The copperplate was not in any of the early sales or collections and is considered te be lost.

This etching was named Het Schuytje op de Voorgrondt (The boat in the foreground) in Valerius Rover’s catalogue of 1731. It may have been part of a larger work, since it fits very well to the right of Canal with an angler and two swans (B235). It could well be, as suggested by several authors, that both etchings were originally made on one plate. Although part of the scenery (the boat moored in the reeds of the riverbank) looks distinctly Dutch, the hilly background and Romanesque church can certainly not be found in Holland. This combination of local and foreign landscapes is seen regularly in Rembrandts works. It indicates that he has probably not worked from life.

NH lists five copies in reverse. Three of those are by Claude Henri Watelet, all signed but with different years. Copy A is dated 1758, the 7 in reverse and included in Watelet’s Rymbranesques (102 x 104 mm). Copy B is dated 1759 (98 x 156 mm). Copy C is dated 1784, the 7 in reverse (101 x 106 mm, WB 2).
The other two are Copy D, by Louis Gervais Marvy, signed Louis Marvy dapres Rembrandt (102 x 144 mm, WB 1) and copy E by Birger John Forsberg, inscribed Rembrandt f. (85 x 108 mm).

All authors list two states.
In the 1st state (R627) the trees beneath the square tower are unshaded. Three vertical lines cut the horizon.
In the 2nd state (R628) the trees are shaded. A small hill is added on the horizon to the right of the tower, now including the three vertical lines.

Of the 1st state only six impressions are known, of which four are on Japanese paper.
Of the 2nd state there is an impression on Japanese paper in the Rijksmuseum.

In the 2nd state: Arms of Amsterdam with cm IFD (c. 1665 ?); Posthorn with IR; Strasbourg lily (2 ed.) for a total of four editions of which three were printed in the late 1650’s (HD 2008).

H 239, BB 50-B, G 227, M 323, Mz 162, RA 627-628, Cl 233, W 233, Bl 336, Du 233, CD 199
Hinterding 2008, p. 446-448;

NH/WB: 2nd and final state.
An early impression on laid paper with much burr, a few unobtrusive pale stains in the sky.
Sheet 86 x 111/112 mm, thread margins of 1-2 mm on all sides (+9%).
No watermark, vertical chain lines at approx. 26 mm.

Rembrandt in Zwart-Wit, Het Markiezenhof in Bergen op Zoom, (August – November 2013);
Rembrandt: Paysages, Fonds Glenat (Couvent Ste.Cecile – Grenoble), February – June 2023;