Jan Cornelis Sylvius (Primary Title)
Rembrandt Harmensz. van Rijn, Dutch, 1606 - 1669 (Artist)
The Mennonite preacher Sylvius was indirectly related by marriage to Rembrandt through his wife, Saskia van Uylenborch. Though this relation may explain the somewhat familiar, if not informal, presentation of the sitter, it does not do justice to Rembrandt’s profound humanitarian vision in his printed and painted portraits. In both, Rembrandt sought to go beyond mere resemblance in order to capture the personality and character of his sitters. This aim was abetted by his technique of etching a dense network of lines from which the sitter seems to emerge a fully fledged human being.
Collectors mark of Carel Joseph Frederik Johan Maassen (Lugt 1774b) on verso lower right.
Inscribed in graphite on verso: "W/C" (this is the collectors mark of Frederick Carel Theodoor van Isendoorn à Blois (see Lugt 2610)), "/321", "4139/ 5230" and "APG 18302"
Purchased as a gift of Frank Raysor
2019: "The Printed World: Masterpieces of Seventeenth-Century Printmaking from the Frank Raysor Collection and the Harnett Print Study Center Collection", Joel and Lila Harnett Museum of Art, University of Richmond, Richmond, VA , February 1 - March 24, 2019
A Celebration of Print: 500 Years of Graphic Art from the Frank Raysor Collection
VMFA, 29 January - 22 May 2011
A Celebration of Print: 500 Years of Graphic Art from the Frank Raysor Collection
VMFA, 29 January - 22 May 2011
Image released via Creative Commons CC-BY-NC
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