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Lot Essay
This boldly drawn etching, executed nearly ten years before A large lion hunt (lot 22) shows Rembrandt's nascent skill with the etching needle. As in the later print the sense of rapid movement of the animals is vividly suggested, but here Rembrandt uses a greater variety of line to create the composition. He has bitten the foreground and the horseman at the left very deeply to frame the composition.
Despite his skill, it is clear that Rembrandt had not seen a real lion at this point - his efforts to make the animal seem fierce resulted in a shaggy and rather friendly-looking sheep dog. His famous drawings of lions were to come later, in 1641, after a so-called 'wild-animal menagerie' had visited Amsterdam.
Despite his skill, it is clear that Rembrandt had not seen a real lion at this point - his efforts to make the animal seem fierce resulted in a shaggy and rather friendly-looking sheep dog. His famous drawings of lions were to come later, in 1641, after a so-called 'wild-animal menagerie' had visited Amsterdam.