COLLECTION NAME:
The AMICA Library
mediaCollectionId
AMICO~1~1
The AMICA Library
Collection
true
AMICA ID:
TFC_.19101098
amicoid
TFC_.19101098
AMICA ID
false
AMICA Library Year:
1999
aly
1999
AMICA Library Year
false
Object Type:
Paintings
oty
Paintings
Object Type
false
Creator Name:
Rembrandt Harmensz van Rijn
crn
Rembrandt Harmensz van Rijn
Creator Name
false
Creator Nationality:
European; Dutch
crc
European; Dutch
Creator Nationality
false
Creator Dates/Places:
1606-1669
cdt
1606-1669
Creator Dates/Places
false
Creator Name-CRT:
Rembrandt Harmensz. van Rijn
crt
Rembrandt Harmensz. van Rijn
Creator Name-CRT
false
Title:
The Polish Rider
otn
The Polish Rider
Title
false
View:
Full View
rid
Full View
View
false
Creation Date:
c. 1655
oct
c. 1655
Creation Date
false
Creation Start Date:
1653
ocs
1653
Creation Start Date
false
Creation End Date:
1657
oce
1657
Creation End Date
false
Materials and Techniques:
oil on canvas (lined)
omd
oil on canvas (lined)
Materials and Techniques
false
Dimensions:
46 x 53 1/8 in. (116.8 x 134.9 cm.)
met
46 x 53 1/8 in. (116.8 x 134.9 cm.)
Dimensions
false
AMICA Contributor:
The Frick Collection
oon
The Frick Collection
AMICA Contributor
false
Owner Location:
New York, New York, USA
oop
New York, New York, USA
Owner Location
false
ID Number:
10.1.98
ooa
10.1.98
ID Number
false
Credit Line:
Henry Clay Frick Bequest
ooc
Henry Clay Frick Bequest
Credit Line
false
Inscriptions:
Signed on the rock at extreme right: "R[e?]".
oin
Signed on the rock at extreme right: "R[e?]".
Inscriptions
false
Copyright:
Licensed for non-commercial, educational use.
ors
Licensed for non-commercial, educational use.
Copyright
false
Rights:
orl
<a href="http://www.frick.org"target="_new">http://www.frick.org</a>
Rights
false
Context:
The romantic and enigmatic character of this picture has inspired many theories about its subject, meaning, history, and even its attribution to Rembrandt. Several portrait identifications have been proposed, including an ancestor of the Polish Oginski family, which owned the painting in the eighteenth century, and the Polish Socinian theologian Jonasz Szlichtyng. The rider's costume, his weapons, and the breed of his horse have also been claimed as Polish. But if The Polish Rider is a portrait, it certainly breaks with tradition. Equestrian portraits are not common in seventeenth-century Dutch art, and furthermore, in the traditional equestrian portrait the rider is fashionably dressed and his mount is spirited and well-bred. The painting may instead portray a character from history or literature, and many possibilities have been proposed. Candidates range from the Prodigal Son to Gysbrech van Amstel, a hero of Dutch medieval history, and from the Old Testament David to the Mongolian warrior Tamerlane. It is possible that Rembrandt intended simply to represent a foreign soldier, a theme popular in his time in European art, especially in prints. Nevertheless, Rembrandt's intentions in The Polish Rider seem clearly to transcend a simple expression of delight in the exotic. The painting has also been described as a latter-day Miles Christianus (Soldier of Christ), an apotheosis of the mounted soldiers who were still defending Eastern Europe against the Turks in the seventeenth century. Many have felt that the youthful rider faces unknown dangers in the strange and somber landscape, with its mountainous rocks crowned by a mysterious building, its dark water, and the distant flare of a fire.
cxd
The romantic and enigmatic character of this picture has inspired many theories about its subject, meaning, history, and even its attribution to Rembrandt. Several portrait identifications have been proposed, including an ancestor of the Polish Oginski family, which owned the painting in the eighteenth century, and the Polish Socinian theologian Jonasz Szlichtyng. The rider's costume, his weapons, and the breed of his horse have also been claimed as Polish. But if The Polish Rider is a portrait, it certainly breaks with tradition. Equestrian portraits are not common in seventeenth-century Dutch art, and furthermore, in the traditional equestrian portrait the rider is fashionably dressed and his mount is spirited and well-bred. The painting may instead portray a character from history or literature, and many possibilities have been proposed. Candidates range from the Prodigal Son to Gysbrech van Amstel, a hero of Dutch medieval history, and from the Old Testament David to the Mongolian warrior Tamerlane. It is possible that Rembrandt intended simply to represent a foreign soldier, a theme popular in his time in European art, especially in prints. Nevertheless, Rembrandt's intentions in The Polish Rider seem clearly to transcend a simple expression of delight in the exotic. The painting has also been described as a latter-day Miles Christianus (Soldier of Christ), an apotheosis of the mounted soldiers who were still defending Eastern Europe against the Turks in the seventeenth century. Many have felt that the youthful rider faces unknown dangers in the strange and somber landscape, with its mountainous rocks crowned by a mysterious building, its dark water, and the distant flare of a fire.
Context
false
Related Document Description:
New York, The Frick Collection. Art in the Frick Collection: Paintings, Sculpture, Decorative Arts [cat.]. Comp. C. Ryskamp, et al., 1996, p.64 (reproduced in color). New York, The Frick Collection. An Illustrated Catalogue. Vol.1, Paintings. [cat.]. 1968, pp.258-265, p.259 (reproduced).
rdd
New York, The Frick Collection. Art in the Frick Collection: Paintings, Sculpture, Decorative Arts [cat.]. Comp. C. Ryskamp, et al., 1996, p.64 (reproduced in color). New York, The Frick Collection. An Illustrated Catalogue. Vol.1, Paintings. [cat.]. 1968, pp.258-265, p.259 (reproduced).
Related Document Description
false
Related Image Identifier Link:
TFC_.19101098.tif
ril
TFC_.19101098.tif
Related Image Identifier Link
false