An original Rembrandt Van Rijn Etching. 1631 Original etching printed in black ink on laid paper. Signed with the artist’s monogram and dated in the plate lower right RHL 1631. A fine 17th century/lifetime impression of Bartsch’s second state of three, Usticke’s third state of four, New Hollstein’s fourth state of six, of this scarce etching. printed after the addition of the short diagonal lines in front of the neck and the strengthening of the right pupil and nostril. Catalog: Bartsch 348 ii/iii; Hind 51; Biorklund-Barnard 31-H; Usticke 348 iii/iv; New Hollstein 86 iv/vi. 5 3/4 x 5 1/8 inches Rembrandt’s mother, Neeltgen Willemsdochter Zuytbrouck, daughter of a baker, was the mother of nine children, of whom Rembrandt was the eighth. She died in 1640. Rembrandt seems to have recorded her features in a number of etchings, this one included. However, there is no documentary evidence that the old lady in these works is indeed Rembrandt’s mother. It was during the 1679 inventory of Clement de Jonghe’s estate that these images were assumed to be depictions of the artist’s mother.
