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Lot Essay
`One sees in the portraits he has etched how every stroke of the needle, like every stroke of the brush in painting, gives to the parts of the face a character of life and truth which makes one admire his genius’ (Roger de Piles, ‘Abregé de la Vie des Peintres’, Paris, 1699, quoted in: Christopher White, Rembrandt as an Etcher - A Study of the Artist at Work, New Haven & London, 1999, p. 169).
Self-Portrait etching at a Window was executed a decade after its antecedent, Self-Portrait leaning on a Stone Sill (New Holl. 171), and the contrasting mood of these two etchings could not be more dramatic. In the earlier print, Rembrandt presents himself sumptuously dressed in the fashion of the 16th century, his pose self-consciously emulating two great portrait paintings of the High Rennaissance, Raphael’s Portrait of Baldassare Castiglione, 1515 (Louvre) and Titian’s, Portrait of Gerolamo (?) Barbarigo, circa 1510 (National Gallery, London). The presentation of himself in fine clothing, with a somewhat aloof demeanour, reflects the influence of Sir Anthony van Dyck’s The Iconography in which the artist elevated his own status - and that of his admired artistic peers - to the level of the aristocrat, adopting the mien and accoutrements of the nobility.
The years that followed this earlier self-portrait were marked by personal tragedy, most notably the death in 1642 of Rembrandt’s wife Saskia van Uylenburgh, and the steady decline of the artist’s finances. While Rembrandt’s emphasis in Self-Portrait leaning on a Stone Sill is to impress upon the viewer his standing amongst the great painters of the Northern European tradition, Self-Portrait etching at a Window presents a more sober view of the artist in middle-age. Seated in a darkened room and wearing plain working clothes and a hat, he looks intently ahead, studying his own reflection in a mirror. In his right hand is an etching needle, held poised over a copper plate, which, unseen by the viewer, sits on a folded cloth in front of the artist, supported on two thick books. The architecture is indeterminate, and the window, which opens onto a bright, sunlit landscape of rolling hills and rustic buildings, throws a soft oblique light over the artist’s features. This shadowy interior lit by a single light source recalls Rembrandt’s `dark manner’ etching Saint Jerome in his dark Chamber, 1642 (New Holl. 212), but also the great etched portrait of his patron, Jan Six, 1647 (New Holl. 238), made the previous year.
Rembrandt worked up the plate for his self-portrait gradually, lightly etching the preliminary composition, and then extensively adding to it, with successive layers of etching, drypoint and burin, to build up the rich contrasts of light and shadow. It was only in the fourth state, as seen in the present impression, that he added the view from the window, and thereby completed the composition. It has been noted that this hilly landscape is atypical for the Netherlands, and is more evocative of the Italian Campagna than the Low Countries. It is clearly not a view from the artist’s Breestraat studio in Amsterdam, but a work of the imagination, a synthesis of observation and intellect. Although he had never visited Italy, and in his reduced circumstances was perhaps increasingly unlikely to, Rembrandt is perhaps showing that he doesn’t need to. Abandoning the hauteur of his self-portrait of a decade earlier, depicting himself in everyday surroundings, in the act of creating, Self-Portrait etching at a Window is perhaps an act of creative validation in the face of adversity.
The British Museum holds two impressions of the fourth state, both from the Cracherode Collection, one on cream Japan, the other on European laid paper. The present impression compares favourably to both, printing more strongly yet with greater clarity, particularly in the face.
Self-Portrait etching at a Window was executed a decade after its antecedent, Self-Portrait leaning on a Stone Sill (New Holl. 171), and the contrasting mood of these two etchings could not be more dramatic. In the earlier print, Rembrandt presents himself sumptuously dressed in the fashion of the 16th century, his pose self-consciously emulating two great portrait paintings of the High Rennaissance, Raphael’s Portrait of Baldassare Castiglione, 1515 (Louvre) and Titian’s, Portrait of Gerolamo (?) Barbarigo, circa 1510 (National Gallery, London). The presentation of himself in fine clothing, with a somewhat aloof demeanour, reflects the influence of Sir Anthony van Dyck’s The Iconography in which the artist elevated his own status - and that of his admired artistic peers - to the level of the aristocrat, adopting the mien and accoutrements of the nobility.
The years that followed this earlier self-portrait were marked by personal tragedy, most notably the death in 1642 of Rembrandt’s wife Saskia van Uylenburgh, and the steady decline of the artist’s finances. While Rembrandt’s emphasis in Self-Portrait leaning on a Stone Sill is to impress upon the viewer his standing amongst the great painters of the Northern European tradition, Self-Portrait etching at a Window presents a more sober view of the artist in middle-age. Seated in a darkened room and wearing plain working clothes and a hat, he looks intently ahead, studying his own reflection in a mirror. In his right hand is an etching needle, held poised over a copper plate, which, unseen by the viewer, sits on a folded cloth in front of the artist, supported on two thick books. The architecture is indeterminate, and the window, which opens onto a bright, sunlit landscape of rolling hills and rustic buildings, throws a soft oblique light over the artist’s features. This shadowy interior lit by a single light source recalls Rembrandt’s `dark manner’ etching Saint Jerome in his dark Chamber, 1642 (New Holl. 212), but also the great etched portrait of his patron, Jan Six, 1647 (New Holl. 238), made the previous year.
Rembrandt worked up the plate for his self-portrait gradually, lightly etching the preliminary composition, and then extensively adding to it, with successive layers of etching, drypoint and burin, to build up the rich contrasts of light and shadow. It was only in the fourth state, as seen in the present impression, that he added the view from the window, and thereby completed the composition. It has been noted that this hilly landscape is atypical for the Netherlands, and is more evocative of the Italian Campagna than the Low Countries. It is clearly not a view from the artist’s Breestraat studio in Amsterdam, but a work of the imagination, a synthesis of observation and intellect. Although he had never visited Italy, and in his reduced circumstances was perhaps increasingly unlikely to, Rembrandt is perhaps showing that he doesn’t need to. Abandoning the hauteur of his self-portrait of a decade earlier, depicting himself in everyday surroundings, in the act of creating, Self-Portrait etching at a Window is perhaps an act of creative validation in the face of adversity.
The British Museum holds two impressions of the fourth state, both from the Cracherode Collection, one on cream Japan, the other on European laid paper. The present impression compares favourably to both, printing more strongly yet with greater clarity, particularly in the face.