Left: Rembrandt van Rijn, Portrait of Marten Soolmans, 1634. Oil paint on canvas; Rijksmuseum Amsterdam: Joint acquisition by the Dutch State and the French Republic, collection Rijksmuseum/collection Musée du Louvre, SK-A-5033. Right: Rembrandt van Rijn, Portrait of Marten Soolmans, 1634. Oil paint on canvas; Rijksmuseum Amsterdam: Joint acquisition by the Dutch State and the French Republic, collection Rijksmuseum/collection Musée du Louvre, SK-A-5033.
Rembrandt’s 1634 Wedding Portraits of Marten Soolmans and Oopjen Coppit
The spectacular acquisition in 2016 of Rembrandt van Rijn’s wedding portraits of Marten Soolmans and Oopjen Coppit by the Netherlands (Rijksmuseum) and France (Musée du Louvre), led to a unique collaboration. For 18 months, painting conservators, researchers and scientists of the Rijksmuseum and the Musée du Louvre and the Centre for Research and Restoration of the Museums of France (C2RMF) worked together on the research and treatment of these monumental paintings.
To aid in the interpretation of their painting technique in preparation for the Rijksmuseum’s comprehensive Dutch Paintings catalog, the paintings underwent further research in 2024. In addition to macro-X-ray fluorescence imaging, which had been carried out in 2016, a range of advanced imaging techniques were employed, including, reflectance imaging spectroscopy (RIS) in the visible to near-infrared (VNIR) and short wavelength infrared (SWIR) spectral regions, along with paint cross-section analysis and close examination of the paint surface.
This lecture will present the latest findings on Rembrandt’s innovative painting techniques employed in these exceptional portraits created at the height of his early Amsterdam career, as well as the challenges and decisions involved in their conservation treatment.
About the Speaker: Petria Noble is a specialist in seventeenth century Dutch paintings and one of the leading experts in the technical analysis of Rembrandt paintings. She is former Head of Paintings Conservation at the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam and the Mauritshuis in The Hague. She has spent more than 30 years treating and researching paintings by Rembrandt van Rijn and has published widely on material aspects of Rembrandt paintings.
This lecture has been supported by a grant from the Samuel H. Kress Foundation.
