Les deux Philosophes de Rembrandt : une passion de collectionneurs

The two Philosophers by Rembrandt in the Louvre collections are once again to receive the names under which they were engraved in 1753-1754 by Louis Surugue and under which they appeared in 18 th -century auction catalogues: Philosopher in Contemplation and Philosopher in Meditation, the latter attributed by Gerson to Salomon Koninck. Reflecting the speculative fever that had gripped the art market, they changed hands between the greatest French art lovers of the Enlightenment; the Comte de Vence, the Due de Choiseul, Randon de Boisset and the Comte de Vaudreuil. On the other hand, few historians are aware that this "matching pair"-regarded in their day as an artistic marvel-was reunited by the Marquis de Voyer d'Argenson whose connoisseur's eye recognised the stylistic superiority of a genuine Rembrandt. Some hitherto unpublished documents from the d'Argenson collection in Poitiers shed new light on the history of the two Philosophers before they entered the French Royal Collection in 1784.