Hendrickje Stoffels: The “Gordigiani’s Rembrandt”?

Abstract

Hypothesis of attribution to Michele Gordigiani of the Hendrickje Stoffels portrait currently exhibited at the Städel Museum in Frankfurt and attributed to Rembrandt or pupil. The hypothesis exposed in this article is based on the existence of an excellent copy of the Hendrickje Stoffels made by Michele Gordigiani, a great nineteenth-century portraitist, on the complicated history of this painting during Nazism and IIWW, on the problem of the signature, on the skills of the painter and the critical judgment by Gerson. This historical study, performed through archive and library research, as well as the information it provides to the fascinating history of the painting, could help resolve the doubts on the attribution left open by the critics, as well as to arouse new interest for a highly skilled painter, unfortunately forgotten by the history of art.