Jan Uytenbogaert, 'The Goldweigher'

The acquaintance between Rembrandt and Jan Uytenbogaert (1608-1680), chief tax collector in Amsterdam, may have begun in Leyden, where the artist was working and living at the time, Uytenbogaert was studying Law. They may have also met a few years later in Amsterdam, as both shared an interest in prints and an eagerness in print collecting. In 1639, Rembrandt bought his house on Breestraat but soon defaulted the payment due to a lack of funds and was helped by the tax collector, who interceded for him. It cannot be a coincidence that the present etching was made by Rembrandt that same year, possibly to express his gratitude for Uytenbogaert's intervention. The artist depicts him in his office engaged in his daily duties, weighing and recording bags of money handed to him by a kneeling servant. It is almost a genre scene and the sitter is dressed in 16th century costume, including a luxurious fur coat with rich, velvety fur, rendered with drypoint. The burr of drypoint is remarkably pronounced in the present example, which in the past was in important public and private collections, such as those of the British Museum and Otto Schäfer.