1637 (ca.), Rembrandt van Rijn, Portrait of a Man Holding a Black Hat -- Hammer Museum (Los Angeles)
From the museum label:
Rembrandt settled in Amsterdam in 1631 and soon became that city's most venerated portrait painter, thanks in part to his association with the prominent Dutch art dealer Hendrick van Uylenburgh. Although the identity of the man in this painting remains unknown, it is evident that he is a member of upper-class Amsterdam society or a foreign aristocrat who was in the Dutch city during the 1630s, a time when Rembrandt's reputation was at its peak.
Historian Simon Schama has noted about this painting: "While he went out of his way to make the sumptuous details of costume exquisitely tangible, Rembrandt must also have appreciated that he was still required to pay attention to an overall impression of modesty and self-control. Hence the hat. Grasped by both hands, it makes the sitter appear caught on the verge between his private and public self (as if either about to make an exit or having just made an entrance), and its simplicity is in appealing, almost homely contrast to the heroic glamour of his coat."
1637 (ca.), Rembrandt van Rijn, Portrait of a Man Holding a Black Hat -- Hammer Museum (Los Angeles)
From the museum label:
Rembrandt settled in Amsterdam in 1631 and soon became that city's most venerated portrait painter, thanks in part to his association with the prominent Dutch art dealer Hendrick van Uylenburgh. Although the identity of the man in this painting remains unknown, it is evident that he is a member of upper-class Amsterdam society or a foreign aristocrat who was in the Dutch city during the 1630s, a time when Rembrandt's reputation was at its peak.
Historian Simon Schama has noted about this painting: "While he went out of his way to make the sumptuous details of costume exquisitely tangible, Rembrandt must also have appreciated that he was still required to pay attention to an overall impression of modesty and self-control. Hence the hat. Grasped by both hands, it makes the sitter appear caught on the verge between his private and public self (as if either about to make an exit or having just made an entrance), and its simplicity is in appealing, almost homely contrast to the heroic glamour of his coat."