Collections | Drawings & Prints

Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn (1606–1669)
The Bulwark De Rose and the Windmill De Smeerpot in Amsterdam
Pen and brown ink, brown wash, on light brown-toned paper; some delicately scraped highlights to the roof at the left; framing lines in brown ink along lower edge and on both sides
5 1/4 x 8 9/16 inches (134 x 218 mm)
Thaw Collection, The Morgan Library & Museum; 2006.47
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One of Rembrandt's finest landscape drawings, this sheet belongs to a group of twenty-seven views by the artist that were made along the Amstel River and chronicle his walks along the Amsterdam city walls. It documents a panoramic view from the top of the Amsterdam city wall, leading to a dramatic convergence of the earthen ramparts at the center of the page. To the right is an old-fashioned mill, popularly called the Grease Pot (Smeerpot), that was used to grind wheat and rye.

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