Notes

Arguably one of the greatest master printers and portrait makers of this period, Rembrandt is able to delve into the very personality and mannerisms of his various subjects.  Jan Lutma, The Goldsmith, 1656 is seen with a slight sliver of a smile, resting comfortably in his goldsmith’s chair with a vaguely humorous, relaxed expression.  Light streams in from the window in the background, allowing our subject to be illuminated from behind giving an illusion of depth and texture.

According to Rembrandt scholar, K.G. Boon:

“Portraits…are undisputed high points in Rembrandt’s graphic work.  With each one Rembrandt so immersed himself in his subject’s pursuits that in addition to a portrait he also created a type of human being.  With regard to Jan Lutma, the old goldsmith, Rembrandt’s typification of the artist is most pronounced in the head with its mild, brooding – and not a little     sardonic – glance.”

Jan Lutma, born in 1584 in Groningen, died in 1669, the same year as Rembrandt, was one of the most famous goldsmiths in Amsterdam. Rembrandt depicts Lutma, already 72 years old in 1656, in a leather-covered armchair, holding a statuette in his right hand, with goldsmith’s tools lying on the table to his right. In the second state, the signature and the date, which are undoubtedly in Rembrandt’s own hand, appear in the upper left window. In the centre right, an inscription identifies the sitter. The characteristic signature and the inscription are in such contrast to each other that it can be assumed that the son Johannes Lutma, who was himself an artist, engraved the inscription on the panel, perhaps after the panel had been given to the family. It was most likely a commissioned work.