The Stone Bridge 1638

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The Stone Bridge 1638: Rembrandt

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Art Type: Oil Painting
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Rembrandt Oil Painting - The Stone Bridge 1638

Keywords: Stone, Bridge

Work Overview: The Stone Bridge
Artist Rembrandt
Year 1637
Medium Oil on panel
Dimensions 30.1 cm × 42.3 cm (11.9 in × 16.7 in)
Location Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam

The Stone Bridge is a 1637 landscape painting by the Dutch Golden Age painter Rembrandt in the collection of the Rijksmuseum.

This painting was documented by Hofstede de Groot in 1915, who wrote: "939. A HIGH STONE BRIDGE. Sm. 612; Bode 143 ; Dut. 447 ; Wb. 212 ; B-HdG. 232. Near an inn with a red gable, a high stone bridge leads in a wide curve across a canal, which runs from the left towards the front. On the far side is a farm with a hay-rick amid trees; farther away is a church-tower. In front of the inn is a rustic waggon, seen from the back, with persons in it. On the road is a peasant driving a cow from left to right ; in the immediate foreground to the right is another cow. Several other figures are near the bridge. Under the bridge is a boat ; another is in front of it, with two men, one of whom poles the boat forward. Dark sky ; a bright ray of sunshine illumines the clump of trees and the buildings among them. Painted almost entirely in brown and grey. Painted about 1637-38. Oak panel, 11 1/2 inches by 16 inches. Mentioned by Bode, pp. 492, 579 ; Dutuit, p. 46 ; Michel, p. 314 [239] ; Waagen, iii. 164. Exhibited at the Royal Academy Winter Exhibition, London, 1899, No. 35 [by J. Reiss]. Sale. Lapeyrière, Paris, April 14, 1817, No. 3 (E. Gray) ; see Buchanan, ii. 298. In the collection of James Gray,Versailles, 1863. In the collection of the Marquess of Lansdowne, Bowood, 1883. Sale. James Reiss, London, May 12, 1900, No. 63 (2205, Rijksmuseum). In the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam, 1911 catalogue, No. 2020."[1]

The picture is currently documented as being in the collection of Augustin Lapeyrière, based presumably on the Hofstede de Groot catalog. Before him, Smith wrote "612. A View in Holland, exhibiting a landscape diversified with meadows, clusters of trees, and cottages, and traversed by a canal crossed by a bridge. Several boats containing passengers are on the water, and a waggon and horses are seen passing along a road on the left. 11 in. by 1 foot 4 in.— P. Collection of M. Perrier, . . . 1817. . 1507 fs. 60l." [2] Probably M. Perrier refers to Augustin Lapeyrière, because it was sold on 14 April 1817, lot nr. 46, in Paris. The auction catalogue of May 12, 1900 stated that it was in the collection of James Gray of Versailles in 1863, which Hofstede de Groot repeated. Since Waagen had seen the painting in the collection of the Marquess of Landsdowne in 1850 this was however impossible.

Rembrandt painted only a few landscapes, mostly imaginary mountain scenes. Although The Stone Bridge is composed of elements studied from reality, it probably does not represent a specific place. The painting’s magical quality derives from its dramatic illumination: a beam of sunlight breaks through the clouds, making the approaching storm seem twice as menacing.

Brilliant sunlight breaks through dark clouds to light up the trees and cottages in the middle of the picture. The light falls as well on the barely visible upper surface of the stone bridge that gives the painting its name. The rest of Rembrandt's scene takes place in the shadows of the clouds.

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