294 - Rembrandt Harmensz. van Rijn (1606 Leiden – Amsterdam 1669), Woman Reading.

Rembrandt Harmensz. van Rijn (1606 Leiden – Amsterdam 1669), Woman Reading. Etching on laid paper. (1634). 12.2 x 10.1 cm (sheet). Bartsch 345; White/Boon 345 II (of III); Hinterding/Rutgers (The New Hollstein) 137 II (of III). Provenance: Unidentified collector’s mark “owl,” in brown ink on the reverse (not in Lugt). A very fine lifetime impression of New Hollstein’s second state (of three), with the fine horizontal wiping scratches clearly visible, before the addition of a second outline defining the tip of the sitter’s nose and before the slipped stroke across her lips. Nowell-Usticke lists this etching as extremely rare (“RR – A very scarce print”). This intimate etching of a woman reading possesses the quiet immediacy of a portrait, although the sitter’s identity remains unknown. Completely absorbed in her book, with one hand tucked beneath the fur of her jacket, she is depicted with remarkable naturalism. Unlike the many seventeenth-century depictions of saints, prophets, or biblical figures reading, Rembrandt presents a woman of his own time engaged in secular reading. Particularly subtle is the light falling from behind on the left, creating delicate effects across her face and neck (see Hinterding, 2008, p. 582). With thread margins. – The sheet is evenly toned with age. The upper corners have been skillfully and unobtrusively repaired. The reverse side shows traces of an old mounting. Otherwise in good condition. Taxation: regelbesteuert (VAT: Regular Taxation).