Old Master Prints
Old Master Prints
Rembrandt Harmensz. van Rijn
The Great Jewish Bride (B., Holl. 340; New Holl. 154; H. 127)
Lot Closed
December 10, 02:51 PM GMT
Estimate
25,000 - 35,000 GBP
Lot Details
Description
Rembrandt Harmensz. van Rijn
1606 - 1669
The Great Jewish Bride (B., Holl. 340; New Holl. 154; H. 127)
Etching, engraving and drypoint, 1635, a very fine, rich impression of New Hollstein's fifth (final) state, displaying luminous contrasts, the contrasting textures of hair, skin, heavy fabric and stone printing with palpable effect, just beginning to show tiny touches of wear in the densely hatched background and lower right foreground, with a Strasbourg Lily watermark with Pendant Initials WR as Hinterding calls for in this state, framed
plate: 220 by 168mm 8⅝ by 6⅝in
sheet: 228 by 176mm 9 by 6⅞in
The Great Jewish Bride received its title from the Dutch eighteenth-century collector Valerius Röver who believed it portrayed the daughter of Ephraim Bonus, a Jewish doctor Rembrandt painted and etched in later years. However, this is generally contested as, at 36 years old, Bonus would have been unlikely to have a child of this age.
Due to the heavy round face, Rembrandt’s first wife Saskia Uylenburgh is more likely to have been the model for this etching. However, it is unclear what subject matter she was modeling for.
The books piled to the left of the girl hint that the subject could be the Roman goddess Minerva, though the omission of her armour causes this interpretation to also be disputed. Instead, a classical sibyl could have been the intended subject. In a more ominous tone, the rolled-up scroll could identify this as Biblical heroine Esther, holding the decree against the Jews that she is about to quell in a meeting with King Ahasuerus. These intriguing possibilities heighten the dark intensity of this luminous etching.