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The Descent from the Cross
Rembrandt Workshop (Probably Constantijn van Renesse)·1650/1652
Historical Context
The Descent from the Cross, attributed to Constantijn van Renesse within the Rembrandt Workshop and dated 1650–1652, belongs to the sustained engagement of the Rembrandt circle with Passion subjects in the mature period. Van Renesse was a student of Rembrandt who is known from the master's corrections to his drawings, and the attribution to him of this ambitious panel reflects the collaborative nature of the workshop's production. The Descent — the lowering of Christ's body from the cross by Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus — was among the most emotionally intense of the Passion narrative subjects, demanding the artist depict both the physical weight of the dead body and the grief of those who bore it. The Rembrandtian tradition brought to this subject an almost theatrical sense of the sacred made physically present.
Technical Analysis
The composition concentrates dramatic focus on the illuminated figure of Christ being lowered against the darkness, the torch-lit night scene creating a characteristic Rembrandtian contrast of intense warm light against deep shadow. The figures' physical effort is rendered with convincing bodily weight.
Provenance
Harriet, viscountess Hampden [née Burton, 1751-1829], London;[1] (her estate sale, Christie & Manson, London, 19 April 1834 [originally 18 April], no. 83); Fuller. John A. Beaver, Green Heys, Lancashire; (his sale, T. Winstanley and Sons [of Liverpool], Manchester, 15-16 and 18 April 1840, no. 87, bought in); (his sale, Christie & Manson, London, 20 June 1840, no. 102, bought in). Probably William Parker [died 1856], Skirwith Abbey, Cumberland; by inheritance to Edward Wilson Parker [1853-1932], Skirwith Abbey;[2] (sale, Christie, Manson & Woods, London, 2 July 1909, no. 99); (F. Kleinberger & Co., Paris); sold to Fritz von Gans [1833-1920], Frankfurt-am-Main, by 1915.[3] (Bachstitz, The Hague), by 1921;[4] inheritance from Estate of Peter A.B. Widener by gift through power of appointment of Joseph E. Widener, Elkins Park, Pennsylvania, after purchase 1922 by funds of the estate; gift 1942 to NGA. [1] It is possible that the painting was originally in the collection of the viscountess' father-in-law, Robert Hampden Trevor (1706-1783), 1st viscount Hampden, who was British minister at The Hague. He was succeeded by his elder son, Thomas, 2nd viscount (1746-1824), and then by the viscountess' husband, John, 3rd viscount (1748-1824). [2] William Parker was one of four nephews who were left large fortunes by their uncle, Robert Parker, of Manchester. An invoice to William Parker from the Manchester framemaker Joseph Zanetti, dated 20 October 1841, mentions the “cleaning and repairing [of a] large fluted frame for picture by Rembrandt.” Correspondence between Christie’s and Edward Parker’s solicitors just prior to the July 1909 sale indicates that Parker had inherited the paintings. (Records of the Parker family of Skirwith Abbey, Warwick Hall, and Newbiggin Hall; Cumbria Record Office, Carlisle; WD PKR, box 2, bundle 14, document 213; WD PKR, box 4, bundle 18, documents 4-6, 8, 11-12; copies in NGA curatorial files.) [3] Cornelis Hofstede de Groot, _Beschreibendes und kritisches Verzeichnis der Werke der hervorragendsten holländischen Maler des XVII. Jahrhunderts_, 10 vols., Esslingen, 1907-1928: 6(1915):81-82, no. 133. [4] The Bachstitz Gallery, preface by G. Gronau, 3 vols., Berlin, 1921: 1:5, pl. 31.
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