Pilate Washing His Hands

Rembrandt

probably 1660s · Oil on canvas · European Paintings

Critical opinions of this picture have varied considerably since about 1905, when Wilhelm von Bode described it as "a somewhat abnormal work" by Rembrandt. However, most scholars since the 1940s have dated the painting to the 1660s and assigned it to an anonymous pupil. The composition is reminiscent of mature works by Rembrandt but the Rembrandtesque surface effects fail to convey anything like the master's command of illumination and modelling. The name of his only known pupil of the 1660s, Arent de Gelder, has been put forward speculatively.

Artist

Rembrandt

Date

probably 1660s

Medium

Oil on canvas

Department

European Paintings

Credit line

Bequest of Benjamin Altman, 1913