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拍品专文
Cornelis Claesz. Anslo (1592-1646) was a cloth-merchant and a Mennonite preacher, and it seems that Rembrandt aimed to represent both occupations in this elaborate portrait. The loving attention with which Rembrandt described the different textures and details of his garments, including his fur-trimmed cloak, the buttons, ruff and the hat with a braided hatband, as well as the tassel of his cushion and the table-cloth, would have been appreciated by the sitter, whose profession it was to evaluate the quality of garments and textiles. Anslo the preacher was famed for his eloquence, and this talent is represented metaphorically by the books on the table, but also by the writing pen and the gesture of his left hand, which suggests that he is relaying a specific argument. Three years after the creation of the print, the great Dutch poet and dramatist Joost van den Vondel published a poem about Anslo's oratory and Rembrandt's portrayal of the man: O Rembrandt, paint Cornelis' voice. The visible part is the least of him, the invisible is known only through the ears, he who would see Anslo must hear him (quoted in: Hinterding et al., 2000, p. 196). Vondel may here refer either to the etching or to the painting of Cornelis Claesz. Anslo with his Wife, Aeltje Gerritsdr. Schouten of the same year, 1641, which is today at the Gemäldegalerie Alter Meister in Berlin. The painting also displays the attributes of Anslo's two vocations, fine fabrics and books.
The etched portrait is one of the few of the artist's prints for which a closely related preparatory drawing has survived, a red chalk sketch at the British Museum, London (Benesch 758). The drawing is indented from the front, an indication that the composition was transferred onto the prepared copperplate, similar to the drawing for Diana at the Bath (New Hollstein 89).
The nail in the wall at the background may be intended to draw our attention to the frame or panel leaning on the floor at lower right. This has been interpreted as a reference to the Protestant view that the word must rule over the image. Alternatively, it may be a visual pun on the Dutch word spijker, which means both 'nail' and 'warehouse': the chapel where Anslo's congregation met was a former storehouse and commonly know as the Grote Spijker (see M. Royalton-Kisch in: Hinterding et al., 2000, no. 45, p. 196-199).
The first state of this print is already complete, but has a narrow blank border at the lower sheet edge. Only six impressions in public collections are known. In the present second state, which is also very uncommon, Rembrandt extended the table cloth downwards to cover the entire plate below. The present example, lively and luminous, was once in the collection of the judge and member or parliament Robert Stayner Holford, one of the great collectors of his time. His magnificent collection, including the present sheet, were sold in these rooms in 1893.
The etched portrait is one of the few of the artist's prints for which a closely related preparatory drawing has survived, a red chalk sketch at the British Museum, London (Benesch 758). The drawing is indented from the front, an indication that the composition was transferred onto the prepared copperplate, similar to the drawing for Diana at the Bath (New Hollstein 89).
The nail in the wall at the background may be intended to draw our attention to the frame or panel leaning on the floor at lower right. This has been interpreted as a reference to the Protestant view that the word must rule over the image. Alternatively, it may be a visual pun on the Dutch word spijker, which means both 'nail' and 'warehouse': the chapel where Anslo's congregation met was a former storehouse and commonly know as the Grote Spijker (see M. Royalton-Kisch in: Hinterding et al., 2000, no. 45, p. 196-199).
The first state of this print is already complete, but has a narrow blank border at the lower sheet edge. Only six impressions in public collections are known. In the present second state, which is also very uncommon, Rembrandt extended the table cloth downwards to cover the entire plate below. The present example, lively and luminous, was once in the collection of the judge and member or parliament Robert Stayner Holford, one of the great collectors of his time. His magnificent collection, including the present sheet, were sold in these rooms in 1893.