Terms and conditions of use
Sheet of studies with the head of the artist, a beggar man, woman and child
1651
- Medium
- etching and engraving
- Measurements
- 11.2 × 9.2 cm (plate) 11.5 × 9.6 cm (sheet)
- Catalogue/s Raisonné
- Bartsch 370; Hind 230; White & Boon 370; NHD 261
- Edition
- only state
- Inscription
- printed in ink l.r. vertically: RHL 1651
- Accession Number
- 1245-5
- Departments
- International Prints / International Prints and Drawings
- Credit Line
- National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
Everard Studley Miller Bequest, 1961
This digital record has been made available on NGV Collection Online through the generous support of the Joe White Bequest - Gallery location
- 17th Century & Flemish Paintings Gallery
Level 2, NGV International - About this work
-
In his etchings that look like drawn ‘study sheets’, Rembrandt would have rotated the plate like a sheet of paper to accommodate several unrelated drawings – here including a self-portrait, a beggar and a woman and child. In the etching we can follow the artist observing, thinking and making decisions in the act of sketching. Although Rembrandt did not sell his drawings, he sold etchings that looked like spontaneous sketches, knowing that these would appeal to connoisseurs who were interested in the artistic process.
- Subjects (general)
- Human Figures Portraits
- Subjects (specific)
- beggars children (people by age group) Rembrandt, Harmensz van Rijn self-portraits studies (visual works) women (female humans)
- Movements
- Baroque
Watermarks
-
- Watermark Form
-
Strasbourg lily
- The Strasbourg lily watermark shows a shield with a fleur-de-lis surmounted by a crown. There are many variants of the Strasbourg lily motif used by papermakers in Strasbourg, and some variants have also been connected to South-West France from the mid-17th century onward.
- Watermark and variant description
- Strasbourg lily - variant ZZ. Unidentified reference.
- Additional notes
- This example includes the monogram 'WR' below the shield and refers to the papermill of Wendelin Richel or Rihel, a printer and papermaker from Strasbourg in the 16th century.
- Completeness
- partial
- Chain Line Interval
- 23-24 mm
- Laid Line Frequency
- 12 per cm
- Placement and spacing of wires
- ?
- Wire Side
- verso
- Radiograph taken from
- verso
