Rembrandt Returns Home

On February 21, the exhibition “Rembrandt at the Galleria Corsini: The Self-Portrait as Saint Paul” was inaugurated in the beautiful setting of the National Gallery of Ancient Art in Rome.

Rembrandt’s self-portrait, around which the exhibition revolves, has had a tumultuous history. The letters, estimates, and original legal documents (now preserved at the Corsini Archive in San Casciano) will support us on this journey, revealing the intimate relationship between the work now housed at the Rijksmuseum and the Corsini family.

 

Rembrandt’s Self-Portrait as Saint Paul

Let’s start from the beginning.

Rembrandt created the Self-Portrait in 1661, signing and dating it. The artist from Leiden represented himself in 80 different paintings throughout his life, but this work is the only one in which he appears in the biblical robes of Saint Paul. We can see the iconographic symbols of the saint: the sword and the book of epistles.

Thanks to the inscription “n.123” on the back of the canvas, it has been possible to trace the first owner of the painting: the banker Everhard Jabach, one of the most important German collectors. The painting was then purchased by Nicolas Vieughels in 1725, who moved to Rome as the Director of the French Academy, bringing the painting with him.

 

Rembrandt’s Self-Portrait and the Corsini

 

Upon Vieughels’ death, his wife put the painting up for sale. It was then that Cardinal Neri Maria Corsini decided to purchase it to enrich the collection of Palazzo Corsini on Lungara.

But what is the connection between Rembrandt and the Corsini?

The Corsini were great enthusiasts of the works of the Dutch artist, and during a trip to Holland in 1667, Marquis Filippo Corsini met Rembrandt in person. His son Neri Maria shared the same passion and over the years acquired many works and prints by the artist.

By the end of the 1800s, the Corsini had more than 200 etchings by Rembrandt: twelve prints can be admired during the exhibition visit, and others are preserved at the National Institute of Graphics in Rome.

 

1799 and the Napoleonic Looting

Rembrandt’s self-portrait remained within the Corsini walls for 71 long years, until 1799. These were terrible years during the Napoleonic occupation, years of looting of the entire artistic heritage of the city of Rome.

Many Roman families were forced to sell their collections due to the high taxes imposed by the French. The Corsini family also found themselves involved in this tragic situation.

Prince Tommaso Corsini took refuge in Sicily to escape the French, leaving the family estate in the hands of the house steward Ludovico Radice, a sort of administrator and custodian of the family assets.

 

The French threatened and imprisoned Radice, who proposed to the Prince to sell part of the family’s artistic heritage to meet the taxes. Tommaso Corsini did not agree; he was opposed to selling his collection and would defend it at any cost.

However, Radice decided to disregard the agreements made with the Prince and contacted a painter, Stefano Tofanelli, to have part of the paintings appraised.

 

The total value of the estimated paintings amounted to 6050 scudi, but the art dealer Luigi Mirri bought them all for only 3500 scudi. The paintings that received the highest appraisal (1000 scudi) were Herodias by Guido Reni and the portrait of Julius II, then attributed to Raphael, while Rembrandt’s Self-Portrait was valued at only 100 scudi.

With the end of the Roman Republic, Prince Tommaso returned to Rome and, upon learning of the sale, sought in every way to recover the paintings.

The prince even initiated a lawsuit against Mirri to reclaim the works, and everything concluded on January 22, 1800, with an agreement. Tommaso Corsini repurchased from Mirri only 9 of the 25 paintings, for a total of 2100 scudi. The Salome by Guido Reni, the Portrait of Julius II, and the Madonna by Murillo returned to the Galleria Corsini. However, among the 9 paintings returned to the palace was not Rembrandt’s Self-Portrait.

 

The Painting from London to Amsterdam

Rembrandt’s work remained in the hands of Luigi Mirri.

In the exhibition, you can observe the two engravings commissioned by the dealer to promote the sale of the Self-Portrait. The first print, dated 1799, was made by the renowned Lombard artist Giuseppe Longhi specifically for “advertising” purposes.

It was then that the self-portrait ended up in the hands of the main English dealers active in Rome, from William Young Ottley to Robert Fagan, from James Irvine to William Buchanan. The latter brought it to England in 1807, as noted on a label on the back of the painting.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Charles Kinnaird purchased it in London and commissioned the artist Charles Turner for the second “advertising engraving” of the painting to resell it. Only in 1936 did the Kinnaird heirs sell the Self-Portrait to the de Bruijin couple, who in 1960 bequeathed it to the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam, where it is still preserved today.

Our journey of 221 years concludes just as it began, with the exhibition “Rembrandt at the Galleria Corsini: The Self-Portrait as Saint Paul” at the Galleria Corsini, the home that has cherished it for almost a century.

We remind you that it is open until September 30, 2020 and you can find it in preview on Artsupp.