Sheet of Studies including Head of the Artist, a Beggar Couple, Heads of an Old Man and Old Woman

c. 1632

Rembrandt van Rijn

Associated Names
Rembrandt van Rijn

Artist, Dutch, 1606 - 1669

The image shows a partial etching of a person's face and shoulders, positioned in the upper half of the composition, with the head slightly turned to the viewer's right. The face features curly hair that extends outward, partially shadowing one of the eyes, and a soft expression with faint outlines and shading. The individual wears a wide-brimmed hat which casts shadows across the face. Below the main portrait are sketch-like figures, loosely drawn, suggesting other possible figure studies or incomplete works, with lines crossing and intersecting without definitive features. The background is an unfilled, light-toned space that highlights the etched lines without any detailed context or scenery.

Media Options

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Artwork overview

  • Medium

    etching on laid paper

  • Credit Line

    Rosenwald Collection

  • Dimensions

    plate: 9.9 x 10.5 cm (3 7/8 x 4 1/8 in.)
    sheet: 10.3 x 10.7 cm (4 1/16 x 4 3/16 in.)

  • Accession Number

    1943.3.7081

  • Catalogue Raisonné

    White/Boon 1969, no. 363, State ii/ii

Artwork history & notes

Provenance

John Barnard (died 1784), London (Lugt 1420); Lessing Julius Rosenwald (1760b), purchased from Richard Zinser; given to the National Gallery of Art

Associated Names

Exhibition History

1961

  • University of Notre Dame Art Gallery, South Bend, IN, 1961.

  • Rembrandt's Etchings, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, 1961-1962.

1969

  • Rembrandt in the National Gallery of Art [Commemorating the Tercentenary of the Artist's Death], National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 1969, no. 67, 63.

1979

  • Self-Portraits: Prints from the Collection of the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 1979.

1984

  • Graphic Survey Show, National Gallery of Art, Washington D.C., February 1984.

2001

  • The Unfinished Print, National Gallery of Art, Washington, 2001, repro.

2004

  • The Unfinished Print, The Frick Collection, New York, 2004.

2006

  • Strokes of Genius: Rembrandt's Prints and Drawings, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.

Bibliography

1923

  • Hind, Arthur M. A Catalogue of Rembrandt's Etchings. London: Methuen and Co. Ltd., 1923.

1969

  • White, Christopher and Karel G. Boon. Rembrandt's Etchings. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Van Gendt & Co., 1969.

1993

  • The New Hollstein Dutch & Flemish Etchings, Engravings and Woodcuts, 1450-1700. Rotterdam: Sound & Vision Interactive, 1993: no. 115, ii/ii.

Inscriptions

recto: none; verso: in graphite at lower center in later hand: B. 363, [indecipherable] II, H.90 II / Coll. Rudge [?]

Markings

recto: none; verso: Lessing J. Rosenwald and National Gallery of Art

Watermarks

none

Wikidata ID

Q65024476

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