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Lot Essay
Landscape with a square Tower is a wonderful example of Rembrandt's skill in combining both real and imaginary motifs in his landscapes. Whilst the smaller buildings at left are of a type commonly found around Amsterdam, the topography is similar to the hilly landscape between Amersfoort and Rhenen. In 1649, Rembrandt travelled with Hendrickje Stoffels to Bredevoort (near Winterswijk) close to the eastern border with Germany, to visit Hendrickje's parents. The route they took can be reconstructed from his drawings, and here we see elements of the landscape they encountered. Dutch artists often included ruins in their landscapes to convey a moral message about the inevitable passage of time and the fragility of man's endeavours, but here the past and present co-exist peacefully, and therefore it need not be interpreted strictly according to this convention.
Cynthia Schneider speculated whether the imaginary element, such as the ruined tower in the present etching, signaled a waning interest in strict landscape, and a desire to move beyond the realistic vocabulary with which Rembrandt had described the Dutch landscape through most of the 1640s. (Schneider, 1990, p. 141.) Rembrandt continued to produce both real and imaginary views for two more years, before ceasing altogether in 1652. The only landscapes produced after this time were backdrops for figures in outdoor settings. (See: Schneider, 1990, no. 36, p. 152-153).
The present impression is undoubtedly early and prints with much burr, prominent vertical wiping scratches and a variety of plate impurities in the sky and elsewhere. It is these more accidental and ephemeral elements of the print which create a sense of depth and atmosphere, inviting the eye to wander past the farmhouses, over the fence and up the hill towards the mysterious tower.
What Nick Stogdon called 'the curiously shaped copperplate' with its arched, yet slightly canted upper corners and flat top echoes the overall composition and shape of the landscape and the tower.
Cynthia Schneider speculated whether the imaginary element, such as the ruined tower in the present etching, signaled a waning interest in strict landscape, and a desire to move beyond the realistic vocabulary with which Rembrandt had described the Dutch landscape through most of the 1640s. (Schneider, 1990, p. 141.) Rembrandt continued to produce both real and imaginary views for two more years, before ceasing altogether in 1652. The only landscapes produced after this time were backdrops for figures in outdoor settings. (See: Schneider, 1990, no. 36, p. 152-153).
The present impression is undoubtedly early and prints with much burr, prominent vertical wiping scratches and a variety of plate impurities in the sky and elsewhere. It is these more accidental and ephemeral elements of the print which create a sense of depth and atmosphere, inviting the eye to wander past the farmhouses, over the fence and up the hill towards the mysterious tower.
What Nick Stogdon called 'the curiously shaped copperplate' with its arched, yet slightly canted upper corners and flat top echoes the overall composition and shape of the landscape and the tower.