295 - Rembrandt Harmensz. van Rijn (1606 Leiden - Amsterdam 1669), The Great Jewish Bride .

Rembrandt Harmensz. van Rijn (1606 Leiden - Amsterdam 1669), The Great Jewish Bride . Etching, engraving and drypoint on laid paper, watermark Single-Headed Eagle (Hinterding, variant. B’.a.a.). (1635). 21.8 x 16.9 cm (sheet). Bartsch 340; White/Boon 340 V (of V); Hinterding/Rutgers (The New Hollstein) 154 V (of V). A superb, early impression of New Hollstein’s fifth state, printing richly and in deep blacks, without any signs of wear, and with exceptionally strong burr in the bodice, in the passages to the left of the hand gripping the arm of the chair, and elsewhere. With luminous contrasts and delicate plate tone. With the stone wall in the right background divided by horizontal lines and the highlight on the wall darkened by additional shading. On laid paper with a Single-Headed Eagle watermark, as recorded on fine impressions in the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam, and the Bibliothèque nationale de France, Paris (see 'Rembrandt, La Lumière et l’Ombre', p. 61). Trimmed to the platemark. Rembrandt created this enigmatic portrait in 1635, one year after his marriage to Saskia van Uylenburgh. The identity of the sitter remains uncertain and has been the subject of considerable debate. Earlier authors proposed Saskia or Rembrandt’s sister as the model, while the woman was also once identified as the daughter of Ephraim Bonus, the Amsterdam physician whom Rembrandt portrayed in 1647. Franz Landsberger ('Rembrandt, the Jews and the Bible', Philadelphia, 1946) interpreted the subject as a Jewish bride awaiting her bridegroom, her hair falling loosely and a 'ketubah', or Jewish marriage contract, in her hand. Although these identifications remain unproven, they reflect the enduring fascination surrounding this intimate and enigmatic portrait. – Verso with a few minute brown spots, a numeral in reddish-brown chalk; with flattened horizontal folds and an old adhesive strip. Otherwise in very good condition. Taxation: regelbesteuert (VAT: Regular Taxation).