheek plane; the razor-thin transition from highlight to mid-tone to shadow here is the single best passage to demonstrate Rembrandt's technique to a camera
Transcript

In 2008, a Rembrandt portrait appeared at auction in London. It sold for 20 million pounds. The sitter's face emerges from total darkness. A steel gorget at his throat signals officer rank. His eyes hold a sober self-possession. The buyer was not a museum. It was a casino billionaire. Nine years later, he sold it to a private collector for a loss. This is one of the last major Rembrandt portraits not inside a museum.