391 - Rembrandt Harmensz. van Rijn (1606, Leiden – Amsterdam, 1669), Self-Portrait in a Cap and Scarf with the Face Dark: Bust.

Rembrandt Harmensz. van Rijn (1606, Leiden – Amsterdam, 1669), Self-Portrait in a Cap and Scarf with the Face Dark: Bust. Etching on laid paper. (1633). 13.3 x 10.4 cm (sheet). Bartsch 17; White/Boon 17 II (of II); Hinterding/Rutgers (The New Hollstein) 120 III (of V). Provenance: Johann Andreas Boerner (1785–1862), print dealer, Nuremberg, with his handwritten collector’s mark dated “1818” on the reverse (Lugt 269); Probably Eduard Schulze (died after 1900), Vienna, with his collector’s stamp on the reverse (Lugt 906). A very fine, deep black impression of New Hollstein’s third state (of five), printed strongly and with excellent contrast, showing no discernible signs of wear, and featuring fine wiping scratches and selectively wiped plate tone. The vertical shading has been added to the upper lid of the left eye. Trimmed on or slightly within the platemark. Rembrandt created around thirty etched self-portraits, most depicting him alone, while others show him in different roles or alongside other portrait studies. Created when he was 27, two years after his move from Leiden to Amsterdam and only months before his marriage to Saskia van Uylenburgh, this etching is among his most introspective self-portraits. – A few faint, scattered brown spots, predominantly visible on the reverse. The upper left corner is slightly rubbed on the reverse. Otherwise in very good condition. Taxation: subject to differential taxation (VAT: Margin Scheme).