REMBRANDT: Saskia as Saint Catherine - 1638

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Etching and drypoint, 111 x 78 mm. Bartsch 342, Biörklund and Barnard 38-A, Hind 154, New Hollstein 169.

Impression of the only state, with the scratches above the wheel at right.

Very fine impression, printed on laid paper. All the details are distinct, especially the eyes of the model, the hair and the pearls; the shadows are well-contrasted, with touches of burr visible on the pearls, under the chin and under the hands.

In very good condition. A very slight waterstain in the upper left corner; a few very pale foxmarks. Thread margins around the platemark (sheet: 115 x 82 mm).

Scarce print.

Saskia is usually recognized as the model for this portrait of Saint Catherine with the instrument of torture, the toothed wheel at her left. This print was also known in the 18th century as ‘het klijne Jooden Bruitje’ (‘The Little Jewish Bride’), with reference to the print known as ‘The Great Jewish Bride’, ‘het Jooden bruitje’, etched by Rembrandt in 1635: some scholars assumed that the model was the daughter of a Portuguese Jewish physician, Ephraïm Bonus.