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Overview
During his lifetime, Rembrandt's extraordinary skills as a printmaker were the main source of his international fame. Unlike his oil paintings, prints travelled light and were relatively cheap. For this reason, they soon became very popular with collectors not only within, but also beyond the borders of the Netherlands, and it also explains why, three centuries later, they were affordable for Wellington collector and philanthropist Sir John Ilott, who presented 37 Rembrandt prints to the National Art Gallery between 1952 and 1969.
In this etching, Rembrandt portrays an important political and theological figure of the period, Johannes Wtenbogaert (traditionally Jan Uytenbogaert) (1557-1644), a leader of the Dutch Remonstrants and a former chaplain to Maurice, Prince of Orange. Following the views of Jacobus Arminius, the Remonstrants presented to the States-General in 1610 a 'Remonstrance', setting forth their points of divergence from stricter Calvinism. Attacked on all sides, they were expelled from the Netherlands by the Protestant Synod of Dort (1618-19), which declared Remonstrant theology contrary to Scripture. Allowed back in the Netherlands by 1630, they were officially recognised in 1798. The movement is still strong, and its liberal school of theology has reacted powerfully on the Dutch state church and on other Christian denominations.
Rembrandt's etching dates from the mid-1630s when he was at the height of his fame and fashionability and had relatively recently moved from Leiden to Amsterdam. Two years previously, he had painted Wtenbogaert, and the portrait survives in the Rijksmuseum. Although the angle of the head, ruff and skull-cap (calotte) are similar, there are important changes in the introduction of a fur-trimmed robe (known as a tabard) and background drapery in the etching. Wtenbogaert is every inch the dignified, sagacious, elderly scholar and theologian.
The inscription, in Latin, is far more extensive than in Rembrandt's other prints, and was composed by the leading Remonstrant Hugo de Groot. It alludes to Wtenbogaert's piety and court service, as well as his 'comeback' to the Hague in 1629.
Te Papa's impression is from the fifth state of the etching, the final one where Rembrandt himself worked on the plate. Our collection also has a seventh state impression, dating from the 18th century (1869-0001-436), donated by Bishop Ditlev Monrad to the Colonial Museum.
Reference: New Hollstein Dutch 153, 5th of 9 states; Hollstein Dutch 279, 5th of 6 states.
See:
Minneapolis Institute of Art, https://collections.artsmia.org/art/108013/jan-uytenbogaert-preacher-of-the-remonstrants-rembrandt-harmensz-van-rijn
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Remonstrants
Rijksmueum, https://www.rijksmuseum.nl/en/collection/SK-A-4885
Dr Mark Stocker Curator, Historical International Art August 2017