To mark the 350th anniversary of the artist's death, Warsaw’s Royal Castle on Saturday kicked off the “36 x Rembrandt” exhibition.
In an attempt to give two of the three Rembrandt paintings from the Castle collection – The Scholar at the Lectern and The Girl in a Picture Frame their proper rank, they have been made the centrepiece of the exhibition. Particularly the latter painting is deemed a masterpiece of 17th-century trompe-l’oeil technique, produced at the peak of the author’s creative power. Originally painted in 1641, The Girl in a Picture Frame came to Poland in 1771 when Polish King Stanisław August Poniatowski bought it as a pair with the “Scholar”. It’s authorship was for long questioned until it was finally confirmed by the Rembrandt Research Project in 2006.
The paintings are accompanied by Rembrandt's 31 graphic works and 3 drawings from Polish collections which embrace a broad scale of themes, ranging through genre from biblical scenes to nudes. Put together, the items on display create a group of the artist’s 36 original works, hence the title of the exhibition. 36 x Rembrandt at Warsaw’s Royal Castle will run until November 3.
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Source: PAP, IAR