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Rembrandt van Rijn

Kostverloren Castle in Decay

c. 1652
Pen and brown ink, with brush and brown wash, heightened with touches of opaque white watercolor, on cream laid paper
10.9 × 17.5 cm (4.3 × 6.9 in)

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In the collection of Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago · as of July 2026

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FROM THE ART INSTITUTE OF CHICAGO’S CATALOG

Rembrandt and his contemporaries shared a fascination with the Kostverloren estate, in part because of the successive misfortunes that its owners seemed to endure. Already by Rembrandt’s time it had taken on its name, which translates as “lost expenses” or, more colloquially, “money pit.” The site faced another setback when much of the castle was destroyed in a fire. After this damage—and before its eventual repair—Rembrandt entered the grounds of the castle and recorded its diminished state. His emphasis on decay is made clear by the felled tree in foreground; its strident horizontality sets off the faded majesty of the castle’s once-grand structures.

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