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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 the years after 1630 Rembrandt drew a series of red chalk drawings of imposing old men. Some of these subjects were later used in paintings of biblical subjects or of meditating men. This series of drawings is connected with several etchings by Rembrandt, seven of which including this work are currently in Te Papa's collection. These are known as tronies, the Dutch word at the time for a face. Typically these are heads or busts only, concentrating on the facial expression, but often half-length when featured in an exotic costume. Tronies might be based on studies from life or use the features of actual sitters. Both paintings and prints of this kind were sold on the art market without identification of the sitter, and were not commissioned and retained by the sitter as portraits normally were. Rembrandt's tronies were among his most popular and widely imitated prints.
Intricate cross-hatching and deft handling of light characterise this print. Sunken shadows follow the old man's weathered face, undulating over his aged skin and full beard. He is depicted in a three-quarter profile, with his eyes closed, and appears a wise, introspective figure - the closed eyes convey thought and perhaps prayer rather than sleep. He is exoticised by his distinguishing accessory, the textured high fur cap. Superficially this suggests wealth, but rather more likely Rembrandt would have used an impoverished model and a studio prop. To the left of the composition, a gradient of crosshatching fades into the empty background, creating a sense of atmosphere and depth.
This impression is the second of four states (the first two by Rembrandt), with rounded plate corners. It pre-dates the addition of dense horizontal hatching in bottom right corner, made when the plate was in the Parisian workshop of Henri Louis Basan (c. 1797-1809). There is a duplicate print, in the same state, also presented by Ilott to the National Art Gallery collection (1969-0002-10).
References:
New Hollstein Dutch 148, 2nd of 4 states; Hollstein Dutch 290, only state.https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tronie
Dr Mark Stocker Curator, Historical International Art August 2017