Dr. Sabine Pénot is Curator of Netherlandish and Dutch Paintings at the Kunsthistorisches Museum (KHM) in Vienna, Austria.

8 Foreword Sabine Haag 10 Acknowledgements Sabine Pénot 13 Introduction Sabine Pénot 26 Comparative Timeline Angelina Illes 37 Rembrandt and Samuel van Hoogstraten: Collecting, Presence, and Esteem in the Habsburg Patrimonial Lands and Collections Sabine Pénot 63 ‘Come, behold Hochstraet!’: Samuel van Hoogstraten’s Self-Portraits and Rembrandt Volker Manuth 81 Reflecting on the Visible World Celeste Brusati 91 ‘Art cannot attain any perfection unless one … is guided by unerring rules of instruction.’ Van Hoogstraten’s Estimation of Rembrandt as a teacher Jonathan Bikker 113 History Painting Volker Manuth 123 From Rembrandt’s nae ’t leven to Van Hoogstraten’s zichtbaere werelt David de Witt 153 Rembrandt and Samuel van Hoogstraten and their Passion for Illusions Leonore van Sloten 183 Precious Props. Rembrandt’s Strategic Use of Fashion Accessories in his Portraits Marieke de Winkel 199 Gold Marieke de Winkel 207 Rembrandt’s A Woman in Bed (Sarah Awaiting Tobias): Ambiguity and Illusion Christian Tico Seifert 219 Samuel van Hoogstraten and the Central European Scientists of Sight: Astronomy, Jesuit Optics, Perspective Technique Paolo Sanvito 233 Samuel van Hoogstraten’s Illusionistic Paintings for Emperor Ferdinand III – Two Case Studies Erma Hermens and Sabine Pénot in collaboration with Eva Götz, Elke Oberthaler, and Ina Slama 254 List of Works 264 Reference List 273 Index