Arent de GELDER (Dordrecht, 1645 - 1727) Two young men preparing to leave Oil on canvas, probably a fragment Two young men preparing to leave, oil on canvas, by A. de Gelder 42.32 x 24.01 in. 107.5 x 61.5 cm Provenance: Private collection, Ile-de-France This remarkable find brings to light the work of a rare artist, who was one of Rembrandt's last pupils (1606-1669) from 1661 to 1663. This painting is probably the left-hand part of a larger composition, the subject of which is still shrouded in mystery. The muted colours used by the painter and the physiognomy of the figures are typical of the Dordrecht painter's distinctive style. The technique adopted is also characteristic of Arent de Gelder, with the material sometimes applied violently to the canvas with a knife, then scraped away to give volume and nuance, allowing the preparation to show through in a very subtle way. As with other of his compositions, here he uses the stem of his brush, leaving scratches in the still-fluid paint. The painter Arnold Houbraken (1660-1719), a contemporary of our artist, refers to this very technique in de Gelder: he "scratched the appearance of the embroidery or the threads of the fringe with the shaft of his brush, or by any means possible, if this served his purpose; and it is astonishing to see how natural and powerful such an approach can sometimes appear when viewed from a distance"¹. These practices can be seen in the painting of Lot and his daughters in the Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium in Brussels (90 x 90 cm, no. 3432), or in the painting of King Solomon in the Leiden collection in New York (105.3 x 94.5 cm, no. AG-104). In our painting, we find it in the straps of the bag, in the collar of the coat, but above all in the leather of the rucksack, whose delicate shades of brown are the result of this scraping technique. The height of our canvas corresponds to a format favoured by Arent de Gelder. The young boy's rucksack in the foreground seemed to us to evoke a departure for school. Although Arent de Gelder also depicts the story of Joseph on several occasions, which could be associated with our painting, it is not yet possible for us to identify the precise original subject of our canvas. Throughout his life, Arent de Gelder remained faithful to the example of Rembrandt, whose prestigious influence is clearly evident in our painting, and his works have often been wrongly attributed to his master. Perhaps the missing part of our composition should therefore be sought among the works attributed to Rembrandt's workshop. We would like to thank Dr. Jonathan Bikker for kindly confirming the authenticity of this work in an e-mail dated 12 September 2025. ¹ "Krabt de gedaante van het borduursel, of de draden der franje daaruit met zyn penceelstok, zonderende geene wyzen uit, als zy maar tot zyn oogmerk behulpig zyn; en 't ist e verwonderen hoe natuurlyk en kragtig zulk doen somwylen zig in affstant vertoont." Arnold Houbraken, De groote schouburgh der Nederlantsche konstschilders en schilderessen, 3 vols, Amsterdam, 1980, 3, p. 207-8. Arent de GELDER (Dordrecht, 1645 - 1727) 107.5 x 61.5 cm