REMBRANDT: Bald headed man in profile right: the artist’s father (?) - 1630
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Etching and drypoint, 70 x 58 mm. Bartsch 292, Biörklund and Barnard 30-G, New Hollstein 62 V/V.
Impression of the 5th state (of 5), after the plate was cut down by Rembrandt. Impressions of the four earlier states are very scarce.
Fine impression printed on laid paper. A tiny pinhole in the subject and a very tiny loss of paper at the tip of the bottom right corner, otherwise in very good condition.
There is mention of a copperplate representing Rembrandt's father in Clément de Jonghe's 1679 inventory, but so far it hasn't been possible to identify it. As a result, the face of Harmen Gerritsz. van Rijn, Rembrandt's father, remains unknown. The bald headed old man portrayed here by Rembrandt appears in other etchings, drawings and paintings that Rembrandt made around 1630, the year Harmen Gerritsz. van Rijn died. This is the case for the following prints: NH 57 (1630), NH 59 (1630), NH 60 (1630), NH 61 (1630) and NH 85 (1631).
Erik Hinterding notes that in the fourth state “the figure certainly sits more comfortably in the space, but the torso has now become disproportionately large in comparison to the head. This may have been why the plate was cut down in the third state. Rembrandt took opportunity to add shading to the head, the shirt and the fur collar, and darken the background.”
Rare.
Reference: Erik Hinterding: Rembrandt etchings from the Frits Lugt collection, vol. 1, pp. 533-535.