402 - Rembrandt Harmensz. van Rijn (1606, Leiden – Amsterdam, 1669), Samuel Menasseh ben Israel.

Rembrandt Harmensz. van Rijn (1606, Leiden – Amsterdam, 1669), Samuel Menasseh ben Israel. Etching on laid paper. (1636). 15.1 x 10.9 cm (sheet). Bartsch 269; White/Boon 269 III (of III); Hinterding/Rutgers (The New Hollstein) 156 III (of V). Provenance: Verso with an unidentified collector’s stamp (Lugt 1521a); The Arenberg Collection, Brussels and Nordkirchen, verso with the collection stamp (Lugt 567). A good, well-inked, and clear impression of New Hollstein’s third state. The print retains the characteristic rich network of cross-hatching in the wide-brimmed hat and the distinctly enhanced separation between the brim of the hat and the sitter’s hair—features introduced in the third state. The contour of the left cheek appears to have already been corrected. With narrow to small margins around the plate mark. The portrait depicts Rembrandt’s neighbor Menasseh ben Israel, the rabbi of Amsterdam’s Sephardic Jewish community. Menasseh ben Israel (1604–1657) lived in Amsterdam, and in 1655, Rembrandt provided four illustrations for a book by Menasseh ben Israel. Like Rembrandt, he lived on St. Antoniesbreestraat. – A tiny, carefully repaired tear at the lower right edge. Occasional small areas of paper thinning on the reverse. Otherwise in good condition. Taxation: subject to differential taxation (VAT: Margin Scheme).