Rembrandt's Self-Portrait returns to Corsini Gallery for first time since 1799

The National Galleries of Ancient Art, at the Corsini Gallery venue, presents the exhibition Rembrandt at the Corsini Gallery: the Self-Portrait as Saint Paul, curated by Alessandro Cosma, from February 21 to June 15, 2020.

For thefirst time in Italy after 1799, Rembrandt’s self-portrait, signed and dated 1661 and coming from the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam, will be vibile to the public. In the eighteenth century, the self-portrait belonged to the Corsini collection and was displayed in the rooms of the palace at the Lungara.

The painting was purchased between 1737 and 1739 by Cardinal Neri Maria Corsini for one hundred scudi from Marie-Thérèse Gosset, widow of the director of the French Academy in Rome, Nicolas Vleughels, and, thanks to a recent documentary rediscovery, it is known that the work was the protagonist of an episode in the dispersal of works of art during the French occupation of 1799. In that year the Corsini family was forced to cope with the forced contributions imposed by the French government on Roman noble families, and the master of the Corsini household, Ludovico Radice, arranged for the sale of twenty-five paintings from the collection to the art dealer Luigi Mirri, who resold some of them to William Ottley. Among these sold works was Rembrandt’sSelf-Portrait, which passed ownership among leading English dealers active in Rome, from William Ottley to Robert Fagan, from James Irvine to William Buchanan. The latter then in 1807 brought it back to England and, following numerous passages, it came to the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam.

The exhibition will thus be an opportunity to present the story of the dispersal of the Corsini paintings in 1799. The reconstruction was made possible thanks to original documents, including letters, estimates and court documents, now preserved in the Corsini Archives in San Casciano in Val di Pesa.

There will also be original prints by Rembrandt that belonged to the Corsini family, testifying to the latter’s esteem for the painter: in fact, the family owned more than two hundred prints by Rembrandt preserved in the library of the palace at Lungara.

For info: www.barberinicorsini.org

Hours: Wednesday through Monday from 8:30 a.m. to 7 p.m.

Tickets: Full 12 euros, reduced 2 euros for 18 to 25 year olds. Free for under 18.

Image: Rembrandt, Self-Portrait as Saint Paul (1661; oil on canvas, 91 x 77 cm; Amsterdam, Rijksmuseum)

Rembrandt's Self-Portrait returns to Corsini Gallery for first time since 1799

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