Around 1630 Rembrandt etched a series of beggars. It is generally assumed that he was inspired by a series of beggars made by Callot in 1622. He copied the long parallel lines Callot used to indicate shadows. In turn, Rembrandt’s work has inspired many others, like Quast, Savery, van Vliet, van Schendel and Bloemaert, to produce series of beggars and other ‘street types’.
This very special etching, of which only one impression is known, is one of the first of a series of beggars and street folk that Rembrandt will draw in later years.
This is one of the first etchings of beggars, of which Rembrandt will make many more drawings and etchings in later years. It is the first in which a couple is shown.
This etching is part of the series of beggars and street folk Rembrandt made around 1630. Rembrandt treats his subject with much respect. Quite contrary to the way beggars with a wooden leg were normally treated by ‘the public’.
These etchings are unique in the work of Rembrandt, not only because the two clearly are meant as a pair, but also because it is the only occasion that a text is added by Rembrandt himself. Another peculiarity is the fact that the two subjects are not facing each other, but are back-to-back. It is probably one of the few moments where Rembrandt did not take the effect of the reversal into account, since he started to make impressions in which the men are facing each other (178 on the left, 177 on the right side) with the ‘wrong’ sequence of the text as a result. In the catalogue of the de Burgy sale in 1755 the pair was listed as De Twé Schurkjes (The two Rogues). The skater in the background leaves no doubt about the time of the year in which the scene is placed. The long stick in the skaters hand can also be seen in The Skater (B156). It is meant to serve as a live-saving tool in case of a hole in the ice.
In the De Burgy sale (1755) this plate was referred to as Een oud Man, zittende zig te warmen over een Tesje met Vuur en een Knapzak byzich (An old man sitting and warming himself over a fire pan with fire and a knapsack with him). Around 1630 Rembrandt etched a series of beggars. It is generally assumed that he was inspired by a series of beggars made by Callot in 1622. He copied the long parallel lines Callot used to indicate shadows.
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).
The scene pictured here is a leper with a wooden instrument in his right hand, used to warn bystanders of the presence of a contagiously ill person. Because of the rattling noise it was called a Lazarus klep.
A somewhat older man, leaning his body and face a bit to the left, staring at a spot on the ground. He has his hands folded behind his back, holding what seems to be a long wooden stick. His jacket, closed with one button high on his belly, has a large lapel on the left side. Underneath the jacket a vest is visible. He wears a belt from which a knife is hanging. The unshaven face is covered with a hat with flaps over his ears. There are long stretches of an unknown fabric running from the flaps to his shoulders. The light comes from the left foreground, quite unusual in Rembrandt’s etchings. It leaves a long shadow behind the man.
After many years Rembrandt returns to the subject of beggars, of which he made so many etchings in the period between 1628 and 1631. But in this etching the expression is much finer and deeper. Rembrandt probably used edging pens with different sizes to achieve variety in the lines. Hinterding points at the technical problems Rembrandt faced, since the thin etching lines are ‘overshadowed’ by burr resulting from the drypoint rework.
In the catalogue of the De Burgy sale of 1755 this print was referred to as Een oude bedelares met een kruikje, van agteren (An Old Beggar Woman with a jug, from behind). This etching is part of the series of beggars Rembrandt etched around 1630. It is generally assumed that he was inspired by a series of beggars made by Callot in 1622. He copied the long parallel lines Callot used to indicate shadows. In turn, Rembrandt’s work has inspired many others, like Quast, Savery, van Vliet, van Schendel and Bloemaert, to produce series of beggars and other ‘street folk’.
Around 1630 Rembrandt etched a series of beggars. It is generally assumed that he was inspired by a series of beggars made by Callot in 1622. He copied the long parallel lines Callot used to indicate shadows. In turn, Rembrandt’s work has inspired many others, like Quast, Savery, van Vliet, van Schendel and Bloemaert, to produce series of beggars and other ‘street types’.
This rare print is part of a series of beggars and street folk Rembrandt etched around 1630. He may have just been inspired by the scenes of everyday life that surrounded him, it may also be meant as practice for the many figures he used in the genre scenes he started making some years later. There is no doubt that he was inspired by the work of Jacques Callot, of which he owned various albums. Callot was the first artist to draw ‘ordinary’ people.
This is the first etching of which Rembrandt himself made a lot of different states, each time making quite small improvements. Hinterding concludes that these minute changes indicate a certain inexperience and uncertainty. The later states must have been made to repair the wear, which would indicate a large number of impressions, whereas only very few seem to have survived. The butt on the left is probably meant to cover up remains of earlier use of the plate.
This etching is generally considered to be a pendant of B 168, Old beggar woman with a gourd. Despite the large number of states, impression are very rare. This leads to the conclusion that Rembrandt may have considered this plate to be an experimental one.
Around 1630 Rembrandt etched a series of beggars. It is generally assumed that he was inspired by a series of beggars made around 1622 by Jacques Callot (1592-1635). He copied the long parallel lines Callot used to indicate shadows. In turn, Rembrandt’s work has inspired many others, like Quast, Savery, van Vliet, van Schendel and Bloemaert, to produce series of beggars and other ‘street types’. Rembrandt probably used an old plate for this etching since many small spots and scratches are visible.
This very rare etching clearly shows that Rembrandt was inspired by a series of beggars made by Jacques Callot in 1622. Rembrandt had various albums with works by Callot in his possession. Typical elements of his works are the long parallel lines to indicate shadows. Callot made a very similar etching of a beggar, Standing beggar with stick, which Rembrandt may have used as an example. It is by far the largest of all beggar-etchings made by Rembrandt.