''The Standard Bearer'' is a three-quarter-length self-portrait by

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 ...

formerly in the Paris collection of

Elie de Rothschild Elie and Earlsferry is a coastal town and former royal burgh in Fife, and parish, Scotland, situated within the East Neuk beside Chapel Ness on the north coast of the Firth of Forth, eight miles east of Leven. The burgh comprised the linked ...

, and purchased by the

Rijksmuseum The Rijksmuseum () is the national museum of the Netherlands dedicated to Dutch arts and history and is located in Amsterdam. The museum is located at the Museum Square in the borough of Amsterdam South, close to the Van Gogh Museum, the St ...

for 175 million euros with assistance from the Dutch state and Vereniging Rembrandt in 2021. It was painted on the occasion of the artist's move from

Leiden Leiden (; in English and archaic Dutch also Leyden) is a city and municipality in the province of South Holland, Netherlands. The municipality of Leiden has a population of 119,713, but the city forms one densely connected agglomeration wit ...

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the Capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population ...

and is seen as an important early work that "shows Rembrandt's ambition to paint a group portrait for the Amsterdam

militia A militia () is generally an army or some other fighting organization of non-professional soldiers, citizens of a country, or subjects of a state, who may perform military service during a time of need, as opposed to a professional force of r ...

, at the time the most valued commission a painter could be awarded." Rembrandt's flag bearer has several copies in oil, and later prints may be from such copies, but this painting nevertheless has a provenance reaching far into the 18th-century. It was documented as a self-portrait by

Smith Smith may refer to: People * Metalsmith, or simply smith, a craftsman fashioning tools or works of art out of various metals * Smith (given name) * Smith (surname), a family name originating in England, Scotland and Ireland ** List of people wi ...

in 1836, who wrote:

Cornelis Hofstede de Groot Cornelis Hofstede de Groot (9 November 1863 – 14 April 1930), was a Dutch art collector, art historian and museum curator. Life He was born in Dwingeloo and spent some time in Switzerland in his youth due to weak lungs, where he learned Germ ...

agreed with him in 1914, but stopped short of calling it a self-portrait. He wrote:

2022 acquisition by the Netherlands

In 2019 the painting has been classified as a national treasure of France, so an export bar was in place for 30 months, while the

Louvre The Louvre ( ), or the Louvre Museum ( ), is the world's most-visited museum, and an historic landmark in Paris, France. It is the home of some of the best-known works of art, including the ''Mona Lisa'' and the ''Venus de Milo''. A central l ...

tried to raise funds to buy the painting. The museum was unable to do so and waived its right of first refusal for purchase. In December 2021, the Dutch state announced its intention to buy the work for the national collection. As result, the

Rothschild family The Rothschild family ( , ) is a wealthy Ashkenazi Jewish family originally from Frankfurt that rose to prominence with Mayer Amschel Rothschild (1744–1812), a court factor to the German Landgraves of Hesse-Kassel in the Free City of F ...

sold the painting to the Netherlands for €175 million in 2022. The Dutch government paid €150 million, while the Rembrandt Association and the

contributed a total of €25 million. It was bought from the Rothschild family, who had owned it since 1844, via a trust located in the tax haven of the

Cook Islands ) , image_map = Cook Islands on the globe (small islands magnified) (Polynesia centered).svg , capital = Avarua , coordinates = , largest_city = Avarua , official_languages = , lan ...

. ''The Standard Bearer'' is to tour every province in the Netherlands before going on display at the Rijksmuseum's Gallery of Honour. It was acquired during the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

amid media coverage of failing income for the Netherlands' cultural sector. The painting was shown at the Rijksmuseum in 2019 and had attracted the museum's interest since France agreed to let the painting leave the country. The painting wil tour to

Fries Museum The Fries Museum (Frisian Museum) is a museum in Leeuwarden, Netherlands. It has won the Global Fine Art Award which is sometimes nicknamed the Museum-Oscar. History (1881-2012) The museum was founded on 13 April 1881 by the "''Provincial Friesch ...

Leeuwarden Leeuwarden (; fy, Ljouwert, longname=yes /; Town Frisian: ''Liwwadden''; Leeuwarder dialect: ''Leewarden'') is a city and municipality in Friesland, Netherlands, with a population of 123,107 (2019). It is the provincial capital and seat of the ...

(May 2022),

Centraal Museum The Centraal Museum is the main museum in Utrecht, Netherlands, founded in 1838. The museum has a wide-ranging collection, mainly of works produced locally. The collection of the paintings by the Northern Mannerist Joachim Wtewael is by a lon ...

Utrecht Utrecht ( , , ) is the List of cities in the Netherlands by province, fourth-largest city and a List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality of the Netherlands, capital and most populous city of the Provinces of the Netherlands, pro ...

(June 2022), Stedelijk Museum Alkmaar (July 2022),

Drents Museum The Drents Museum () is an art and history museum in Assen, Drenthe, in the Netherlands. The museum was opened in 1854. It has a collection of prehistorical artifacts, applied art, and visual art. The museum also has temporary exhibitions. In 2 ...

Assen Assen () is a municipality and a city in the northeastern Netherlands, and is the capital (politics), capital of the province of Drenthe. It received City rights in the Netherlands, city rights in 1809. Assen is known for TT Circuit Assen, the ...

(August 2022), in

Almere Almere () is a Planned community, planned List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of Flevoland, Netherlands, located about 20 km ...

(September 2022), Het Noordbrabants Museum in

Den Bosch s-Hertogenbosch (), colloquially known as Den Bosch (), is a city and municipality in the Netherlands with a population of 157,486. It is the capital of the province of North Brabant and its fourth largest by population. The city is south of th ...

(October 2022),

Mauritshuis The Mauritshuis (; en, Maurice House) is an art museum in The Hague, Netherlands. The museum houses the Royal Cabinet of Paintings which consists of 854 objects, mostly Dutch Golden Age paintings. The collection contains works by Johannes Vermeer ...

The Hague The Hague ( ; nl, Den Haag or ) is a city and municipality of the Netherlands, situated on the west coast facing the North Sea. The Hague is the country's administrative centre and its seat of government, and while the official capital of ...

(November 2022),

Rijksmuseum Twenthe The Rijksmuseum Twenthe in Enschede, the Netherlands, was founded in 1927 by textile industry Baron Jan Bernard Van Heek. He donated his own private collection and the museum building to the government, thus making it a national museum. The muse ...

Enschede Enschede (; known as in the local Twents dialect) is a municipality and city in the eastern Netherlands in the province of Overijssel and in the Twente region. The eastern parts of the urban area reaches the border of the German city of Gronau ...

(December 2022),

Museum Arnhem Museum Arnhem (formerly known as Gemeentemuseum Arnhem and then Museum voor Moderne Kunst Arnhem) is a museum of modern art, contemporary art, applied art and design in Arnhem, Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_m ...

Arnhem Arnhem ( or ; german: Arnheim; South Guelderish: ''Èrnem'') is a city and municipality situated in the eastern part of the Netherlands about 55 km south east of Utrecht. It is the capital of the province of Gelderland, located on both banks of ...

(January 2023), in

Middelburg Middelburg may refer to: Places and jurisdictions Europe * Middelburg, Zeeland, the capital city of the province of Zeeland, southwestern Netherlands ** Roman Catholic Diocese of Middelburg, a former Catholic diocese with its see in the Zeeland ...

(February 2023), Bonnefantenmuseum in

Maastricht Maastricht ( , , ; li, Mestreech ; french: Maestricht ; es, Mastrique ) is a city and a municipality in the southeastern Netherlands. It is the capital and largest city of the province of Limburg. Maastricht is located on both sides of the ...

(March 2023) and

Groninger Museum The Groninger Museum () is an art museum in the city of Groningen in the Netherlands. The museum exhibits modern and contemporary art of local, national, and international artists. The museum opened in 1874. The current post-modernist building co ...

Groningen Groningen (; gos, Grunn or ) is the capital city and main municipality of Groningen province in the Netherlands. The ''capital of the north'', Groningen is the largest place as well as the economic and cultural centre of the northern part of t ...

(April 2023).

Notable copies

File:Rembrandt follower - The Flag Bearer.jpg, Version in Kassel File:Rembrandt studio - Copy of Standard-Bearer, P.A.B. Widener 2018 NYR 15654 0011.jpg, Version in Widener collection File:Ferdinand Bol - De Vaandeldrager, ca. 1636, British Museum.jpg, Version by

Ferdinand Bol Ferdinand Bol (24 June 1616 – 24 August 1680) was a Dutch painter, etcher and draftsman. Although his surviving work is rare, it displays Rembrandt's influence; like his master, Bol favored historical subjects, portraits, numerous self-port ...

File:Rembrandt van Rijn (1606-1669) (copy after) - The Standard-Bearer - 1439056 - National Trust.jpg, Version in

Philipps House Philipps House (until 1916 Dinton House) is an early nineteenth-century Neo-Grecian country house at Dinton, overlooking the Nadder valley about west of Salisbury, Wiltshire, England. The house was built in 1816 by William Wyndham to the de ...

The Standard Bearer
National Trust, Philipps House, Dinton, gift from Bertram Philipps, 1943 in

Art UK Art UK is a cultural, education charity in the United Kingdom, previously known as the Public Catalogue Foundation. Since 2003, it has digitised more than 220,000 paintings by more than 40,000 artists and is now expanding the digital collection t ...

File:Vaandeldrager, RP-P-1908-365.jpg, Mezzotint by Pieter Louw File:Johann Peter Pichler - Mezzotint nach Rembrandt 1791.jpg, Mezzotint by Johann Peter Pichler

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Standard Bearer (Rembrandt, 1636), The

Standard Standard may refer to: Symbols * Colours, standards and guidons, kinds of military signs * Standard (emblem), a type of a large symbol or emblem used for identification Norms, conventions or requirements * Standard (metrology), an object th ...

2021 in the Netherlands 1636 paintings Paintings in the collection of the Rijksmuseum

2022 acquisition by the Netherlands

Notable copies

See also

References