Tag: Rembrandt in black & white

At the time this etching was made Uytenbogaert had just become the *Ontvanger der Gemeenelandsmiddelen over de stad en ‘t kwartier Amsterdam* (Receiver of Amsterdam and surrounding area), a position he would hold for 42 years. He was a cousin and godson of the Remonstrant preacher Johannes Uytenbogaert of which Rembrandt made both a painting (in the *Rijksmuseum*) and an etching (B 279). It is unknown whether Rembrandt made this etching on commission or as a token of friendship and appreciation for the sitter. The latter is more likely since Rembrandt must have known Jan Uytenbogaert from his period in Leiden. They could have been befriended, since Rembrandt mentions Uytenbogaert several times in his letters to the Stadhouder, asking for payment for the two paintings he made in the same year.

Jan Asselyn was a painter of landscapes (ca. 1615-1652). He returned from Rome in 1647. He married the sister of Rembrandt´s pupil Ferdinand Bol and became a citizen of Amsterdam just a few months before his death in 1652. He was quite small and had a deformed left hand, which led to his nickname *Krabbetje* (little crab). The books on the left side are pointing at Asselyn’s affection for reading. The painting on the easel in the 1st state shows the specialty of the sitter, landscapes.

Uytenbogaert (1577-1644 The Hague) studied with Arminius in Geneva and became a preacher in Utrecht in 1584. He was one of the most important leaders of the Remonstrants, not least because he was first army chaplain to Prince Maurits and later tutor to the young Frederick Henry, the Prince of Orange. He payed an important role in writing and presenting the *Remonstratie* to the States-General in 1610 (**in the collection ‘Rembrandt in B&W’, number 524**). This document started a long-lasting dispute in the Lutheran church. During the Synod of Dordrecht in 1618-19 the orthodox Contra-Remonstrants (also called *preciezen* or *Gomaristen* after their leader Franciscus Gomarus) won a long-lasting dispute over the Remonstrants (also called *rekkelijken* or *Arminianen*, after their leader Jacobus Arminius). Gomarus and Arminius were both living in Leyden. On 24 May 1619, eleven days after the execution of the Arminian Johan van Oldenbarnevelt, Uytenbogaert was banned. He fled to Antwerp and then to Rouen, where he stayed in exile. After the death of the Gomarist Prince Maurits in 1625, he returned to Holland. First in hiding in Rotterdam and then to The Hague. He regularly visited Amsterdam where he was a preacher at the Remonstrant Church. But he never regained his former influence.

This is the last etching made by Rembrandt, just four years before his death. Van der Linden was a friend of Nicolaas Tulp. He became a professor of Medicine in Leyden in 1651 and died in 1664. Shortly after his death Rembrandt was asked by publisher Daniel van Gaesbeecq to make a portrait as the frontispiece for Van der Linden’s edition of Hippocrates. However, it was never used for that purpose, possibly because the contract, negotiated by Rembrandt’s son Titus, called for an engraving instead of an etching. After the trial prints the plate was too worn to be used for printing a book. Van der Linden initially lived in Franeker where he presented the town a Botanical Garden. It may be the reason Rembrandt pictured plants in the background.

The hat of the sitter is a Polish kutchma, which may indicate that the sitter is related to Poland. Michiel Roscam Abbing suggested it is Nicolaes de Bye, who was the son of Dutch parents and served as Councillor to Wladislaw IV Wasa, King of Poland, from 1639.

Johannes Sylvius (1564-1638) was a preacher, first in Sloten (1604) and since 1621 in the Oude Kerk in Amsterdam. He was friend and family of Rembrandt by his marriage to a niece of Saskia, Aeltje Uylenburgh. In 1632 Rembrandt made a painting of Aeltje at the age of 62 (Bredius 333, collection Rose-Marie and Eijk de Mol van Otterloo, Boston). At the ondertrouw, a pre-wedding ceremony, on 10 June 1634 in the Oude Kerk in Amsterdam, it was Sylvius who represented the bride. He also baptized the first two of Rembrandt’s children, Rombartus in 1635 and Cornelia in 1638.

Samuel Menasseh ben Israel was a Rabbi of the Portuguese synagogue in Amsterdam. He lived near Rembrandt in the Breestraat and was probably a friend patron of Rembrandt. He commissioned four etched illustrations for his book *La Piedra Gloriosa* (see B36). Apart from being a rabbi, Ben Israel was a publisher and served as a diplomat. He died in 1657 at Middelburg, returning from a mission to Cromwell in England. Recently the identification as Ben Israel, introduced separately by both Gersaint in 1751 and de Burgy in 1755, has been doubted. Suggested alternatives are Rabbi Saul Levi Morteira (by Dubiez in 1992), Nicolaes de Rye (by Roscam Abbing in 1999) and Samuel Smijters (by Dickey in 2004). So far, their arguments have not convinced others.

There were two so far unidentified items in the inventory of De Jonghe (1679) which may refer to this etching, namely nr 45 Smyters and nr 23 Raetsheer van sijn majestijt in Poolen. Based on the titles it has been suggested that the sitter is Antonie Smijters, then the Dutch Ambassador in Poland or Nicolaes de Bye, a trader. But, instead of picturing a particular person, this portrait may in fact be a ‘tronie’, as the man is dressed in 16th century clothing, clearly out-of-fashion at the time Rembrandt made the etching. Also, the same man appears in The card player (B136 – NH193), and maybe even in Man drawing from a cast (B130/NH192). All three were made in the same year, which is another indication that the sitter is indeed a model.

The clumsy way in which the hand is drawn indicates an early work. Middleton has suggested that the print is a pendant of B 343 The artist’s mother seated at a table, because of the similarities in size, style and signature. This assumption is supported by watermark research (HD). The sitter could therefore be Rembrandt’s father, although he died in 1630, whereas this plate is dated by most experts in 1632.

It is generally assumed that the sitter is either Rembrandt´s father or his brother. There is definitely a likeliness with a painting which is called ‘Rembrandt´s Father’ in the Staatliche Museen in Sloss Wilhelmshöhe (Kassel), but both the correctness of the title and the attribution to Rembrandt are disputed. There are also similarities, like oriental costumes and the clumsy way of handling the burin, with the way Rembrandt has portrayed his mother the same year in The artist’s mother seated, in an oriental headdress (B 348/NHD 86). The idea that these two are pendants is supported by watermarks that show they were both printed on the same paper, at the same moment. J. Veth has suggested that the listed painting shows Rembrandts older brother Gerrit, who died in September 1631.

In the early ‘30’s Rembrandt made several drawings and etchings of old men, often with long beards. It is generally assumed that he made these portraits as an exercise for the larger paintings in which many individuals are included. This particular man for instance is supposed to be recognized in two paintings. The problem is that these paintings were made a year before the etching, that one is lost and one no longer attributed to Rembrandt. Maybe this man was a model for Rembrandt’s pupils a well.

Despite its unfinished state, this etching is one of the most popular ones, since it shows a man in an uncommon position. Rembrandt has only drawn the head of the sitter and outlined the body with some drypoint lines, which become very vague in later impressions.

The picture shows a, so far unidentified, man leaning on a balustrade, pointing his right arm to what seems to be a row of books in the background. According to Fritz Saxl (1910) the pose of the sitter resembles the pose in Rembrandt leaning on a stone sill (B 21), which is clearly influenced by Castiglione. This supports the idea that it could be a self-portrait, as suggested by Nowell-Usticke. But his suggestion is not followed by other authors.