Portrait de Maurits Huygens (1595-1642)

This small panel from 1632 was made to be half of a pair, and the story behind it is oddly touching. Maurits Huygens, secretary to the Dutch Council of State, and the painter Jacques de Gheyn were close friends, and each had Rembrandt paint his portrait so that one could always keep an image of the other. Tree-ring study later showed both panels were cut from the very same oak, so Rembrandt most likely painted the two men side by side. De Gheyn died first, and the day before his death he left his own portrait to Huygens, so the friend would hold the pair. It was Maurits's brother Constantijn, incidentally, who first brought the young Rembrandt to the notice of the Dutch court.