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In this superb etching, Rembrandt captures his mother’s careworn face and tender expression as she is lost in thought, eyes cast downward. Rembrandt’s depiction of her hand on her chest indicates that the subject of her thoughts is very close to her heart.
The darkly
etched dress and veil on her head serve to heighten this quiet drama.
The dark veil curving around her head has an angelic effect that is
reinforced by the light behind it. Rembrandt
made five other etchings of his
mother as well as number of paintings. In this time period, Rembrandt often used
family members as models.
In 1589, Rembrandt's mother, Neeltgen Willemsdochter van ZuytBrouck, married Harman Gerritszoon van Rijn in reformed Peter's Church in Leiden, Holland. Rembrandt was the next to the youngest of their nine children, two of whom died in infancy.
"Artist’s Mother with Her Hand on Her Chest" B. 349
Signed and dated RHL
1631
3-5/8" x 2-1/2" Second
and final state Posthumous Impression, 1998
