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Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn
1606-1669
Woman with a Child Descending a Staircase
ca. 1636
Pen and brown ink and wash, on laid paper; traces of framing line in brown ink.
7 3/8 x 5 3/16 inches (187 x 132 mm)
Purchased by Pierpont Morgan (1837-1913) in 1909.
I, 191
Inscription:
Inscribed at lower right corner, in an old hand, in brown ink, a symbol resembling a "W".
Provenance:
Charles Fairfax Murray (1849-1919), London and Florence; from whom purchased through Galerie Alexandre Imbert, Rome, in 1909 by Pierpont Morgan (1837-1913), New York (no mark; see Lugt 1509); his son, J. P. Morgan, Jr. (1867-1943), New York.
Description:
In this remarkably intimate study, Rembrandt masterfully employed his brush to evoke the darkness of the staircase and create a sense of movement in the dramatic shadows that envelop the woman. With a thick reed pen and brown ink, he described her cap, using careful strokes to define the faces of woman and child, and bold strokes to describe the child's body and woman's skirt.
Notes:
Watermark: none.
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