Instytut Sztuki (Warschau) [Hrsg.]; Państwowy Instytut Sztuki (bis 1959) [Hrsg.]; Stowarzyszenie Historyków Sztuki [Hrsg.]: Biuletyn Historii Sztuki (67.2005)

329

ANNA GROCHOWSKA-ANGELUS, KATARZYNA NOVLJAKOVIĆ
Czartoryski Muzeum, Cracow

Rembrandt's Landscape with the Good Samaritan:
Technological structure analysis and the characteristics
ofpain ting technique'

Landscape with the Good Samaritan from the collection of the Czartoryski Museum in
Cracow is indisputably acknowledged to be the work of Rembrandt. It belongs to the six
6urviving landscapes of his authorship worldwide, excluding drawings and graphics.2
The 'Cracow' painting is classified as being a part of the three storm landscapes created
between 1638 and 1640,3 and it is considered to be the first one in the series.4 The remaining two
are Landscape with a Stone Bridge, exhibited in the Amsterdam Rijkmuseum and Stormy Land-
scape on display in the Herzog-Anton-Ulrich Museum in Brunswick. All three pictures share
similar qualities, such as chiaroscuro modelling, expression and virtuosity in the freedom of
painting technique it reveals.
The date of creation is clearly visible on the signature: Rembrandt f l638. Likewise, the topie
is beyond dispute. It is commonly recognised as being derived from the Biblical parable of the
Good Samaritan. Already in the late 19th century the painting was referred to as the 'Landscape
Called the Good Samaritan', or plainly the 'Landscape with the Good Samaritan'.5 The overall

1 This article was presented in the form of a lecture bearing the title "Konserwacja Krajobrazu z miłosiernym Samarytani-
nem Rembrandta" that was delivered at the National Museum in Warsaw as part of a series devoted to conserving works
of art on 6th June 2004.
The article itself would never have arisen without the goodwill and advice offered by professor Ernst van de Wetering
and many other people too many to list here from the Museum and Library as well as the Foundation ofthe Czartoryskis.

2 A. ZIEMBA, Obrazy Rembrandta w Polsce ('Rembrandt's Paintings in Poland'). Paintings, drawings and prints of old
European masters from Polish collections. Cf.: exhib. cat. Art More Valuable than Gold, National Museum of Warsaw,
March-May 1999, which includes two authentic works by Rembrandt: Landscape with the Parable of the Merciful
Samaritan and The Scholar at the Lectern (known as The Father of the Jewish Bride), belonging to the Royal Castle in
Warsaw. See also: D. JUSZCZAK, H. MAŁACHOWICZ, Galeria Lanckorońskich, the pictures received as a gift from
professor Karolina Lanckorońska to the Royal Castle of Warsaw, Royal Castle, Warsaw 1998, pp. 51-6. The second
Rembrandt, commonly referred to as 'Jewish Bride', was also undeniably by Rembrandt; having seen the results ofthe
examination, E. van de Wetering found no grounds to deny this attribution.

3 J. BRUYN, B. HAAK, S. LEVIE, J.J.P. VAN THIEL, E. VAN DE WETERING, A Corpus of Rembrandt Paintings,
vols. I-III: I, The Hague-Boston-London 1982; II, Dordrecht-Boston-Lancaster 1986; III, Dordrecht-Boston-London
1989. Vol. III encompasses the years 1635-1642; henceforth quoted as Corpus with either the volume or the catalogue
number; A. ZIEMBA, 'Rembrandfs Landscape with the Parable of the Merciful Samaritan: An Attempt at Symbolic
Interpretation' (no trans.), Biuletyn Historii Sztuki L, 1988/1-2, pp. 31-46; also: idem., 'New Attributive, Investigation
into the Landscapes of Rembrandt and his Scholars', Ikonoteka. (pub:. Institute of Art History, no trans.), Warsaw
University, 7.1995, pp. 27-74.

4 Corpus, op. cit., A.125, p. 267.

5 Cf.: M. ROSTWOROWSKI, Rembrandt's Parable of the Merciful Samaritan (no trans., Warszawa 1980, p.l 12).