Object Details
Artist
Rembrandt van Rijn
Date
1651
Medium
Etching, drypoint, and engraving on laid paper
Dimensions
Sheet: 8 1/4 × 6 7/16 inches (21 × 16.4 cm)
Credit Line
Acquired through the generosity of Seymour R. Askin, Jr., Class of 1947, and Helen-Mae Askin, and through the Frank and Margaret Robinson Prints, Drawings, and Photographs Endowment
Object
Number
2014.020
The shadowy appearance of this unconventional portrait and the subtle changes to the sitter’s faci(…)
The shadowy appearance of this unconventional portrait and the subtle changes to the sitter’s facial expression that can be seen between states are as mysterious as the relationship between the artist and his subject. Clement de Jonghe (ca. 1624–1677), an Amsterdam publisher and seller of prints and maps, is perhaps best known for having obtained, over seventy of the artist’s copperplates. The informality of the sitter here, posing without first shedding cloak or gloves, makes one wonder about the relationship between artist and sitter.
The first state, which Rembrandt often printed on Japanese paper, shows corrections indicating that he was drawing directly on the plate without a preparatory sketch. One example is the apparent extension of de Jonghe’s cloak at lower right—the previous higher hem is still visible behind new hatching.
In the fifth state, the key change is the burnishing out of the hatching inside the triangle of the chair’s post and top rail by the sitter’s left shoulder. The existence of states of the print with this area both filled and open, as noted by early collectors, seems to have proved an incentive to collect them all.
The relatively large surviving numbers of each state of this print may indicate a collaboration between the printseller de Jonghe and Rembrandt, to circulate de Jonghe’s image and stimulate the collecting of the various versions.
(“Lines of Inquiry: Learning from Rembrandt’s Etchings,” curated by Andrew C. Weislogel and presented at the Johnson Museum September 23–December 17, 2017)
