A Young Man in a Velvet Cap (B., Holl. 268; H. 151)

Details

Rembrandt Harmensz. van Rijn
A Young Man in a Velvet Cap (B., Holl. 268; H. 151)
etching, 1637, without watermark, a fine, early impression of the second, final state, printing with touches of burr in the sitter's left eye, on the hair, lips and chin, trimmed on the platemark on three sides, a thread margin above, the tips of three sheet corners made up, otherwise in good condition
P., S. 96 x 82 mm.

Literature

E. Hinterding, Rembrandt Etchings from the Frits Lugt Collection, Paris, 2008, p. 471-2.

Special Notice

VAT rate of 5% is payable on hammer price and at 20% on the buyer's premium.

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Lot Essay

The identity of this young man has been the subject of much dispute amongst Rembrandt scholars. The fact that he wears a velvet cap has led many to believe that he must be a painter, positing Ferdinand Bol, Gerard Dou or Johannes van Vliet as possible candidates. The discovery of an inscription in a 17th century hand reading Petrus Sylvius on a fine impression belonging to The Late Dr. S. William Pelletier (his sale, Sotheby's, London, 2 December 2004, lot 56) has led Dieuwke de Hoop Scheffer to identify the sitter as the son of the preacher Jan Cornelis Sylvius. Like his father, Petrus Sylvius was a preacher, and De Hoop Scheffer has suggested that the etching may have been made on the occasion of his appointment as a minister in Sloten, possibly even as a gift by Rembrandt.

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