Abraham caressing Isaac

This is a very fine, early impression of this small, carefully and subtly etched plate, printing with a light plate tone. As Nicholas Stogdon pointed out, ‘The biting of this plate produces a range of tones, from a crisp black at left to a delicate silverpoint at right, so the transitional area concentrated on the child’s head has to be successful, as it is here.’ (Stogdon, no. 5, p. 10)
Whether Rembrandt intended to depict Abraham and Isaac or Jacob and Benjamin is uncertain and seems impossible to determine (see Ackley, Rembrandt’s Journey, no. 64, p. 131). Whatever the true subject of the print, it is a delightful and very tender depiction of the elderly father cuddling his young son, whose face is beaming with joy. The fact that the father looks away towards the viewer emphasises the physical bond between the two, as he cups the child’s chin in one hand and buries the other in his locks. The scene is full of life and beautifully observed detail, such as the son standing with one foot placed on top of the other, in the way little boys do.
The depiction of the child seems to be based on a child Rembrandt knew and used to sketch on several occasions, for example in the drawing of a Woman with a Child descending a Staircase.