The Standard Bearer

Description

The Standard Bearer is a three-quarter-length self-portrait Rembrandt painted in 1636, shortly after he moved from Leiden to Amsterdam to establish himself as an independent artist. Rembrandt cast himself in the guise of an ensign, or vaandeldrager, one of the young officers of Amsterdam’s civic guard companies entrusted with carrying and defending the militia’s banner in battle.

• Rembrandt stands turned in profile, his face swung round to look directly at the viewer.
• He wears a plumed, slashed cap over his own curling hair, with only a long moustache left on an otherwise shaved face.
• An iron gorget and a broad sash cross his richly trimmed yellowish-brown coat, with a sword hanging at his side.
• His left hand grips the staff of a large white banner resting against his shoulder, while his right hand rests on his hip, elbow jutting toward the viewer.
• He is positioned beside a stone column, a traditional symbol of fortitude and steadfastness.

Loose, confident brushwork and passages of paint scratched into with the brush handle reveal Rembrandt experimenting with a freer technique at the very start of his Amsterdam career, foreshadowing the bravura handling of his later masterpieces.

Our reproduction is a hand-painted oil on canvas, created stroke by stroke by a skilled artist rather than printed or mechanically produced. Careful attention is paid to Rembrandt’s warm palette, the sheen of the gorget, and the textured, expressive brushwork of the original, so the piece can be displayed as a genuine oil painting in its own right rather than a flat facsimile.

Available in a range of sizes to suit galleries, offices, and living spaces, each canvas is made to order and finished with archival oil paints for long-lasting color and depth.