拍品专文
Ephraim Hezekiah Bueno (1599-1665) - or Bonus - was a prominent physician in Amsterdam and came from a Sephardic family of medical doctors. As a wealthy, literary man who both translated and wrote poetry, he was a friend and supporter of Menasseh ben Israel, the theologian and publisher - and Rembrandt's neighbour on Sint Antoniesbreestraat (later Jodenbreestraat). It might well have been Menasseh who introduced Rembrandt to Bueno, thereby prompting the commission of this portrait.
Whilst most of Rembrandt's printed portraits were worked directly onto the plate, this etching is based on a small oil sketch, now in the Rijksmuseum. Although immediately recognizable, the etching is quite different from the sketch. While the little painting concentrates entirely on the doctor's features, in the etching Rembrandt added most of the body and all of the setting. More importantly however, he changed the expression of the sitter: in the sketch Bonus looks directly at us, while in the print his right eye is diverted and seems to look into the middle distance. His stance at the foot of the staircase, hand resting on the banister, is quite formal and imposing, yet his distracted, introspective expression lends this portrait a sense of intimacy and melancholy. Christopher White remarked that in the oil panel Rembrandt 'painted the surface of the face', while in the etched plate 'he succeeds in getting beneath the skin, and suggesting the inner life of the sitter' (White, 1999, p. 146).
Around the same time, Bueno also commissioned Rembrandt's former workshop-friend and collaborator Jan Lievens (1607-1674) to create a portrait print of himself. The comparison of the two portraits is revealing and demonstrates the full extent of Rembrandt's mastery. While Lievens' portrait is perfectly competent - the sitter is placed in a chair next to a column and looks intently at the viewer - it is ultimately conventional and impersonal.
The first state of Rembrandt's portrait can be regarded as a proof state and is exceedingly rare - only three impressions are known, all in public collections (Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam; British Museum, London; Rothschild Collection, Louvre, Paris ). Rembrandt completed the plate by adding some drypoint shading to the banister and the areas between the balusters, and by deliberately removing the heavy burr on Bueno's ring. No late impressions of this print are known. The present one is a particularly fine impression of the second state, which prints with rich, velvety burr and a very even background, against which Bueno's shadow stands out darkly at left.
Whilst most of Rembrandt's printed portraits were worked directly onto the plate, this etching is based on a small oil sketch, now in the Rijksmuseum. Although immediately recognizable, the etching is quite different from the sketch. While the little painting concentrates entirely on the doctor's features, in the etching Rembrandt added most of the body and all of the setting. More importantly however, he changed the expression of the sitter: in the sketch Bonus looks directly at us, while in the print his right eye is diverted and seems to look into the middle distance. His stance at the foot of the staircase, hand resting on the banister, is quite formal and imposing, yet his distracted, introspective expression lends this portrait a sense of intimacy and melancholy. Christopher White remarked that in the oil panel Rembrandt 'painted the surface of the face', while in the etched plate 'he succeeds in getting beneath the skin, and suggesting the inner life of the sitter' (White, 1999, p. 146).
Around the same time, Bueno also commissioned Rembrandt's former workshop-friend and collaborator Jan Lievens (1607-1674) to create a portrait print of himself. The comparison of the two portraits is revealing and demonstrates the full extent of Rembrandt's mastery. While Lievens' portrait is perfectly competent - the sitter is placed in a chair next to a column and looks intently at the viewer - it is ultimately conventional and impersonal.
The first state of Rembrandt's portrait can be regarded as a proof state and is exceedingly rare - only three impressions are known, all in public collections (Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam; British Museum, London; Rothschild Collection, Louvre, Paris ). Rembrandt completed the plate by adding some drypoint shading to the banister and the areas between the balusters, and by deliberately removing the heavy burr on Bueno's ring. No late impressions of this print are known. The present one is a particularly fine impression of the second state, which prints with rich, velvety burr and a very even background, against which Bueno's shadow stands out darkly at left.