Portrait of the Artist Jacob de Gheyn

Catalogue number: Bredius 162.

The portrait of Jacob (Jacques) de Gheyn (1596-1641), known as Jacob de Gheyn III because he was the son and grandson of artists of the same name, was painted as a near-companion piece to one of Maurits Huygens (1595-1642), now in the Kunsthalle, Hamburg. The two men were close friends living in The Hague, where Huygens was Secretary to the Council of State, an administrative body under the States-General of the Republic. De Gheyn, like his father and grandfather, was a painter and draughtsman, though not a very prolific one, apparently because he had inherited wealth.

The two portraits were almost certainly painted by Rembrandt during a visit to The Hague, and it is likely that Rembrandt was already acquainted with the sitters. A still more important member of the circle for Rembrandt was Huygens' younger brother, Constantijn Huygens (1596-1687), Secretary to the Stadholder Prince Frederick-Hendrik; he was a lover of the arts and literature and had warmly praised Rembrandt's work on a visit to his Leiden studio in 1629. When Jacob de Gheyn died in 1641, he bequeathed Rembrandt's portrait of him to Maurits Huygens, as an affectionate inscription on the back of the panel testifies.

The two portraits are unusual in Rembrandt's work in being under life-size. The painting in the Dulwich Picture Gallery has been stolen numerous times, and its size is one factor that has contributed to its numerous thefts.