Focus on this artwork and analyze the Provenance.
Close consideration of the known provenance explains how a Dutch scene of biblical domesticity could be turned into a French image of philosophical meditation. In this process, the role of the supposed companion piece (see below), with which it was paired for two centuries and which was also attributed to Rembrandt, proved determinant. Summary mentions of a "Winding stair with a seated old man" in 17th-century inventories could apply to either painting. The earliest unambiguous reference to the painting is in the catalogue for the sale of the collection of the comte de Fraula in Brussels in 1738. The catalogue gives the measurements of the panel and the description: Een Ordonnantie met Tobias, ende eenen drayenden Trap, door Rimbrant (A Composition with Tobit, and a Winding Stair, by Rembrandt).The painting was bought by Jacques de Roore, an agent bidding on behalf of Willem Lormier, art collector and dealer in The Hague, whose wax seal is still on the back of the panel. On 27 June 1748, Lormier sold the painting for Dfl. 525 to the French collector Marc-René Voyer, marquis d'Argenson. In his manuscript list of the 17 paintings that he sold to Voyer on that occasion, Lormier referred to it as Oud Mannetje en wenteltrap (Old Man with a winding stair). His disregard of the Tobit subject cited in the Fraula catalogue may be due to the fact that he did not attend the auction personally and that he did not own the catalogue.
Voyer appears to be the originator of the old man's philosophical vocation, most likely inspired by the companion piece, which he also owned and which clearly shows a scholar in his study. Today, this former "pendant", titled Philosopher with an open book, is attributed to Salomon Koninck.As late as 1982, the two paintings were believed to have shared the same provenance as far back as 1734, but this was disproved by the Rembrandt Research Project. Korthals Altes claims that Voyer already owned the Koninck when he acquired the Rembrandt, but cites no evidence. In fact, nothing is known of the earlier provenance of the Koninck, or which of the two paintings he acquired first. Assuming that it was the Rembrandt, Anne Leclair notes that: "At an unknown date, Voyer acquired a second 'Philosopher" that he deemed close enough in style and format to make it a pendant". In notes on his "pendants" set down around 1750, Voyer pointed out that "chance brought them together".Although he waxed enthusiastic about these prized possessions, calling them "unique", by 1752, he had already sold them to his friend, Claude-Alexandre de Villeneuve, comte de Vence. The latter had the two reproduced for the catalogue of his collection by Louis Surugue with the titles Philosophe en méditation (Koninck) and Philosophe en contemplation (Rembrandt). Significantly, the engraver reproduced the Koninck picture first and showed it at the Salon of 1753, while he reproduced the Rembrandt in the following year and showed it at the Salon of 1755. This was the beginning of a long series of graphic reproductions, both in France and Great Britain, that spread the fame of the two "Philosophers", while catering to the vogue for pendants.The comte de Vence died in 1760, stipulating in his testament that Voyer could choose two paintings from his collection. Interestingly enough, Voyer did not select the two "pendants", but only the Philosophe en contemplation (Rembrandt), thus separating the very pair that he had created and further attesting to the arbirariness of their association. At the sale of the comte de Vence's collection in 1761, the Philosophe en méditation (Koninck) was purchased for 2,999 livres by a relative of the deceased, the marquis de Vence, who turned around and sold it to the duc de Choiseul, then Secretary of State for the Navy and War. Wanting to curry favor with the influential duc de Choiseul, Voyer offered to part with his treasured Rembrandt so that the latter could enjoy possession of both "Philosophers". And so, for another 3,000 livres the two paintings were reunited in 1762, not to be separated again until 1955.
The "Philosophers" continued their brilliant career in Paris, changing hands every few years: Randon de Boisset in 1772 (14,000 livres), Millon d'Ailly in 1777 (10,900 livres), who then sold it to the comte de Vaudreuil. The culmination came when the two pictures were acquired by Alexandre-Joseph Paillet for the royal collection of Louis XVI in 1784 (13,000 livres) and given the honors of the Louvre Palace.
pendants Louvre Rembrandt Research Project Rembrandt Tobit Paris Salomon Koninck Louvre Palace