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B 175

Seated beggar with his dog

  • French title:
    Vieux mendiant assis, accompagné de sa chien
  • German title:
    Sitzender Bettler mit seinem Hunde
  • Dutch title:
    Zittende bedelaar met zijn hond
  • New Hollstein:
    17

Etching. 1630.
Size: 116 x 70 mm. Surface 81 cm2.
Signed in monogram and dated, in the lower middle: RHL 1630

Copper Plate

The plate was not part of any of the major, early collections and is probably not in existence.

Rarity of impressions

  • In auctions (2000-2025): extremely rare                               Late: 1                                           ⦿⦿⦿⦿⦿⦿

  • In collections (New Hollstein  – 2013): extremely rare        Early: 1   Late: 13                        ⦿⦿⦿⦿⦿⦿

  • Catalogue Nowell-Usticke (1967): O-, practically unobtainable                                               ⦿⦿⦿⦿⦿⦿

Description

This etching belongs to the series of beggars and street folk that Rembrandt made around 1630 inspired by a similar series made by Callot in 1622. It shows an old man with his dog beside him. It is obviously an beggar, with the hole is his trousers and bare left foot. It may also be a leper, since it seems that a rattle is hanging under his left knee. An instrument that lepers were obliged to bear with them, warning by-passers of the infectious disease. The man is warming his hands in a similar way as shown in Bartsch 173 (NHD 44).

Attributions and reviews

The plate was made by a pupil according to Seidlitz and Campbell Dodgson.
The plate is not by Rembrandt according to Middleton, Coppier, Michel and Singer.
Given his lack of experience and the many imperfections in the only impression of the 1st state it is likely that the later states were all worked on by, at the time, more skilled artists.

States

NH lists five states, only the first by Rembrandt, all other authors list two states.
In the 1st state (NH, WB, R502/NU trial proof A) the monogram is lacking, there is only etched work.
In the 2nd state (NH, WB final, R503-504/1st state NU) the monogram and date is added, and the plate is heavily reworked with the burin*. Not by Rembrandt (WB/NHD).
In the 3rd state (NH) some lines are added to the top of the head and to the fur lining of the cloak at the left shoulder and near the left sleeve*. The eye of the dog is darker (JM).
In the 4th state (NH) hairs are added at the right side of the dog’s head. The darker area on the shoulder of the 3rd state seem to be missing* (JM).
In the 5th state (NH) cross-hatching is added to the area above the foot*.

Prints and collections

Of the 1st state the only known impression is in the Bibliothèque Nationale, printed on the reverse of a unique impression of A Stout man in a large cloak (B184).
The only impressions of the 3rd and 4th state are also in the Bibliothèque Nationale resp. in the Teylers Museum (Haarlem).

Literature

H 75, BB 31-P, G 169, M 65, Mz 103, RA 502-504, Cl 172, W 172, Bl 139, Du 171, CD 289

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