Rembrandt Expert Jakob Rosenberg Dies at Age 87

Jakob Rosenberg, professor of Fine Arts in the Fogg Museum Emeritus, died Monday at Mount Auburn Hospital at the age of 87.

Renowned for his studies of the works of Rembrandt and Ruisdael, Rosenberg was a former curator of the Fogg's print department and had been at Harvard since 1936.

"He was the most remarkable connoisseur of Dutch painting and North European print and drawings ever to work in the field," Sydney J. Freedberg, Porter Professor of Fine Arts, said yesterday.

Large Collection

Rosenberg also "had the adventurousness to build up a fine collection of contemporary prints," Freedberg said.

"He was at home with Picasso as he was with Pisanello. Thanks to his eye and keen judgement, Harvard's art collections are rich in works by leading 20th century masters," Seymour Slive, Gleason Professor of Fine Arts and director of the Fogg Museum, said Monday.

Rosenberg was the author or co-author of nine books, including a major text on the work of Lucas Cranach, a 16th-century German artist.

The Harvard University Press has published five editions of Rosenberg's "Rembrandt," which Freedberg called "one of the most profound books on Rembrandt ever written."

Rosenberg earned his fine arts doctorate from the University of Munich in 1922. He had held appointments at the National Gallery of Art in Washington and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and had received numerous honorary positions.