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Rediscovered Rembrandt Portraits May Be the Artist's Smallest Paintings

[Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn, portraits of Jan van der Pluym and Jaapgen Caerlsdr (1635), oil on panel, each 7-7/8" x 6-1/2" (all photos by Olivier Middendorp, courtesy Rijksmuseum)]

From Hyperallergic:

A tiny pair of oval paintings of an older couple from Rembrandt's family circle are now displayed for the first time in nearly 200 years.

Emerging from private holdings for the first time in nearly two centuries, a rediscovered pair of Rembrandt portraits is now on a long-term loan for public display at the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam.

At nearly eight inches tall each, the portraits of Jan Willemsz van der Pluym and his wife Jaapgen Caerlsdr, whose son married the artist's cousin, are said to be the smallest formal paintings (excluding studies) the Old Master ever created.

Created in 1635, the ovular paintings on panel remained in the family for over a hundred years until they were auctioned by the children of the couple's great-great-grandson in 1760 following his death.

The works passed through a few European nobles' collections and were last sold in 1824 through Christie’s London to a private collection in the United Kingdom where they remained up until last summer.

The auction house was consulted to sell the works again, and the pair was acquired by Henry Holtman for $14 million on July 6, 2023.

Scholars believe Jan Willemsz van der Pluym was awealthy plumber from the Dutch city of Leiden who married Jaapgen Caerlsdr in 1591.

Their only son, Dominicus van der Pluym, married Rembrandt's first cousin on his mother's side, Cornelia van Suytbroeck.

Dominicus and Cornelia's son, artist Karel van der Pluym, is thought to have apprenticed under Rembrandt and is recognized as the artist's only heir.

[The little portraits of Jan and Jaapgen were outfitted with new frames before joining other Rembrandt paintings on display in Gallery 2.8 at the Rijksmuseum.]

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