A stirring scene, brimming with detail, Rembrandt etching The Strolling Musicians, c. 1635 revisits a recurring theme, Rembrandt’s sympathetic inquiry into the lives of the common beggars. Two musicians, one playing a hurdy gurdy, and the other, a bag pipe, lean before a family with child to perform. Light from inside the home, illuminates the dim, intimate moment, thus highlighting the profiles the players. An insightful look into the impoverished people of the 17^th century, Rembrandt is acknowledged for the sense of humanity he exposed in these humble subjects, straying from satirical portrayals that so often denigrated the plight of the lower class in other artistic representations.

Created in 1637, this etching is according to the New Hollstein Dutch, a State III (of III) impression, Nowell-Usticke State III (of III); Biörklund State II (of II); Hind State II (of II),  White & Boon State II (of II).

Catalogue Raisonné & COA:

Rembrandt etching The Strolling Musicians, c. 1635 is fully documented and referenced in the below catalogue raisonnés and texts (copies will be enclosed as added documentation with the invoice accompanying the final sale of the work):

1. Bartsch. The Illustrated Bartsch Vol. 50.  Edited by Stephanie S. Dickey.  New York: Abaris Books, 1981. Illustrated as catalogue raisonné no. 119 (another example illustrated).

2. Biörklund, George, Rembrandt’s Etchings: True and False, Stockholm: George Biörklund, 1968. Listed and illustrated as catalogue raisonné no. BB 35-8.

3. Hind, Arthur. A Catalogue of Rembrandt’s Etchings. New York: Da Capo Press, 1967. Listed and illustrated as catalogue raisonné no. 142.

4. Hinterding, Erik and Rutgers, Jaco. The New Hollstein Dutch & Flemish Etchings, Engraving and Woodcuts, 1450-1700: Rembrandt Text I 1625-1635 nos. 1-155. Edited by Ger Luijten. Amsterdam: Sound and Vision Publishers, 2013. Listed as catalogue raisonné no. 141.

5. Hinterding, Erik and Rutgers, Jaco. The New Hollstein Dutch & Flemish Etchings, Engraving and Woodcuts, 1450-1700: Rembrandt Plates II 1635-1648 nos. 139-246. Edited by Ger Luijten. Amsterdam: Sound and Vision Publishers, 2013. Illustrated as catalogue raisonné no. 141.

6. Nowell-Eusticke, G.W. Rembrandt’s Etchings. New York: Hacker Art Books, Inc., 1988. Listed and illustrated as catalogue raisonné no. B 119

7. White, Christopher & Karel Boon. Rembrandt’s Etchings, Vol. I: Text.  Amsterdam: Van Gendt & Co.,1969. Listed as catalogue raisonné no. B. 119.

8. White, Christopher & Karel Boon. Rembrandt’s Etchings, Vol. II: Plates. Amsterdam: Van Gendt & Co., 1969. Illustrated as catalogue raisonné no. B. 119.

9. A Certificate of Authenticity will accompany this work.

About the Framing:

Rembrandt etching The Strolling Musicians, c. 1635 is framed to museum-grade, conservation standards, presented in a complementary moulding and finished with linen-wrapped mats and optical grade Plexiglas.