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Study Sheet with Three Women and a Boy

ca. 1638–39
Not on view
Rembrandt often picked up pen and paper to capture a briefly glimpsed pose or a fascinating character he observed on the street, and he also made sketches to work out the expression or stance of figures destined for prints or paintings. He may have drawn the figures on this sheet from life, but the costume of the old woman viewed from several angles as well as her pose and the pose of the young man in the center suggest that they were ultimately intended as studies for biblical characters. In a few loose strokes of iron-gall ink, Rembrandt masterfully communicated surprise in the old woman at the top and humble submissiveness in the man at the center. Both these sketches relate loosely to figures in Rembrandt's etching The Angel Departing from Tobit's Family, dated 1641, and may represent his initial thoughts for these characters. The combination of broad pen strokes (in the drapery) and more refined lines (in the face of the old woman at the top and on the right) is typical of Rembrandt's drawing style of the late 1630s.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Study Sheet with Three Women and a Boy
  • Artist: Rembrandt (Rembrandt van Rijn) (Dutch, Leiden 1606–1669 Amsterdam)
  • Date: ca. 1638–39
  • Medium: Pen and brown ink
  • Dimensions: sheet: 8 11/16 x 6 7/16 in. (22 x 16.4 cm)
  • Classification: Drawings
  • Credit Line: From the Collection of Rita and Frits Markus, Bequest of Rita Markus, 2005
  • Object Number: 2005.330.16
  • Curatorial Department: Drawings and Prints

More Artwork

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Abraham Casting out Hagar and Ishmael, Rembrandt (Rembrandt van Rijn) Dutch, Etching with touches of drypoint
Abraham Casting out Hagar and Ishmael
Rembrandt (Rembrandt van Rijn)
1637
St. Jerome Reading, Rembrandt (Rembrandt van Rijn) Dutch, Etching
St. Jerome Reading
Rembrandt (Rembrandt van Rijn)
1634
Return of the Prodigal Son, Rembrandt (Rembrandt van Rijn) Dutch, Etching, pen and ink
Return of the Prodigal Son
Rembrandt (Rembrandt van Rijn)
1620–69
St. Jerome in Prayer, Rembrandt (Rembrandt van Rijn) Dutch, Etching
St. Jerome in Prayer
Rembrandt (Rembrandt van Rijn)
1635
Portrait of Lieven Willemsz van Coppenol, Writing Master (the larger plate), Rembrandt (Rembrandt van Rijn) Dutch, Etching and drypoint; fourth state
Portrait of Lieven Willemsz van Coppenol, Writing Master (the larger plate)
Rembrandt (Rembrandt van Rijn)
1658

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