Gemäldegalerie

Gemäldegalerie

Tickets Shop
Rembrandt Harmensz van Rijn, Susanna and the Elders (green markings: sections reworked by Joshua Reynolds)
Rembrandt Harmensz van Rijn, Susanna and the Elders (green markings: sections reworked by Joshua Reynolds) © Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, Gemäldegalerie / Claudia Laurenze-Landsberg 1932_05
Rembrandt Harmensz van Rijn, Landscape with Arched Bridge (neutron autoradiography, film 5)
Rembrandt Harmensz van Rijn, Landscape with Arched Bridge (neutron autoradiography, film 5) © Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, Gemäldegalerie / Claudia Laurenze-Landsberg
Rembrandt Harmensz van Rijn, Rape of Persephone (detail)
Rembrandt Harmensz van Rijn, Rape of Persephone (detail) © Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, Gemäldegalerie / Christoph Schmidt
Rembrandt Harmensz van Rijn, The Money Changer (original, grazing incidence light imaging, radiographic image, infrared image, neutron autoradiography, film 3)
Rembrandt Harmensz van Rijn, The Money Changer (original, grazing incidence light imaging, radiographic image, infrared image, neutron autoradiography, film 3) © Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, Gemäldegalerie
Rembrandt Harmensz van Rijn, Rape of Persephone (microscopic imaging of the upper edge, in the sky section)
Rembrandt Harmensz van Rijn, Rape of Persephone (microscopic imaging of the upper edge, in the sky section) © Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, Gemäldegalerie / Claudia Laurenze-Landsberg
Zurück Vor

On Rembrandt’s Visual Strategies

New Research at the Gemäldegalerie

The Gemäldegalerie presides over one of the most comprehensive collections of Rembrandt paintings in the world. Furthermore, since 1985 it has been the only museum able to apply systematically the technique of neutron-activation autoradiography (NIAR) in examining paintings, thanks to its long-standing partnership with the Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin.

As a result of this partnership, neutron-activation autoradiographs have been produced for the entire corpus of Rembrandt paintings held at the Gemäldegalerie. The aim of the research project is to conduct for the first time in-depth analysis on this set of unique images by comparing them with data from other forms of technological research, and to jointly assess the findings of both art historian and paintings conservator as to their art-historical and technical significance. At the heart of this project lies a wealth of new findings, which go above and beyond previous research, relating to the genesis of the paintings, the development of subjects and motifs, as well as Rembrandt’s artistic and painterly technique. The preconditions for these comprehensive new findings are intense interdisciplinary interaction and close cooperation between scholars from diverse fields of study.

All relevant information covered in the project will subsequently be made accessible to the public as part of the online Rembrandt Database. This information will include: data from the technical analysis of the paintings, the actual scans made using scientific imaging techniques (NIAR, X-radiography, infrared reflectography and microscopic imaging techniques), the accompanying explanations of the images, their art-historical interpretation, the historical records relating to the people and institutions responsible for commissioning and collecting the works, and all other related documents that have been gathered over the years.

The Rembrandt Database

The Rembrandt Database is a continually expanding database, which will continue to evolve in the long term and form the crucial starting point for any future Rembrandt research. The aim of the database is to provide new, online access to Rembrandt’s paintings, to combine expert findings and general information and open these up to an interested public around the globe. At the same time, existing documentation will be digitalized, placed in context and reviewed, and thus preserved for future generations. The documentation files will contain information on works either by Rembrandt or previously attributed to him. Numerous museums of international renown with important collections of Rembrandt works, scientific institutions and independent scholars are all involved in developing the database. Plans foresee a detailed collation of documentation on previous restoration and conservation treatments, technical data and scholarly and art-historical information on the individual paintings.

2025

  • Katja Kleinert and Claudia Laurenze-Landsberg, “Material Experimentation and Virtuoso Performance: Observations on the Paintings Technique of Rembrandt’s Works in the Gemäldegalerie Berlin”, in Art Matters: International Journal for Technical Art History, special issue #2: Rembrandt as a painter. New technical Research (2025), pp. 69–79.

2023

  • Katja Kleinert and Claudia Laurenze-Landsberg, “‘Rembrandt f.’ Rembrandt-Signaturen in der Gemäldegalerie Berlin – eine Annäherung”, in: Karin Gludovatz and Alessandro Della Latta (eds.), Signaturen: Auktoriale Präsenz zwischen Schrift und Bild 1400–1700, Berlin 2023, pp.151–175.

2022

  • Katja Kleinert and Claudia Laurenze-Landsberg, “To the Highest Degree of Excellence: How Reynolds Improved Rembrandt”, in: Marika Spring and Ashok Roy (eds.), Rembrandt Now: Technical Practice, Conservation and Research (PDF), London 2022, pp. 115–125.

2021

  • Katja Kleinert and Claudia Laurenze-Landsberg, “Three Examples of Far-Reaching Alterations to Rembrandt Works in the Berlin Gemäldegalerie”, in: Esteher van Duijn and Petria Noble (eds.), Rembrandt Conservation Histories, London 2021, pp. 92–103.

2019

  • Katja Kleinert, “Jonge Rembrandt: Rising Star / Young Rembrandt. Rising Star” (exhibition catalogue Museum de Lakenhal Leiden, 2 November 2019–9 February 2020; Ashmolean Museum Oxford, 27 February–7 June 2020), catalogue numbers 24 and 27.

2018

  • Katja Kleinert and Claudia Laurenze-Landsberg, “Authentisch verfälscht: Reynolds der besser Rembrandt?”, in Art value 18 (2017), pp. 18–24.

2017

  • Katja Kleinert and Claudia Laurenze-Landsberg, “Rembrandt’s First Nude? The Recent Analysis of Susanna and the Elders from Rembrandt’s Workshop”, in: Stephanie Dickey (ed.), Rembrandt and his Circle: Insights and Discoveries, Amsterdam 2017, pp. 197–216.

2016

  • Katja Kleinert and Claudia Laurenze-Landsberg, “Zur Perfektion gebracht: Reynolds der bessere Rembrandt?” in Jahrbuch der Berliner Museen 58 (2016), pp. 67–77.

2015

  • Holm Bevers, Katja Kleinert, and Claudia Laurenze-Landsberg (eds.), “Rembrandts Berliner Susanna und die beiden Alten: Die Schaffung eines Meisterwerkes” (exhibition catalogue Gemäldegalerie, Kupferstichkabinett Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, 3 March–31 May 2015), Leipzig 2015. Featuring: Katja Kleinert and Claudia Laurenze-Landsberg, “Der korrigierte Rembrandt”, pp.61–75; Katja Kleinert and Claudia Laurenze-Landsberg, “Zuckerkistenholz – ein außergewöhnlicher Bildträger”, pp. 75–85.
  • Holm Bevers, Katja Kleinert, and Claudia Laurenze-Landsberg, “Die Schaffung eines Meisterswerks: Rembrandts Berliner ‘Susanna und die beiden Alten’”, in Museumsjournal: Berichte aus den Museen, Schlössern und Sammlungen in Berlin und Potsdam 29 (2015), issue 1, pp. 46–48.
  • Claudia Laurenze-Landsberg et al., “Neutron Activation Autoradiography and Scanning Macro-XRF of Rembrandt van Rijn’s ‘Susanna and the Elders’ (Gemäldegalerie Berlin): A Comparison of Two Methods for Imaging of Historical Paintings with Elemental Contrast”, in Applied Physics A: materials science & processing, 119 (2015), pp. 795–805.

2013

  • Katja Kleinert and Claudia Laurenze-Landsberg, “Rembrandts erste Aktdarstellung? Das Gemälde ‘Susanna und die beiden Alten’ aus Rembrandts Werkstatt neu analysiert”, in Jahrbuch der Berliner Museen 54 (2013), pp. 31–42.

2012

  • Katja Kleinert and Claudia Laurenze-Landsberg, “Forschungen zu Werken Rembrandts” commenced, in Restauro 4,118 (2012), pp. 8–9.
  • Katja Kleinert and Claudia Laurenze-Landsberg, “Rembrandt im Perspektivwechsel: Eine interdisziplinäre Annäherung”, in Museumsjournal: Berichte aus den Museen, Schlössern und Sammlungen in Berlin und Potsdam 3 (2012), pp. 44–45.
  • Katja Kleinert and Claudia Laurenze-Landsberg, “Rembrandt-Bildfindungen”, in SPK-Journal 1 (2012), p. 50.

2022

  • Katja Kleinert (Gemäldegalerie, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin) and Claudia Laurenze-Landsberg (formerly of the Gemäldegalerie, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin), “Rembrandts Maltechnik – materielles Experimentierfeld und virtuose Inszenierung: Kunsttechnologische Beobachtungen an den Berliner Rembrandtwerken”, international conference “Rembrandt als Maler, Zeichner und Druckgraphiker im Spiegel neuer technologischer Untersuchungen”, Städel Museum Frankfurt am Main, 21 and 22 January 2022.

2018

  • Katja Kleinert (Gemäldegalerie, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin) and Claudia Laurenze-Landsberg (formerly of the Gemäldegalerie, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin), “Three Examples of Far-Reaching Alterations to Rembrandt Works in the Berlin Gemäldegalerie”, symposium “Rembrandt Conservation Histories”, Rijksmuseum Amsterdam, 8 and 9 November 2018.

2015

  • Katja Kleinert (Gemäldegalerie, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin) and Claudia Laurenze-Landsberg (Gemäldegalerie, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin), “Reynolds verbessert Rembrandt: Neue Einsichten zur Bildgenese von Rembrandts ‘Susanna und die beiden Alten’”, lecture in the series “Von Restauratoren erforscht” organised by the Staatliche Museen zu Berlin’s working group of chief restorers and conservators, 2015.
  • Katja Kleinert (Gemäldegalerie, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin) and Claudia Laurenze-Landsberg (Gemäldegalerie, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin), “Neueste Erkenntnisse und erstaunliche Befunde: Zur Bildgenese von Rembrandts Berliner ‘Susanna und die beiden Alten’”, lecture for the Kaiser Friedrich-Museums-Verein in the Gemäldegalerie of the Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, 2015.

2014

  • Katja Kleinert (Gemäldegalerie, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin) and Claudia Laurenze-Landsberg (Gemäldegalerie, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin), “Rembrandt Refurbished by Reynolds: New Insights into the Genesis of ‘Susanna and the Elders’”, conference “Rembrandt Now: Technical Practice, Conservation and Research”, National Gallery London, 2014.

2013

  • Claudia Laurenze-Landsberg (Gemäldegalerie, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin), “The examination of Paintings by Rembrandt with Neutron Autoradiography”, international conference “Neutron Imaging and Neutron Methods in Archaeology and Cultural Heritage Research”, Technical University of Munich, 9–12 September 2013.
  • Claudia Laurenze-Landsberg (Gemäldegalerie, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin), “Neutron-Autoradiography of Paintings by Rembrandt in the Gemäldegalerie Berlin”, lecture at the Dresden University of Fine Arts, 2013.
  • Claudia Laurenze-Landsberg (Gemäldegalerie, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin), “Aktuelle Rembrandt-Forschung: Die Neutronen-Autoradiografie in der Berliner Gemäldegalerie”, lecture for the Kaiser Friedrich-Museums-Verein in the Gemäldegalerie of the Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, 30 May 2013.
  • Claudia Laurenze-Landsberg (Gemäldegalerie, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin), “Tiefenanalyse der Gemälde Rembrandts in der Gemäldegalerie”, lecture as part of the series “Von Restauratoren erforscht” organised by the Staatliche Museen zu Berlin’s working group of chief restorers and conservators, 21 November 2013.

2012

  • Katja Kleinert (Gemäldegalerie, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin) and Claudia Laurenze-Landsberg (Gemäldegalerie, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin), “New Analysis of Works by Rembrandt from the Gemäldegalerie Berlin on the Basis of Neutronautoradiographic, Technological Paintings and Art Historical Investigations”, international conference CODART VIJFTIEN “Conserving the Arts: The Task of the Curator and the Conservator?”, Brussels, 18–20 March 2012

Principal organizers: Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, Rijksbureau voor Kunsthistorische Documentatie in Den Haag / Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, Stiftung Preussischer Kulturbesitz / Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin für Materialien und Energie GmbH
Partners: Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam; Doerner Institut, München; Museum of Fine Arts, Boston; Mauritshuis, Den Haag; Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister, Dresden; Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister, Museumslandschaft Hessen Kassel, Kassel; Stedelijk Museum De Lakenhal, Leiden; National Gallery, London; Alte Pinakothek, Bayerische Staatsgemäldesammlungen, Munich; Frick Collection, New York; Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; Palais du Louvre, Paris; Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen, Rotterdam; Museum Catharijneconvent, Utrecht
Expected findings and goals: The examination of paintings by Rembrandt with particular attention paid to the neutron-activation autoradiograph images, the digitalization of visual material and important documents, the processing of all data in the Rembrandt Database.Funding: Andrew W. Mellon Foundation / Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, Stiftung Preussischer Kulturbesitz / Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin für Materialien und Energie GmbH
Project organizers:
Berlin: Prof. Dr. Bernd Lindemann, director, Gemäldegalerie; Dr. Babette Hartwieg, chief conservator, Gemäldegalerie; Dr. Andrea Denker, Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin für Materialien und Energie GmbH
The Hague: Rudi Ekkart, director, Rijksbureau voor Kunsthistorische Documentatie; Wietske Donkersloot, project manager, Rembrandt Database
Project team: Dr. Katja Kleinert, research associate, Gemäldegalerie; Claudia Laurenze-Landsberg, paintings conservator and expert in neutron-activation autoradiographs, Gemäldegalerie
Duration: 2011 to 2016

Further Links