Notes

During his lifetime, Rembrandt’s extraordinary skills as a printmaker were the main source of his international fame. Unlike his oil paintings, prints travelled light and were relatively cheap. For this reason, they soon became very popular with collectors not only within but also beyond the borders of the Netherlands.

This etching of a Woman reading has all the quiet, loving attention of a portrait of a family member, and yet we do not know who she was. There is nothing generic or ‘picturesque’ about her. Unobserved, as she seemingly is, her portrait could not be more personal, with her large nose, and her lips slighly puckered in concentration. Erik Hinterding gives the best summary of this very charming print:

‘In 17th century art there was an abundance of figures reading, mostly saints, prophets or sibyls, or else lay people studying the Bible, and they also often feature in Rembrandt’s oeuvre. This etching of 1634 is different because it shows a woman of his own day who is clearly reading something other than the Scriptures, and with great pleasure: she is completely absorbed in her book and has her hand cosily tucked under the fur of her jacket. There are no clear indications as to how the depiction should be understood. The iconography is rather unusual for the 17th century, although there are other examples. Because of its lively pattern the woman’s headdress has been interpreted as oriental. A similar headdress (without an obvious pattern) can be seen in a drawing with two sketches of a woman reading that Rembrandt made shortly afterwards. The woman is portrayed almost with backlighting from the left, which provides particularly fine effects on her face and neck.’ (Hinterding, 2008, p. 582)