Self-portrait in a flat cap and embroidered dress.

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, 200-300 years later, they were affordable to collectors such as Bishop Ditlev Monrad, who presented this print to the Colonial Museum in 1869, and Sir John Ilott.

 

Rembrandt's etchings are remarkable for their high number of self-portraits (over 30 out of about 290). These are particularly collectible, perhaps due to the smaller number of states as well as the artist's compelling and powerful presence. Unlike his stately religious scenes, or regal, posed portraits of others, which exhibit his careful and calculating brilliance as an etcher, Rembrandt's self-portraits reveal him as an artist and a man. In them he assumes the role of the experimenting artist, approaching the most difficult of subjects - himself.

 

In this etching, Rembrandt has portrayed himself in bright sunlight that casts one side of his face and body into deep shadow. The print dates from 1642 when he was in his later thirties, still at the height of his career and Amsterdam's foremost artist, and suggests his confidence, even arrogance. But the same year marked a turning point with the tragically premature death of his wife, Saskia. This impression dates from the 18th century and is the last of three states, with the signature retouched.

 

References: New Hollstein Dutch 210, 3rd of 3 states; Hollstein Dutch 26, undescribed state

 

See:

Masterworks Fine Art, https://www.masterworksfineart.com/artist/harmensz-van-rijn-rembrandt/rembrandt-in-cap-and-scarf/

Museum Het Rembrandthuis, https://www.rembrandthuis.nl/en/rembrandt-2/collection/etchings/

 

Dr Mark Stocker     Curator, Historical International Art    September 2017