The copperplate was acquired by Capt. William Baillie who used it for (retouched) reprints in the Boydell Album. It was then with John Boydell (1792/1803). The plate was used again in 1826 by John Sheepshanks, Andrew Geddes, Walter Griffin and a certain Steward. The plate is lost since.

Cornelius Anslo was a cloth merchant and Mennonite preacher in Amsterdam (1592-1646). He was part of the liberal section of the community, called De Waterlanders.

Various authors have given different identifications of the object on the right-hand side, with the signature on it. Is it a cupboard, a desk, the backside of a painting or a mirror? The latter two may have been taken from the nail in the wall. The nail may be a reference to the church at the Singel in Amsterdam in which Anslo preached. It was called ‘De Grote Spijker’ (The Big Nail).

In the same year Rembrandt painted a double portrait of Anslo and his wife, Aeltje Gerritsdr Schouten (A143, Bredius 409, now in the Gemäldegalerie in Berlin).
And and two preparatory drawings. The smaller one (Benesch 758, now in the British Museum) is in red chalk. It shows a half-length person and resembles the etching. It is indented for transfer, but shows chalk verso. The second one (Benesch 759, now in the Louvre) shows a full length person, seated, gesturing with his left hand.
The actual order in which these four works were made remains the subject of debate between various authors.

The New Hollstein lists three copies in the same direction. Copy A is a contemporary copy by Salomon Savry, originally printed with inscribed eulogies by various writers, including Vondel and Barlaeus. These inscriptions were often cut off to imitate the original etching (120 x 102 mm). In this copy the distance between the back of the chair and the lower borderline is 39 mm, against 18 mm in the original. (270 x 180 mm, WB).
Copy B is by Jan Casper Philips  (138 x 83 mm). Copy C is by Carl Enequist, inscribed Rembrandt f. | 1640 (183 x 160 mm).

The etching is considered as special by Bartsch, Coppier, Rovinsky, De Claussin and Wilson.
Joost van den Vondel stated that the portrait did not ‘honour’ the sitter sufficiently in a poem of which the final phrase reads: “Wie Anslo zien wil, moet hem hooren” (In order to see Anslo, you must hear him).

The New Hollstein lists five states, only the first two by Rembrandt. White-Boon list two states, Hind and Münz three, Biörklund four and Nowell-Usticke one trial proof and six states. From his 3rd state there are later impressions by Capt. Baillie and Boydell.
In the 1st state (NH, WB, R702, 704/NU trial proof A) there is a white strip at the bottom of the plate and burnished lines at the lower left. The left fold of the tablecloth is regularly shaded.
In the 1st state (NU only) the line at the bottom is worked over and the tablecloth shows a stripe near the bottom. The strip is still blank.
In the 2nd state (NH, WB, NU, R703, 705) the strip is worked over, shadows are added to the fur collar above the right hand. Cross-hatching is added to the left sleeve (NH).
In the 3rd state (NH, NU, R706) the plate is retouched in several places, probably by Capt. Baillie (NH). Fine vertical lines just under the top of the reed pen. The small highlight under the right elbow. Many more small lines (NH).
In the 4th state (NH, NU) the strip at the bottom is burnished out, returning it more or less to the 1st state.
In the 5th state (NH/5th and 6th state NU) four impressions were made by Sheepshanks, Geddes, Tuffin and Stewart, each signing with their name in the blank strip.

Of the 1st state only six impressions are known, in the British Museum (the name Ansloos written in the blank strip), the Bibliothèque Nationale (Anslo and Rembrandt f 1641 written in the blank strip), the Teylers Museum in Haarlem, the Kupferstichkabinett in Berlin, the Rothshild Collection in Paris and the Metropolitan Museum in New York.
An impression of the 2nd state in the British Museum shows a poem by Joost van den Vondel.
Many impressions of the 3rd and 4th state are on fake oriental paper used by Capt. Baillie.

In the 1st state: Strasbourg lily with initial L (1641).
In the 2nd state: Basel crosier (1641-42); Arms of Amsterdam with cm IFD’.

H 187, BB 41-J, G 251, M 146, Mz 60, RA 702-707, Cl 268, W 273, Bl 170, Du 254, CD 139, S112.
White 1999, p. 53; Dickey 2004, p. 48ff; Hoekveld-Meier 2005, p. 77-79; Regie Rembrandt 2024, p. 28-29;

New Hollstein: 4^th state of V/White-Boon: 2^nd state of II.
A good, but later impression with traces of burr in several places. The white strip at the bottom showing (again) indicating the 4th state (NH).
Sheet: 191/190 x 160/159 mm, thread margins of 1 mm on three sides, trimmed on the platemark at the top (+3%).
Printed on Oriental paper, probably the paper used by Capt. Baillie. In that case this impression can be dated in the second part of the 18^th century.

Rembrandt in Zwart-Wit, Het Hannemahuis (Harlingen), March – July 2014;
Rembrandt in Black & White: Schloβ Britz (Berlin), November 2015 – February 2016;
Rembrandt, de fotograaf, Westfries Museum (Hoorn), June 2024 – January 2025;