Rembrandt van Rijn
Dutch, 1606-1669
Kostverloren Castle in Decay
INV-1290
Rembrandt van Rijn
Dutch, 1606-1669c. 1652
Kostverloren Castle in Decay
Rembrandt van Rijn Dutch, 1606-1669 →pen and ink drawingsdrawings (visual works)
Date
c. 1652
Medium
Pen and brown ink, with brush and brown wash, heightened with touches of opaque white watercolor, on cream laid paper
Dimensions
10.9 × 17.5 cm (4 5/16 × 6 15/16 in.)
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Location
Chicago, IL
Credit
Clarence Buckingham Collection
Rembrandt and his contemporaries shared a fascination with the Kostverloren estate, in part because of the successive misfortunes that its owners seemed to endure. Already by Rembrandt’s time it had taken on its name, which translates as “lost expenses” or, more colloquially, “money pit.” The site faced another setback when much of the castle was destroyed in a fire. After this damage—and before its eventual repair—Rembrandt entered the grounds of the castle and recorded its diminished state. His emphasis on decay is made clear by the felled tree in foreground; its strident horizontality sets off the faded majesty of the castle’s once-grand structures.
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