The Artist's Mother with her Hand on her Chest

This portrait has long been identified as Rembrandt's mother, Neeltgen Willemsdochter van Zuytbroeck (circa 1568-1640). Although the sitter appears in several etchings made between 1628 and 1632 (see lot 7) only this plate was listed as Rembrandt’s moeder in the estate inventory from 1679 of the Amsterdam print dealer Clement de Jonghe, which included 74 of his copperplates. Rembrandt’s interest as an etcher was clearly in the expressively wrinkled face of the elderly woman, which is modelled with a profusion of lightly bitten, fine lines, punctuated by the darker, more heavily bitten facial features. Her face is framed by a white shift, seen just below her chin, and a densely crosshatched dress and veil. The image was complete in the first state, and it is likely that Rembrandt achieved the rich variety of line by etching the plate in three stages. The lightly etched face and hands suggest an initial immersion of the plate in acid for only a short time before the application of a stop-out, followed by the re-immersion of the plate for a slightly longer period. A stop-out would then have been applied to the background, creating an intermediate grey tone, before the final etch of the darker dress, veil and background. It is one of Rembrandt's earliest prints created in this elaborate process.