''Suffer little children to come unto me'' or ''Let the Little Children Come to Me'', is a painting attributed to the Dutch painter

Rembrandt Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn (, ; 15 July 1606 – 4 October 1669), usually simply known as Rembrandt, was a Dutch Golden Age painter, printmaker and draughtsman. An innovative and prolific master in three media, he is generally consid ...

. The subject of the portrait is the

teaching of Jesus about little children Jesus' teachings referring to little children (, ''paidíon'') and infants/babies appear in several places in the New Testament and in the non-canonical Gospel of Thomas. New Testament The King James Version of Matthew's gospel ( chapter 18) rela ...

and it is estimated that Rembrandt painted it in Leiden in the 1620s.Art dealer Jan Six discovers another Rembrandt
in the Volkskrant, 14 September 2018 Rembrandt Lempertz-1029-1174-Old-Masters-and-19th-Century-Netherlandish-School-mid-17th-century-Let-the-Little-Children-C 8e28048ba4

Rembrandt Lempertz-1029-1174-Old-Masters-and-19th-Century-Netherlandish-School-mid-17th-century-Let-the-Little-Children-C 8e28048ba4

History

The painting was rediscovered by Dutch art dealer Jan Six in 2016. He is a direct descendant of

Jan Six Jan Six (14 January 1618, Amsterdam – 28 May 1700, Amsterdam) was an important cultural figure in the Dutch Golden Age. Biography From a well-to-do cloth merchant family Six, Jan Six was the son of Jean Six (1575–1617) and his wife Anna Wijme ...

, a 17th-century burgher who sat for one of Rembrandt’s most important paintings, ''

Portrait of Jan Six ''Portrait of Jan Six'' is a 1654 oil-on-canvas painting by the Dutch painter Rembrandt van Rijn. Having been handed down many generations, via the direct descendants of the portrait's subject, Jan Six, the work remains in the Six Collection in ...

''. The painting is dated to the 1620s and grouped under the growing list of paintings in Rembrandt's oeuvre known as his "juvenalia". It was kept secret pending investigation and restoration and was meant to be announced and introduced to the public at the opening of a Rembrandt exhibition at the

Museum De Lakenhal Museum De Lakenhal is the city museum of fine art and history in Leiden, Netherlands. One highlight is its collection of fijnschilder paintings from the Dutch Golden Age. Just like the city, the museum combines a classical appearance with a contemp ...

in Leiden, scheduled to open 1 November 2019, but rumors prevented insiders from keeping it secret. Six asked an investor to buy it at

Lempertz Lempertz is an art auction house in Cologne, Germany. Early years Lempertz's roots go back to 1802 when Johann Matthias Heberle (1775–1840) opened a printing company in Cologne in 1802, which was later expanded to include an “antiquarian an ...

auction for €1,525,000.Netherlandish School, ''Let the Little Children Come to Me''
oil on canvas, 122 x 104 cm Sold for €1,525,000 at Lempertz, Lot 1174, on 17th of May 2014 Estimate: 15,000 - 18,000 Euro The painting had previously been known and rejected by experts, though all were in agreement as to the large amount of overpainting and it was during removal of this overpaint that convincing details were revealed such as the color purple used for clothing. The subject and arrangement of figures was inspired by a 1619 work by

Pieter Lastman Pieter Lastman (1583–1633) was a Dutch language, Dutch painter. Lastman is considered important because of his work as a painter of history pieces and because his pupils included Rembrandt and Jan Lievens. In his paintings Lastman paid carefu ...

(formerly in Frederiksborg, lost in 1859 fire) and later formed the inspiration for another work previously attributed to Rembrandt and now listed as circa 1652 by his pupil

Nicolaes Maes Nicolaes Maes (January 1634December 1693 (buried 24 December 1693)) was a Dutch painter known for his genre scenes, portraits, religious compositions and the occasional still life. A pupil of Rembrandt in Amsterdam, he returned to work in his n ...

: File:Nicolaes Maes - Christ Blessing the Children - WGA13814.jpg, ''Christ Blessing the Children'', by Nicolaes Maes The painting includes a self portrait of the young Rembrandt, a portrait of his mother, and other motifs known through his history paintings: File:Rembrandt's mother Lempertz-1029-1174-Old-Masters-and-19th-Century-Netherlandish-School-mid-17th-century-Let-the-Little-Children-C 8e28048ba4 (cropped).jpg, Rembrandt's mother (detail) File:Rembrandt-Young-children-detail.jpg, Youthful Rembrandt (detail) Other history paintings by Rembrandt from the 1620s also show a man in shadow wearing a turban in profile: File:David con la cabeza de Goliat delante de Saúl, por Rembrandt.jpg, ''David with the head of Goliath before Saul'', 1627 File:Rembrandt Harmensz. van Rijn 150.jpg, ''The Stoning of St. Stephen'', 1625

References

External links

Lot 1174, 17 May 2014
Lempertz {{Rembrandt Suffer 1620s paintings Religious paintings Paintings of children Paintings depicting Jesus

History

See also

References

External links