| Raising of the Cross | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Artist | Rembrandt  |
| Year | 1630s |
| Catalogue | Rembrandt catalogue raisonné, 1935, byAbraham Bredius: #564 |
| Medium | oil paint, panel |
| Subject | Raising of the Cross |
| Dimensions | 39 cm (15 in) × 30 cm (12 in) |
| Identifiers | RKDimages ID: 2929 |
Raising of the Cross (Dutch: Kruisoprichting) is a circa 1633-1645 painting by theDutch Golden Age painterRembrandt in the collection of theMuseum Bredius. It was assumed to have been painted as a study for Rembrandt'slarger painting of the same subject, as part of a series commissioned in 1633 byFrederick Henry, Prince of Orange. Having been rejected as autograph by theRembrandt Research Project afterAbraham Bredius's death, it was recently reattributed to the master by Jeroen Giltaij, thoughdendrochronology indicates the wood for the panel was not felled before 1642.[1]
This painting was documented as a study byHofstede de Groot in 1915, who wrote:
131. The Elevation of the Cross.Sm. 92. A study for theMunich picture (130). [" This masterly study, apparently for the preceding picture, is composed of a number of figures, among which is seen conspicuously the Saviour attached to the Cross, which several men are in the act of raising. An officer, mounted on a brown horse, with his back to the spectator, is on the left, and on the opposite side may be noticed a man stooping to take something from a basket. The gloom which prevails is partly relieved by a stream of light bursting from the midst of dark clouds. Painted in a free and spirited manner" (Sm.).]
Panel,15+1⁄2 inches by11+1⁄2 inches.Exhibited at the British Institution, London, 1834, No. 85.
Sale. SirCharles Bagot, London, June 17, 1836 (Brondgeest). "[2]
His entry was copied from Smith in 1836, who wrote:
92. The Elevation of the Cross. This masterly study, apparently for the preceding picture, is composed of a number of figures, among which is seen conspicuously the Saviour attached to the cross, which several men are in the act of raising. An officer, mounted on a brown horse, with his back to the spectator, is on the left, and on the opposite side may be noticed a man stooping to take something from a basket. The gloom which prevails is partially relieved by a stream of lioht bursting from the midst of dark clouds. Painted in a free and spirited manner.
1 ft.3+1⁄2 in. by11+1⁄2 in.— P.
Now in the collection of the Right Hon. Sir Charles Bagot, K.C.[3]
Abraham Bredius bought the painting in 1921 as a genuine Rembrandt and included it in his 1935 catalog raisonné.Kurt Bauch expressed doubts about the work, andHorst Gerson called it a ‘crude imitation, vaguely based on Rembrandt’.[4]
