Art Appreciation Lecture Series 2015 Meet the Masters: Highlights from the Scottish National Gallery
Rembrandt: A woman in bed
Richard Beresford
20 / 21 May 2015
Lecture summary:
A Woman in bed by Rembrandt is one of the great masterpieces of the Scottish National Gallery. The work is unique in Rembrandt’s career. He never produced another picture of the same or similar subject. There is no meaningfully related precedent in European art. Nor is there any later work we can point to as significantly influenced by this canvas. The work is not only unique, it also remains a complete mystery. 300 years of art historical investigation have failed to tie the picture down to a single meaning. As this lecture will argue (and as is often the case with the greatest of great art) the picture in fact owes its eloquence precisely to its lack of a clearly definable meaning. There are many examples in Rembrandt’s work where scholars find themselves immobilised, but those works are often the most transfixing. To the visitor who comes to such a picture with an open mind, it will respond in the language of shared human experience. Quite how Rembrandt achieves this is his mystery. It is something that we will perhaps understand a little better at the end of the lecture than at the beginning … perhaps not.
Slide list:
1. Rembrandt, A woman in bed, c1645, Scottish National Gallery, Edinburgh 2. Rembrandt, The Jewish bride, c1667, Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam 3. Rembrandt, The artist in his studio, c1629, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston 4. Pieter Lastman, Balaam and the ass, 1622, whereabouts unknown 5. Rembrandt, Balaam and the ass, 1626, Musée Cognac-Jay, Paris 6. Adam Elsheimer The stoning of St Stephen, c1603–04, Scottish National Gallery, Edinburgh 7. Rembrandt, The stoning of St Stephen, 1625, Musée des Beaux-Arts, Lyon 8. Jan Lievens, Self-portrait, c1629–30, Private collection 9. Jan Lievens, Portrait of Rembrandt, 1629(?), Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam 10. Jan Lievens, Portrait of Constantijn Huygens, c1627–30, Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam 11. Jan Lievens Young man in yellow, c1630–31, Scottish National Gallery, Edinburgh 12. Rembrandt, Self-portrait 1629, Alte Pinakothek, Munich 13. Gerrit Dou, Self-portrait, 1635–38, Cheltenham Art Gallery and Museum 14. Gerrit Dou, An interior with a young violinist, 1637, Scottish National Gallery, Edinburgh 15. Rubens, Self-portrait, 1623, National Gallery of Australia, on loan to the Art Gallery of New South Wales 16. Rembrandt, Self-portrait in a soft hat, 1631, etching and drypoint, British Museum 17. Rembrandt, Descent from the cross, 1633, Alte Pinakothek, Munich 18. Rubens, Descent from the cross, 1612–14, Cathedral of Our Lady, Antwerp 19. Rembrandt, The blinding of Samson, 1636, Städelsches Kunstinstitut, Frankfurt
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20. Rembrandt, The anatomy lesson of Dr Tulp, 1632, Mauritshuis, The Hague 21. After Rubens, The tribute money, engraving 22. Rembrandt, The militia company of Captain Frans Banning Cocq (‘The night watch’), 1642, Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam 23. Rembrandt, Portrait of Saskia van Uylenburgh, 1633, silverpoint on vellum, Staatliche Museen, Berlin 24. Rembrandt, Self-portrait as the prodigal son, c1635, Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister, Dresden 25. Rubens, Hero and Leander, c1605, Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister, Dresden 26. Rembrandt, Saskia as Flora, 1634, Hermitage, St Petersburg 27. Rembrandt, Saskia with a flower, 1641, Gemäldegalerie, Berlin 28. Titian, Portrait of Gerolamo (?) Barbarigo, c1510, National Gallery, London 29. Rembrandt, Self portrait at the age of 34, 1640, National Gallery, London 30. Rembrandt, A woman teaching a child to walk, c1635–37, British Museum 31. Rembrandt, Interior with Saskia in bed, c1639, pen and ink and wash, Lugt Foundation, Paris 32. Rembrandt, Death appearing to a wedded couple, 1639, etching, British Museum 33. Rembrandt, Holy Family, c1645, Hermitage, St Petersburg 34. Rembrandt, Saskia with one-of-her children, c1635 or c1637, red chalk, Courtauld Institute, London 35. Jean-Étienne Liotard, Portrait of François Tronchin, 1757 pastel, Cleveland Museum of Art 36. Rembrandt, A woman bathing, 1654, National Gallery, London 37. Rembrandt, Geertje Dircx(?), c1645, two drawings, Teylers Museum 38. Pieter Lastman, Wedding night of Tobias and Sara, 1611, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston 39. Rembrandt, A girl at a window, 1645, Dulwich Picture Gallery 40. Gerrit Dou, Woman playing a clavichord, c1665, Dulwich Picture Gallery 41. Rembrandt, The holy family with a cat, 1646, Schloss Wilhelmshöhe, Kassel 42. Rembrandt, The french bed, 1646, etching, British Museum 43. Rubens, Helena Fourment in a fur robe, 1636–38, Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna 44. Rembrandt, Seated female nude, 1631, British Museum 45. Richard Cooper II after Rembrandt, Woman in bed, 1781 46. Rembrandt, Andromeda chained to the rock, c1631, Mauritshuis, The Hague 47. Rembrandt, Susanna and the elders (detail), c1636, Mauritshuis, The Hague 48. Rembrandt, Bathsheba with King David's letter, 1654, Musée du Louvre, Paris
Reference:
White, Christopher, Rembrandt, Thames & Hudson, 1984, repr 1995
Lloyd Williams, Julia. Rembrandt's women (exh cat), Scottish National Gallery, Edinburgh / Royal Academy of Arts, London, 2001
Sluijter, Eric Jan. Rembrandt and the female nude, Amsterdam University Press, 2006
For access to all past lecture notes visit: http://www.artgallery.nsw.gov.au/members/current-members/member-events/meet-the-masters/