School of Rembrandt Harmensz. van Rijn

W.G. Becker, Dresden (L.324);
W.R. Valentiner

G. Swarzenski and E. Schilling, Handzeichnungen alter Meister aus deutschem Privatbesitz, Frankfurt-am-Main, 1924;
W. R. Valentiner, Rembrandt, des Meisters Handzeichnungen, Klassiker der Kunst XXXI, Stuttgart/Berlin/Leipzig, 1925-34, vol. I, p. 350, no. 327 (as Rembrandt, circa 1645)

Fixed in all four corners to old mount. One or two very minor foxing marks towards bottom, and with minor losses, bottom and right edges. Paper slightly dirty, but general condition otherwise good and fresh. Framed.
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

Already by 1954, when Otto Benesch published the first edition of his catalogue raisonné of Rembrandt's drawings, the traditional attribution of this charming domestic schene had been rejected, and so the drawing was excluded from this corpus, which has provided the basis for almost all subsequent scholarly discussion of the drawings of Rembrandt and his circle.  The intimate treatment of the subject and general handling in the figures are reminiscent of drawings attributed by Sumowski to Nicolaes Maes,¹ although some of the relevant works have more recently been given to other Rembrandt pupils; one of those is the Man with Cap, Standing, in the Rijksmuseum, which Peter Schatborn now attributes to Willem Drost.² The present drawing may also, perhaps, be by another, still anonymous, artist who seems to have been a Rembrandt pupil around 1655, and by whom a rather similar drawing is in Berlin.³

1. e.g. W. Sumowski, Drawings of the Rembrandt School, vol. 8, New York 1984, nos. 1974^xx, 1977^xx, 1979^xx

2. Sumowski, op. cit., no. 1977^xx

3. H. Bevers, Rembrandt. Die Zeichnungen im Berliner Kupferstichkabinett, Berlin 2006, p. 211, reproduced