The copperplate was not part of any of any early sale or collection and is probably not anymore in existence.

In a charming, pastoral and seemingly serene setting, two lovers take the opportunity to do what lovers like to do. They are keeping an eye at the herdsman, who had either fallen asleep (as the title of the print suggest) or is watching the pair, covering his right eye in some form of dismay. It may be that the presence of the on-watcher is stimulating the lovers, which led Robinson to belief that the etching is in fact a secular version of the story of Hermes, Argus and Io.

In the catalogue of the de Burgy sale in 1755 this print was also referred to as Het Galante Prentje (the courtly print) and in the sale of Ploos van Amstel in 1810 as Het herderinnetje in het woud (the shepherdess in the wood).

The only known copy is a woodprint in the same direction by Antoine Piaud and Ernest Boetzel (by White-Boon attributed to Flameng). It is included in the catalogue of Blanc (70 x 50 mm).

The etching is considered as special by Rovinski. The plate is not by Rembrandt according to Seidlitz, Michel, Campbell Dodgson and Singer. In the 19th century many authors rejected the authenticity of this and other sexually oriented prints simply on the assumption that Rembrandt would not be involved in such obscene sceneries.

One state only.

There is a counterproof in the Rijksmuseum.

H 207, BB 44-1, G 181, M 281, Mz 266, RA 533, Cl 186, W 186, Bl 154, Du 186, CD 165, S 76.
Rembrandt’s Women 2001, p. 179; Hinterding 2008, p. 338;

NHD/WB: Only state
A good impression, some touches of pen and ink, a tiny paper loss at the left sheet edge at centre and another at the upper right corner, thinly backed in places verso.
Sheet 78 x 57 mm, no margins, trimmed to the platemark (=0%).
No watermark, horizontal chain lines at approx. 23 mm.

In the collection Richard Houlditch, (d. 1736, Hampstead) and/or his son Richard Houlditch Junior (d. 1760, London). Their collector’s mark (Lugt 2214) in black in the lower right corner recto; Richard sr. was a director of the South Sea Comp., which went bankrupt in 1720. Richard junior inherited and expanded the collection. It was probably sold at Langford in London in March 1760.
In the collection of Hermann Weber, a German librarian and art dealer (1817-1854, Bonn, Lugt 1383). His collector’s mark in black ink in the lower left corner, verso; It was probably sold at Weigel in Leipzig in April 1856.
In the collection of Nicolas Vassilévitch Basnine, a Russian lawyer and collector (Irkoutsk 1843 – 1918 Moscow, Lugt 1960), his collector’s mark in blue 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, de fotograaf, Westfries Museum (Hoorn), June 2024 – January 2025;