RKD STUDIES

The starting point for any catalogue raisonné of drawings in this area is the identification of a core group. There are generally two types of works in a core group: the drawing with a reliable signature or other kind of inscription linking it to the artist, and the drawing with a very strong link to a secure painting, print, or other drawing. Self-portraits used to belong to this category as well, but it has become increasingly evident that Rembrandt and his circle of pupils and friends sometimes made portraits of each other as well. At least one attribution on this basis has withstood scrutiny however, and can be added to the core group, which consists of:

Nineteen of these had already been lined up by Sumowski, and since then Michiel Roscam Abbing was able to add one more to this list, with the sheet in an album amicorum in the Royal Library in The Hague, of 1650 [21]. Seventeen of these drawings can be dated early, between 1646 and 1653, forming a dense cluster. Based on direct comparisons to these core works, Sumowski attributed nearly all of the remaining drawings in his volumes. Many of the new attributions had previously been given to Rembrandt, but most of these had already drawn scholarly doubt. In some cases, attributions to Van Hoogstraten, Nicolaes Maes (1634-1693), or Carel Fabritius (1622-1654) had already been ventured.

A link to a finished painting provides a strong basis for several attributions as well. One of the drawn studies of Salmacis and Hermaphroditus had already been assigned stylistically to Van Hoogstraten even before his painting of the theme (now in the Leiden Collection) was rediscovered, something that opens the door here to the identification of the two other sheets, in Rotterdam and Oslo [22][23][24][25]. For the early paintings of The adoration of the shepherds and The risen Christ appearing to his apostles there are multiple drawings, but there are also signed drawings to anchor these clusters. Other connections require interpretation. The drawing of the Christ sinking beneath the cross bears some relation to the later painting Christ's consolation of the Women of Jerusalem during the carrying of the cross, but does not have a direct preparatory link and was attributed stylistically; the same also applies to a drawing of The Resurrection and the painting in Chicago [26][27]. Curiously, for his treatise of 1678 there is only one known surviving drawing (in addition to one painting), of the Muse Erato, for the corresponding chapter title page [19]. It seems likely that there were more, which have since been lost.

From the large group of secure and attributed drawings, a number of stylistic elements particular to Van Hoogstraten emerge. This facilitates a limited number of attributions of works that otherwise diverge in subject matter, including a cityscape, several landscapes, and even two memorable studio scenes that likely reflect study and work under Rembrandt.

In turn, various scholars, including Holm Bevers for instance, have brought such criteria to bear on Sumowski’s attributions, in deciding against Van Hoogstraten’s authorship.¹ This is only a small percentage however, compared to the larger number of problematic attributions of paintings: the present study questions only four further sheets.² Of great significance for the critical review of the attributions by various scholars was the participation of a large panel of scholars in an Expert Meeting: Rob Fucci, Ilona van Tuinen, William Robinson, Yvonne Bleyerveld, Leonore van Sloten, Céçile Tainturier, Olenka Horbatsch, Marleen Ram, Celeste Brusati, Susan Anderson and Maud van Suylen. This does not mean that all of these scholars endorse all of the attributions put forward in this study. In cases of disagreement, we have sought to represent the divergent opinions in notes accompanying the individual records in this catalogue.

21
Samuel van Hoogstraten
Three demons and the coat of arms of the family Van Hoogstraten, dated 1650
The Hague, KB nationale bibliotheek (Den Haag), inv./cat.nr. 129F6

22
attributed to Samuel van Hoogstraten
Salmacis and Hermaphroditus (Ovid, Met. IV, 285), c. 1655
Rotterdam, Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen, inv./cat.nr. R.56

23
Samuel van Hoogstraten
Salmacis en Hermaphroditus, ca. 1671-1676
New York City, The Leiden Collection, inv./cat.nr. SH-101