(Possible) pupils of Rembrandt: 

• Here the role of pupil is treated as distinct from that of assistant. Only in the case of Jouderville are there concrete documents that give an indication of period of instruction. But generally, instruction in art went hand-in-hand with active participation in production.

Gerrit (Gerard) Dou
Gerrit Dou was thirteen years old when he received instruction in 1628 from the twenty-year-old Rembrandt. This painting was formerly called `Rembrandt in his Studio’. It shows what kinds of objects a painter could bring together in his workplace, all in the service of art. Or at least in an ideal studio.

Gerrit Dou, An Artist in his Studio, c. 1628. Panel, 53 x 64.5 cm Private collection

An unknown Rembrandt pupil
This interior view of a studio shows that it was usual for Rembrandt to have his pupils draw from the model in groups. In the final phase of their training they needed to learn how to depict the human figure in a variety of poses. On a shelf in the wall there are casts of sculptures that served as instruction material.

Drawing from life in Rembrandt’s Studio, c. 1650. Pen and brush in brown, black chalk, heightened with white, 18 x 26.6 cm., Hessisches Landesmuseum, Darmstadt

This full-length portrait was painted by a pupil of Rembrandt after a Self-Portrait made by Rembrandt in 1631 (Paris, Musée du Petit Palais). In Rembrandt’s Self-Portrait his legs and feet are largely hidden behind a dog – a poodle – that he added around 1633 in the foreground. Seeing as how the dog does not appear in the work by his pupil, it was likely made between 1631 and 1633.