Woman at a door hatch talking to a man and children.

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, in later centuries, they were affordable for Bishop Ditlev Monrad, who donated this print to the Colonial Museum in 1869, and Sir John Ilott a century later.

Rembrandt's informal depictions of poorer townsfolk, peasants and beggars in episodes from humble, everyday life have been perennially popular with artists and collectors. In this print, the woman who peers from the top of a double door is the first person we see, as she is illuminated by the warmth and light from within. As we look further into the piece, we can see the so-called schoolmaster (according to recent art historians a humbler hurdy-gurdy player, which is barely visible), who appears to be engaged in conversation with her. We then see several children who surround the schoolmaster, hidden in the shadows and seemingly huddled together for warmth. Immediately the tone of the piece is changed and one is able to sense the schoolmaster's urgency to get his children inside. It is considered one of Rembrandt's more heartwarming compositions.

Te Papa's impression is from the second of four states (one by Rembrandt). It dates from the 18th century, and has been reworked, probably by Claude-Henri Watelet, French owner of this plate (together with probably another 80 or so others), and this can be seen in the woman’s earlobe and apploication of fine hatching in the shadows throughout. It certainly predates the changes made to the plate in Henri Louis Basan’s Parisian workshop (c. 1797-1809), inserting horizontal lines on the back of the brim of the teacher's hat, and further hatching.

 

References: New Hollstein Dutch 191, 2nd of 4 states; Hollstein Dutch 128, undescribed state

 

See: Masterworks Fine Art, https://www.masterworksfineart.com/artist/harmensz-van-rijn-rembrandt/the-schoolmaster-1641/

 

Dr Mark Stocker     Curator, Historical International Art    August 2017