Notes

A fine lifetime impression of the first state, printed with plate tone. With false biting, resulting in irregular white spots, typical for the earliest state. It is likely that Rembrandt’s studies of male nudes, all created in 1646 from the same models, were part of a cohesive series. This particular sheet is especially intriguing due to the background scene: a young child, standing in a wheeled walker, is learning to walk in a Dutch kitchen with an open hearth, while a maid watches over him. The juxtaposition of two entirely distinct subjects in one composition is rare in Rembrandt’s work.

In the foreground we see two studies of the same young man: standing and sitting. In the background of a typical Dutch kitchen with an open fireplace, very lightly etched,  we see a woman teaching a child to walk with the aid of a baby walker.

This print can be seen as a metaphorical exhortation to ‘keep trying’: the child must learn to walk and the artist must practise constantly to master his art.

It is very rare to have two independent different subjects, except in study-sheets.

It could well be that the part with woman and child were in fact Geertje Dircks and his than 1,5 years old son Titus at home, etched as early as 1643. A few years later the study of two young boys could have been added onto this very plate.