A possible self-portrait by the anonymous seventeenth-century painter known as Master I.S. has been rediscovered after being lost to the public eye for several years. The work is one of several paintings by the master that were sought through an appeal on the CODART website in June 2024. After contacting Museum De Lakenhal, the current owner is lending the work to the museum for the conclusion of the exhibition Masterful Mystery, which runs until 8 March 2026.
Starting 10 February, the rediscovered painting can be seen in the exhibition
Provenance
Young Man with a High Fur Hat and Gorget (1638) was held in the collection of the J. Paul Getty Museum for many years until it was auctioned in 2007 and entered a private collection. It was auctioned again in 2016, at which point it was acquired by the current owner.
Possible Self-Portrait
The painting shows a young man with an oval face, wispy moustache and striking long, curly hair. The same young man appears elsewhere in the work of Master I.S., which means that this could be a self-portrait. When the exhibition Masterful Mystery – On Rembrandt’s Enigmatic Contemporary opened, the only known depiction of this young man was Young Scholar Half-Naked (1638). Now there is also Young Man with a High Fur Hat and Gorget, which is also from 1938. This is the earliest known tronie by Master I.S. and Rembrandt’s influence is clearly evident in the strong contrasts between light and shade, and the loose brushwork. Rembrandt often based his tronies on his own face. It is therefore very possible that the face in this painting is I.S.’s own, states the museum’s press release.
Master I.S., Young Man with a High Fur Hat and Gorget , 1638
Private collection
Research Project
The exhibition is the result of extensive research into the work and identity of this master painter, led by the curators Janneke van Asperen (Museum De Lakenhal) and Tomi Moisio (Serlachius Museums), in collaboration with experts Volker Manuth and Marieke de Winkel (Radboud University) and David de Witt (Rembrandt House Museum). This research and the international appeal through CODART led to several paintings in the exhibition being traced or discovered.
In April 2025, a CODARTfeature was published about the exhibition and its research project, which you can read here.