Skip to main content
Previous
Next

B 253

The bull (‘Het stiertje’)

  • French title:
    Le taureau
  • German title:
    Der Stier
  • Dutch title:
    Het stiertje
  • New Hollstein:
    259

Etching and drypoint. Ca. 1651.
Size: 76 x 105 mm. Surface: 80 cm2.
Signed and dated: Rembrandt. f. 165? The last figure of the date is unclear. It could be 0 as well as 4. Most authors date the etching in 1650.

Copper Plate

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

Rarity of impressions

  • In auctions (2000-2025): not seen in auctions

  • In collections (New Hollstein – 2013): extremely rare         Early: 2                                         ⦿⦿⦿⦿⦿⦿

  • Catalogue Nowell-Usticke (1967): O-, an unobtainable rarity

Description

This very rare etching shows a bull tied with a rope, with foliage in the background.

Copies

B&W 387 – Copy A of NH 259 – B 253

 

There are two copies in the same direction.
Copy A is by Leopold Flameng, inscribed in the lower right corner Rembrandt f. (NH state erroneously the left corner). It is included in Blanc’s catalogue and in the collection ‘Rembrandt in Black & White’, number 387 (74 x 106 mm, WB 1).
Copy B is an anonymous copy with scratches in the sky just above the trees (74 x 106 mm, not traced by NH, WB 2).

Attributions and reviews

The etching is considered as special by Rovinsky.
The plate is not by Rembrandt according to Coppier and Singer.

States

One state only.

Prints and collections

The only two known impressions of this plate are in the Rijksmuseum (R656) and in the British Museum.

Literature

H 247, BB 50-5, Y 91, M 289, Mz 165, RA 656, Cl 250, W 249, Bl 346, Du 250, CD 195

Previous
Next