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Overview
Johannes Lutma the Younger (1624-89), the Dutch printmaker, silversmith and medallist, was the son of the celebrated Johannes (or popularly 'Jan') Lutma, a celebrated goldsmith (1584-1669). In 1656, Rembrandt made a portrait etching of the elder Lutma, two impressions of which are in Te Papa's collection (1869-0001-430 and 1966-0005-9). Possibly in a spirit of friendly competition, the younger Lutma made an alternative etching of his father, facing the opposite direction. And instead of Lutma holding one of his beautiful precious metal creations, he holds a pair of glasses. This alludes to Lutma's sight problems: the same year (1656) Lutma declared himself cured of blindness, so if true it would have been a cause for family celebration - and commemoration in this portrait.
Although Lutma the Younger has been accused of 'leaning heavily on Rembrandt's example', this print reveals his very considerable competence in the medium. He explores tonal effects through the additional use of punch-work and the roulette. In later hammered or punched prints of the early 1680s, he produced exceptional grey tones by combining roulette accents in outlines and fine punching.
The print was presented in 1869 to the Colonial Museum by Bishop Ditlev Monrad - who also owned a large number of Rembrandt prints now in Te Papa's collection.
See:
The Grove Dictionary of Decorative Arts, Volume I (Oxford, 2004), p. 65, accessed through https://books.google.co.nz/books?id=i3Od9bcGus0C&pg=RA1-PA65&lpg=RA1-PA65&dq=johannes+lutma+the+younger+etching&source=bl&ots=wlqfSmHj2W&sig=PZIVUTWZwmskWUW8lx6ZV4iZxV0&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwj5lYTpp5zWAhWMyLwKHZWeDQgQ6AEIYTA Q#v=onepage&q=johannes%20lutma%20the%20younger%20etching&f=false
http://www.britishmuseum.org/research/collection_online/collection_object_details.aspx?objectId=760343&partId=1&searchText= Jan+Lutma+rembrandt&page=1, reproducing the dicussion in Erik Hinterding et al, Rembrandt the Printmaker (London and Amsterdam, 2000).
Dr Mark Stocker Curator, Historical International Art September 2017