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Title:Man in a Beret
Artist:Style of Rembrandt (Dutch, fourth quarter 17th century)
Medium:Oil on canvas
Dimensions:29 7/8 x 24 3/4 in. (75.9 x 62.9 cm)
Classification:Paintings
Credit Line:Gift of Charles S. Payson, 1975
Object Number:1975.373
Robert Stayner Holford, Dorchester House, London (by 1854–d. 1892); his son, Sir George Lindsay Holford, Westonbirt, Tetbury, Gloucestershire (1892–d. 1926; cats., 1924, no. 93, as by Rembrandt; 1927, vol. 2, no. 129; his estate sale, Christie's, London, May 17–18, 1928, no. 33); [Knoedler, London and New York, 1928; sold for $248,250 to Payson]; Mr. and Mrs. Charles S. Payson, New York (1928–her d. 1975); Charles S. Payson, New York (1975)
London. British Institution. 1862, no. 15 (as "Portrait of a Dutch Gentleman," by Rembrandt, lent by R. S. Holford).
London. British Institution. 1867, no. 75 (as "Head of a Man," by Rembrandt, lent by R. S. Holford).
London. Royal Academy of Arts. "Winter Exhibition," January–March 1893, no. 50 (as "Portrait of the Painter's Son, Titus," by Rembrandt, lent by G. L. Holford).
Amsterdam. Stedelijk Museum. "Rembrandt Schilderijen," September 8–October 31, 1898, no. 107 (as "Portret van een jong mensch, ook gehouden voor Titus van Rijn," lent by Captain Holford).
London. Royal Academy of Arts. "Winter Exhibition," 1899, no. 82 (as "Portrait of Titus," by Rembrandt, lent by Captain G. L. Holford).
London. Burlington Fine Arts Club. "Pictures and Other Objects of Art Selected from the Collections of Mr. Holford," 1921–22, no. 33 (as "Portrait of Titus van Rijn," by Rembrandt).
Paris. Musée de l'Orangerie. "Exposition hollandaise: Tableaux, aquarelles et dessins anciens et modernes," April–May 1921, no. 42 (as "Titus," lent by Sir George L. Holford).
London. Royal Academy of Arts. "Exhibition of Dutch Art 1450–1900," January 4–March 9, 1929, no. 125 (as "Portrait of Titus van Rijn, Son of the Artist [1641–68]," lent by M. Knoedler & Co.).
Detroit Institute of Arts. "Thirteenth Loan Exhibition of Old Masters: Paintings by Rembrandt," May 2–31, 1930, no. 61 (as "Rembrandt's Son Titus," by Rembrandt, lent by Mrs. Charles S. Payson, New York).
New York. World's Fair. "Masterpieces of Art: European Paintings and Sculpture from 1300–1800," May–October 1939, no. 305 (as "Titus, Son of Rembrandt," by Rembrandt, lent by Mrs. Charles S. Payson, New York).
New York. World's Fair. "Masterpieces of Art: European & American Paintings, 1500–1900," May–October 1940, no. 87 (as "Portrait of a Young Man with a Cleft Chin," by Rembrandt, lent by Mrs. Charles S. Payson, New York).
New York. Duveen Galleries. "Paintings by the Great Dutch Masters of the Seventeenth Century," October 8–November 7, 1942, no. 48 (as "Titus, Son of Rembrandt," by Rembrandt, lent by Mrs. Charles S. Payson, New York).
New York. Wildenstein. "Loan Exhibition of Rembrandt," January 19–February 25, 1950, no. 19 (as "Portrait of a Young Man," lent by Mrs. Charles S. Payson).
New Haven. Yale University Art Gallery. "Pictures Collected by Yale Alumni," May 8–June 18, 1956, no. 10 (as "Portrait of Titus [Young Man with Cleft Chin]," lent by Mr. and Mrs. Charles S. Payson).
Amsterdam. Rijksmuseum. "Rembrandt Tentoonstelling," May 18–August 5, 1956, no. 79 (as "Portret van een Jonge Man," lent by Mr. and Mrs. Charles S. Payson, New York).
Rotterdam. Museum Boymans. "Rembrandt Tentoonstelling," August 8–October 21, 1956, no. 79.
New Haven. Yale University Art Gallery. "Paintings, Drawings, and Sculpture Collected by Yale Alumni," May 19–June 26, 1960, no. 13 (as "Portrait of Titus," by Rembrandt, lent by Mr. and Mrs. Charles S. Payson).
New York. Wildenstein & Co., Inc. "Masterpieces: A Memorial Exhibition for Adele R. Levy," April 6–May 7, 1961, no. 19 (as "Portrait of Titus," by Rembrandt, lent by Mrs. Charles S. Payson).
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Rembrandt/Not Rembrandt in The Metropolitan Museum of Art," October 10, 1995–January 7, 1996, no. 40.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "The Age of Rembrandt: Dutch Paintings in The Metropolitan Museum of Art," September 18, 2007–January 6, 2008, no catalogue.
[Gustav Friedrich] Waagen. Treasures of Art in Great Britain. London, 1854, vol. 2, p. 200, as a male portrait by Rembrandt in the Holford collection.
Emile Michel. Rembrandt: His Life, His Work, and His Time. English ed. New York, 1894, vol. 2, p. 236, calls it a portrait of Titus van Rijn and dates it about 1660.
C[ornelis]. Hofstede de Groot. De Rembrandt Tentoonstelling te Amsterdam. Amsterdam, [1898], unpaginated, no. 107.
Malcolm Bell. Rembrandt van Rijn and His Work. London, 1899, pp. 84, 147, as "a portrait of a grave young man supposed to be "Titus,'" about 1660.
Wilhelm [von] Bode with the assistance of C. Hofstede de Groot. The Complete Work of Rembrandt. Vol. 6, Paris, 1901, pp. 18, 122, no. 445, pl. 445, as "Titus in a Black Cap with a Budding Moustache," in the Holford collection, London; dates it about 1658.
E. W. Moes. Iconographia Batava: Beredeneerde Lijst van Geschilderde en Gebeeldhouwde Portretten van Noord-Nederlanders in Vorige Eeuwen. Vol. 2, Amsterdam, 1905, p. 318, no. 6694-4, as a portrait of Titus, about 1660.
Adolf Rosenberg. Rembrandt, des Meisters Gemälde. 2nd ed. Stuttgart, 1906, pp. 404, 417, ill. p. 337, as a portrait of Titus; dates it about 1658–60.
Adolf Rosenberg. Rembrandt, des Meisters Gemälde. Ed. W. R. Valentiner. 3rd ed. Stuttgart, 1909, p. 562, ill. p. 418, as Titus, painted about 1658.
C[ornelis]. Hofstede de Groot. A Catalogue Raisonné of the Works of the Most Eminent Dutch Painters of the Seventeenth Century. Ed. Edward G. Hawke. Vol. 6, London, 1916, p. 333, no. 703, as Titus, painted about 1658; mentions a copy attributed to Bol in a private collection in New York.
D. S. Meldrum. Rembrandt's Paintings. London, 1923, p. 199, pl. CCCXLVIII, as Titus, painted about 1659.
Robert H. Benson, ed. The Holford Collection. Oxford, 1924, p. 81, no. 93, pl. LXXXII (frontispiece), as "Portrait of a Young Man," by Rembrandt, painted about 1652–54; states that it cannot be Titus, but is probably an earlier portrait of the man depicted in the 1658 portrait in the Louvre; dates it 1652–54 in text and about 1652 in caption.
Seymour de Ricci. "La collection Holford." Gazette des beaux-arts, 5th ser., 11 (January 1925), pp. 40–41, suggests that this picture and two portraits in the Louvre all represent Titus.
Robert H. Benson, ed. The Holford Collection, Dorchester House. Oxford, 1927, vol. 2, p. 22, no. 129, pl. CXVI.
William Gibson. "The Holford Collection." Apollo 7 (May 1928), p. 202, ill. opp. p. 200 (color), discusses the scholarly controversy regarding the sitter's identity and the date.
Wilhelm R. Valentiner. Rembrandt Paintings in America. New York, 1931, unpaginated, no. 134, pl. 134, as Titus, probably painted in 1658.
A[braham]. Bredius. Rembrandt Gemälde. Vienna, 1935, p. 13, no. 293, pl. 293, doubts that it represents Titus.
Kurt Bauch. Rembrandt Gemälde. Berlin, 1966, p. 22, pl. 417, dates it 1656, and dismisses the identification of the sitter as Titus.
Horst Gerson. Rembrandt Paintings. Ed. Gary Schwartz. Amsterdam, 1968, pp. 398, 501, no. 328, ill. p. 399, as "A Young Man with a Beret"; notes that the picturesque interpretation is similar to the portraits of Titus of the late 1650s, though he is not the sitter here.
Paolo Lecaldano inL'opera pittorica completa di Rembrandt. Milan, 1969, p. 118, no. 347, ill.
Horst Gerson, ed. Rembrandt: The Complete Edition of the Paintings.. By A[braham]. Bredius. 3rd ed. London, 1969, p. 572, no. 293, ill. p. 223.
Christopher Brown. "Rembrandt's 'Portrait of a Boy'." Connoisseur 193 (November 1976), p. 219 n. 4.
J. Bolten and H. Bolten-Rempt. The Hidden Rembrandt. Milan, 1977, p. 197, no. 450, ill.
Christian Tümpel. Rembrandt: Mythos und Methode. Königstein, 1986, p. 430, no. A102, ill. p. 431, as by a pupil of Rembrandt.
Pierre Cabanne. Rembrandt. [Paris], 1991, p. 151, no. 15, ill., dates it 1656.
Walter Liedtke inRembrandt/Not Rembrandt in The Metropolitan Museum of Art: Aspects of Connoisseurship. Exh. cat., The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Vol. 2, "Paintings, Drawings, and Prints: Art-Historical Perspectives."New York, [1995], pp. 119, 134–36, no. 40, ill. (color), as by an imitator of Rembrandt from the last quarter of the seventeenth century.
Hubert von Sonnenburg. Rembrandt/Not Rembrandt in The Metropolitan Museum of Art: Aspects of Connoisseurship. Exh. cat., The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Vol. 1, "Paintings: Problems and Issues."New York, 1995, pp. 30, 128–31, no. 40, ill. (color) and figs. 161 (before restoration), 162 (autoradiograph detail), 163 (autoradiograph), 164 (cleaned state), 165 (color detail), as by a seventeenth-century follower of Rembrandt.
Katharine Baetjer. European Paintings in The Metropolitan Museum of Art by Artists Born Before 1865: A Summary Catalogue. New York, 1995, p. 318, ill., as Follower of Rembrandt, Dutch, second or third quarter 17th century.
Lene Bøgh Rønberg inRembrandt? The Master and His Workshop. Exh. cat., Statens Museum for Kunst. [Copenhagen], 2006, p. 293 n. 6, under no. 38.
Walter Liedtke. Dutch Paintings in The Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York, 2007, vol. 2, pp. 708, 774–78, 782, no. 176, colorpl. 176, fig. 222 (eighth autoradiograph).
Old Master & British Paintings: Evening Sale. Christie's, London. December 3, 2013, p. 63, under no. 16.
X-rays reveal the portrait of an older bearded man under the head of the young man. The earlier portrait resembles works of the Rembrandt school in its handling of lead white.
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