''Christ with a Staff'' or ''St James the Less'' is a painting by a follower of

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 ...

, now in the Metropolitan Museum of Art. It was also known as ''Christ'' in 1854 and exhibited in 1933 as ''The Pilgrim''. The picture is in Rembrandt's style of the 1660s and may have been painted in his workshop. Whilst the brushwork certainly imitates his unique style, some scholars have suggested that its manner of execution is similar to that of Arent de Gelder (1645–1727), one of his latter pupils. In 1661 Rembrandt made a series of paintings of the apostles, including ''

Self-Portrait as the Apostle Paul ''Self-portrait as the Apostle Paul'' ( nl, Zelfportret als de apostel Paulus) is one of over 40 painted self-portraits by Rembrandt, painted in 1661 by the Dutch artist Rembrandt. It is now in the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam. See also * List of pa ...

''; these may have influenced this work. In an image by the copper-plate engraver Schelte a Bolswert, after a drawing by

Gerard Seghers Gerard SeghersGerard Seghers
at the

Christopher Bethell-Codrington Christopher Bethell-Codrington (until 1797 known as Christopher Codrington; October 1764 – 4 February 1843) was a British politician, planter and amateur cricket player who served as a MP in the British Parliament. In 1792, he inherited from ...

. When his estate was auctioned on 12 May 1843 it was sold for £252 to the art dealer Christianus Johannes Nieuwenhuys. On 11 December 1854 it was sold at auction for 13,000 francs to count Raczyński from the collection of Baron de Mecklembourg in Paris. In 1898 it was owned by

Edward Aleksander Raczyński Count Edward Aleksander Raczyński (1847–1926) was a Polish nobleman, landowner, patron of the arts, and founder of the Raczyński Art Gallery in Rogalin.Jerzy Pietrzak (1986) Edward Aleksander Raczyński.Polski Słownik Biograficzny. Biograph ...

in Poznań. A year after his death it was sold for $150,000 to Duveen Brothers, an art dealer, who resold it later that year to

Jules Bache Jules Semon Bache (November 9, 1861 – March 24, 1944) was an American banker, art collector and philanthropist. Early life Julius Bache was born to a Jewish family in New York City. His father, Semon Bache

é Bach É, é ( e-acute) is a letter of the Latin alphabet. In English, it is used for loanwords (such as French ''résumé''), romanization (Japanese ''Pokémon'') or occasionally as a pronunciation aid in poetry. Languages may use ''é'' to indic ...

(1826–1891), emigrate ...

in New York for $300,000. Bache left it to its present owner.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Christ with a Staff 1660s paintings Paintings of Jesus Paintings by Rembrandt Paintings in the Metropolitan Museum of Art