Sheet of studies of men's head: old man in fur coat and high cap
c. 1629
Medium
etching
Dimensions
36; 28
About this artwork
Fragment van versneden plaat.
Art Historical Context
This intimate etching, *Sheet of Studies of Men's Head: Old in Fur Coat and High*, captures Rembrandt van Rijn's masterful in his early career around 1629. At just 23 years old and working in Leiden, the Dutch artist created this tiny fragment—measuring a mere 36mm by 28mm—from a cut-up copper plate, a technique known as "versneden plaat" in Dutch. Such fragments reveal Rembrandt's experimental side, where he repurposed plates to refine ideas or salvage gems from larger compositions. Depicting an expressive old man's head framed by a fur coat and high cap, the work exemplifies Rembrandt's fas...
About the Artist
Rembrandt van Rijn · 1606–1669
Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn (1606–1669) stands as one of the greatest visual artists in the history of Western art and the most important Dutch painter of the 17th century. Born in Leiden to a prosperous miller's family, Rembrandt transformed painting through his revolutionary use of light and shadow, his psychological depth in portraiture, and his elevation of etching to a fine art. His approx...