A bearded old man leaning on a window-sill

The attribution of the present drawing to Rembrandt is made by comparison with a number of works drawn in the 1630s. Particular connections can be made to drawings with the similar use of almost sculptural wash applied with a dry brush around Saskia sitting up in bed in the Kupferstichkabinett, Dresden (Benesch 255) and another of Saskia asleep in bed in the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford (Benesch 281a). The strength and quality of the old man's features call to mind a number of studies of orientals drawn by Rembrandt in about 1638-39, a date which coincides with the master's brief experimentation with iron-gall ink on finely-laid paper, as found in the present example. The lower right corner of the sheet appears to show the cut top of a soft high cap found in many drawings of the period, although it has not been possible to match the present sheet with its former attachment.
The new attribution is not universally accepted, with some authorities reverting to Professor Sumowski's attribution to Ferdinand Bol, or to artists around him.