Christoffel Bisschop

Kunstkronijk, 1866, illustrated (lithograph after the painting by A.C. Nunnink)
Illustrated London News, 12 January 1867, illustrated (wood engraving after the painting by W. Thomas)
 J. van Lennep, W. Moll, J. ter Gouw, Nederlands geschiedenis en volksleven, Leiden 1880, illustrated (steel engraving after the painting by C.L. van Kesteren)
Mr. J.W.C. van Campen, 'De historische galerij van Arti et Amicitiae', Historia, 11 (1946), pp. 25-36, illustrated on p. 35.
W. Laanstra, Johannes Christiaan Karel Klinkenberg 1852-1924. De meester van het zonnige stadsgezicht, Laren 1999, illustration 6 on p. 15

The canvas has been relined and set on a new stretcher. Some craquelure visible in the upper part of the canvas. Retouches to diagonal folds of the canvas at all corners. (Corners were formerly folded back). Retouches to the upper left corner.
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The present lot originally formed part of the famous Historical Gallery of the art society Arti et Amicitiae in Amsterdam. This large group of paintings, assembled between 1860-1862, consisted of 102 works that were executed by members of the society, each depicting a memorable theme from Dutch history. In total 75 different artists contributed to this project, among others Andreas Schelfhout, Jozef Israels, Nicolaas Pieneman and Sir Lawrence Alma Tadema.

The changing taste and - more importantly - the financial difficulties the society experienced, led to the closing down of the Historical Gallery in 1894. It was sold in 1895 to J.T. van Hattum van Ellewoutsdijk, who gave it on loan to the city of The Hague, where it was displayed in the town hall in 1896-1901. Five years later, following a dispute about the costs, Van Hattum van Ellewoutsdijk ended the loan and had the paintings returned to his house in Scheveningen. After his death in 1909 the paintings were divided among his heirs.

The present lot depicts Rembrandt van Rijn knocking on the door of the Theatrum Anatomicum Collegium for the anatomy lesson of Dr. Tulp in 1619. Christoffel Bisschop greatly admired Rembrandt for the mastery of light and dark (so-called chiaroscuro) in his work. It has been suggested that the young boy carrying the paint box of the famous Rembrandt is Christoffel Bisschop himself.