The copperplate was initially in the hands of an unknown owner who added two dots in the upper right corner. Then it appeared in the sale by Pieter de Haan (1767, lot 53) where it was sold via Fouquet to Claude-Henri Watelet (1718-1786). It then became part of the set of plates subsequently owned and used for printing Recueils by Pierre-François Basan (1723-1797), Henri-Louis Basan (his nr 1428), Auguste Jean (ca 1809), Veuve Jean, Auguste and Michel Bernard (1846) and Robert Lee Humber (1937). It was sold at the Artemis sale in London (1993) and is now probably in a private collection in the USA.

This etching was made in the same year that Rembrandt made two other nudes, B193 and B196. It is clearly a study of the male nude, showing the same model twice, but in different positions. This ‘learning’ element is also the reason that a charming group of mother and child is pictured in the background. As Jan Emmens pointed out in 1968, learning a baby to walk was a common metaphor for learning in general. It also gave the etching the nickname De Rolwagen (the walking frame), as early as 1731 (Valerius Röver’s inventory).

Royalton-Kisch has convincingly stated that three drawings of the same model, in reverse and each from a slightly different angle, are probably made by three pupils at the same moment Rembrandt etched this plate. Even their relative positions can be deduced from the angle they show in their work. Carel Fabritius, probably the pupil that draw the one in the Albertina (Benesch 709) must have been in the far left, followed by Rembrandt, then Samuel van Hoogstraten (1627-1678), whose drawing most resembles that of the etching (Bibliothèque Nationale, Benesch A55) and finally the unidentified pupil who draw the one in the British Museum (Benesch 710a).

There are two copies in reverse. Copy A is signed by Georg Leopold Hertel. It is in the collection  ‘Rembrandt in Black&White ‘ as number 347 (190 x 130 mm, WB only). Copy B, with the woman and child only, is by Johann Colizzi, signed IK Colizzi f (62 x 71 mm).

NH lists eight states of which only the first by Rembrandt. The 2nd state, with the two dots, is ‘new’. White-Boon list three states, Hind, Münz and Biörklund four (including the Watelet retouches). Nowell-Usticke lists seven states, from his 3rd state there are later impressions by Watelet, P.Basan, Jean, Bernard and Beaumont.
In the 1st state (NH/R539) the biting failed in several spots like at the left hand of the seated man, beneath his right hand, the upper line of the loin cloth, etc °.
In the 2nd state (NH only) an unknown owner added two dots in the upper right corner*.
In the 3rd state (NH/2nd state WB, NU) many shadowed areas are added around the figures with the rocker (not by Rembrandt), mainly in the spots mentioned in the 1st state. Like the white part of the cushion under the sitting man* and the white space inside the standing man’s left elbow*.
In the 4th state (NH/3rd state WB final, NU Watelet) the plate is re-etched. More shading is added to the blank spots, like horizontal lines in the lower left corner*, shoulder of the seated man, the blank areas on the left margin are filled in. The outline of the loincloth of the seated model is filled in. New horizontal lines are added to the side of the fireplace, above the boy’s head, and to the left upper arm of the standing model*. NHD lists many more alterations.
In the 5th state (NH) vertical lines are added to the right shoulder and neck of the seated model, possibly by Watelet (NH)º.
In the 6th state (NH/4th and 5th state NU Basan, Jean) many shading lines are added○, like in the area between the left arm and the body of the standing model. Six strong horizontal lines cover the blank patch on the cushion (shown, but not listed by NHD).
In the 7th state (NH/6th state NU Bernard) many shaded parts are strengthened, like under both armsº. The outlines of the slip of the loincloth of the standing man is redrawn*. His face and the parallel lines next to his head are redrawn. The outlines of the woman and child are redrawn, like the new lines on her cheek.
In the 8th state (NH/7th state NU Bernard, Beaumont) new cross-hatching is added to the shadow behind the sitting man* and to the right of the standing man’s left arm.

There is an impression of the 1st state on Japanese paper (Collection Lugt, Paris), a counterproof in the Rijksmuseum and a maculature in the Fitzwilliam Museum (Cambridge, UK) Nowell-Usticke considers the impressions (without any rework) in the Recueil de Basan to be rather light.

In the 1st state: Strasbourg lily (c. 1646-48).
In the 2nd state: Seven Provinces (> 1665).
In the 3rd state: Strasbourg lily.
In the 4th state: Countermark AG; Seven Provinces (> 1709).
In the 5th state: Countermark DG; Others.

H 222, BB 46-1, G 185, M 280, Mz 135, RA 538-539, Cl 191, W 191, Bl 159, Du 191, CD 180, S 79.
J.A.Emmens, Rembrandt en de regels van de kunst, Utrecht 1964, p. 154; Royalton-Kisch, Drawings by Rembrandt and his circle in the British Museum, 1992, nr. 87; Rembrandt’s Women 2001, p. 192; Hinterding 2006, p. 109-12; Schapelhouman 2006, p. 25-27; Hinterding 2008, p. 346-349; Blaazer 2009, p. 37-47; Naakte Waarheid 2016 p.32 and 63;

NH: 1st state of VIII/WB: 1st state of III.
A fine, contemporary impression, printed with delicate plate tone. The blank spot left of the left elbow of the standing man and the left wrist of the seated man are still white, typical of the 1st state. The top line of the loincloth is incomplete. A short soft diagonal fold across upper left corner, collector’s mark in blue ink verso showing through slightly recto.
Sheet 201 x 136/133 mm, margins of 3 to 4 mm all around (+9%).
No watermark, vertical chain lines at approx. 23 mm.

In the collection of Thomas William Holburne, an officer in the British Navy officer (1793-1874, Bath, Lugt 1265). His collector’s mark in black ink, verso.
The print may have been in his sale with Sotheby’s London in June 1873. In the collection Richard Fisher of (1809-1890, Lugt 2204), his collector’s mark in purple ink, verso.

Rembrandt in Zwart-Wit, Westfries Museum (Hoorn), Het Markiezenhof (Bergen op Zoom), Stedelijk Museum Zutphen, Het Hannemahuis (Harlingen), Museum Gouda, Jan ten Horne Museum (Weert), Stadsmuseum Harderwijk, March 2013-August 2015; Stedelijk Museum Vianen, October 2017 – January 2018;
Rembrandt in Black & White, Schloß Britz (Berlin), Bozar Expo (Brussels), Chateau des Penthes (Geneva), November 2015- October 2016;
Rembrandt, fotograaf avant-la-lettre, Museum De Reede (Antwerp), January – May 2023;
Rembrandt, 17th century photographer, Daegu Art Museum (Korea), November 2023 – March 2024;
Rembrandt, de fotograaf, Westfries Museum (Hoorn), June 2024 – January 2025;