The copperplate was in the sale by Clement de Jonghe (1679, as 16 eenige tronitjens). It later appeared in the sale of Pieter de Haan (1767, lot 73) and 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 1447), Auguste Jean (ca 1809), Veuve Jean, Auguste and Michel Bernard (1846), Alvin-Beaumont (1906) and Robert Lee Humber (1937). It was sold at the Artemis sale in London (1993) and is now in the Museum Het Rembrandthuis (Amsterdam).

The centrally placed woman is almost certainly Rembrandt’s wife Saskia, the four surrounding heads probably too. At the time, two years after their marriage, Saskia was 24 years old. The various painted, drawn and etched portraits of Saskia are ample evidence that she was not just Rembrandt’s love but also his muse.

The central head is very similar to the head in Self-portrait with Saskia (B 19 – NHD158), in reverse. The hat in the lower left is similar to the famous drawing Portrait of Saskia as a bride , now in the Kupferstichkabinet in Berlin. Two drawings in the Boymans van Beuningen from the same period (1636-37) show similar heads in studies (Benesch 341 recto in silverpoint and Benesch 360 recto). There is a drawing in red chalk of Saskia in the Louvre (Benesch 429), dated some years earlier.

NH lists two copies, of which one copy (A) in the same direction. It is published by Georg Leopold Hertel, inscribed Rembrandt de. It is on the same plate as B368 (his nr 1, four states, 199 x 249 mm, WB 1).
There is one anonymous copy (B) in reverse, inscribed Rembrandt f. 1636 (153 x 133 mm, WB 2).

The etching is considered as special by Coppier.

NH lists two states, the second not by Rembrandt. Most other authors list one state only. Hind and Nowell-Usticke list two states, of his 2nd state there are later impressions by Watelet, P.Basan, Jean, Bernard and Beaumont. There is some confusion about the precise nature of the 2nd states with NHD and NU, since various scratches appear in impressions of the 1st state (NH). NH mentions scratches on the upper part of the head lower centre, on the right cheek and nose and in the lower left corner. In later impressions other scratches appear like between the turban of the upper-left woman and Saskia’s hair, on the nose and the cheek of the face in the bottom centre and fine right-to-left shading on the right eye of the woman bottom right.
In the 2nd state (NH) a long diagonal line appears on the forehead of the central head. Some original lines and shadings are strengthened, like on the left eyebrow and eye, the cheeks and chin of the largest head upper centre and the hair of the profile lower centre°. NU also notes very fine scratches over the ‘dt’ of the signature.

There are four falsifications of the 1st state, with added heads, in the Kupferstichkabinett in Berlin.
Nowell-Usticke considers the impressions in the Recueil de Basan to be quite good.

In the 1st state: Arms of Wurttemberg (1634-36); Single-headed eagle (1637); Foolscap (2 ed, one 1645); Arms of Amsterdam (2 ed.),

H 145, BB 36-B, G 331, M 129, Mz 91, RA 947, Cl 355, W 359, Bl 249, Du 353, CD 109, S 142.
Rembrandt’s Women 2001, p. 143; Rohde 2006, p. 33; Hinterding 2008, p. 606-607; Broos 2012, p. 69-72

NH: 1st state of II/WB: only state.
A good, early impression, with the fine scratches over the nose and the cheek of the face lower centre and above the signature, indicating the 1st state (NH).
Sheet: 153 x 128 mm, thread margins of 1 mm on all sides (+3%).
Watermark: probably the upper part of a Foolscap, dated around 1645. Horizontal chain lines at approx. 23 mm.

Rembrandt in Zwart-Wit, Museum Gouda, July – September 2014; Stedelijk Museum Vianen, October 2017 – January 2018;
Rembrandt in Black & White, Schloß Britz (Berlin), Bozar Expo (Brussels), Chateau des Penthes (Geneva), November 2015-September 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;