The ship of fortune.

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. It also explains why, three centuries later, they were affordable for Sir John Ilott, who presented 37 Rembrandt prints to the National Art Gallery.

 

This ranks as one of Rembrandt's more minor etchings, but is by no means uninteresting. He very rarely accepted requests to illustrate books, but this is one such instance. This allegorical etching appeared in Elias Herckman's Der Zee-Vaert Lof  (Amsterdam, 1634), a verse history of seafaring exploits that extended back to Noah and the Ark. The undulating baroque composition is a complex evocation of Octavian, later Augustus, the first Roman emperor, and the defeat of his political rival Mark Antony at the Battle of Actium. Weary of battle, Octavian's horse sinks to the ground. The event ushered in an era of peaceful maritime trade. There are obvious topical references to the 80 Years' War between Spain and the Dutch Republic, which was still being waged at the time, and the Dutch desire for trade and prosperity. Rembrandt gave himself a witty cameo role in the composition, using his own likeness for the image of Janus, the two-faced god whose temple was closed to mark the arrival of peace in Rome.

 

The print of the text on the reverse side of this etching is easily visible. Te Papa's impression is from the second of two states (both by Rembrandt). It can be distinguished by its trimmed plate, the cross-hatching on Fortune’s back, vertical shading on the lower right-hand side of the gate surround, and the signature being partially burnished. It corresponds to the description in the New Hollstein, Rembrandt Vol. I: ‘Early impressions (often those in the book by Herckmans)… still show the horizontal glitch over the mast and flag of the ship, that was already there in state I' (p. 197).

 

References: New Hollstein Dutch 123, 2nd of 2 states; Hollstein Dutch 111, 2nd of 2 states

 

See:

Amy Golahny, Rembrandt's Readings... (Amsterdam, 2003), p. 36.

 

Minneapolis Institute of Art, https://collections.artsmia.org/art/55335/the-ship-of-fortune-rembrandt-harmensz-van-rijn

 

Dr Mark Stocker   Curator, Historical International Art    August 2017