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Lot Essay
This small and rather rare composition, albeit thematically related to the beggars of 1630-31, was created a few years later. The title of the work suggests only the presence of a man and a woman, but we actually see a family travelling along a country road, as the woman is, in fact, carrying an infant on her back
The scenery is simple but very expressive: the couple is depicted in profile, walking to the right, some trees and shrubs outlined in the background suggest an open landscape. The immediacy of the scene, with a strong sense of movement and light, is achieved through the interplay of fine and broad lines. The very sketchy detail of the man’s right foot, drawn and then re-drawn with a broader line, has an almost modernist appeal. According to Hinterding (2008, p. 284), Rembrandt may have opted for the use of an échoppe, a tool previously employed by Jacques Callot, for this thicker, curved lines.
The scenery is simple but very expressive: the couple is depicted in profile, walking to the right, some trees and shrubs outlined in the background suggest an open landscape. The immediacy of the scene, with a strong sense of movement and light, is achieved through the interplay of fine and broad lines. The very sketchy detail of the man’s right foot, drawn and then re-drawn with a broader line, has an almost modernist appeal. According to Hinterding (2008, p. 284), Rembrandt may have opted for the use of an échoppe, a tool previously employed by Jacques Callot, for this thicker, curved lines.