Woman Lying in a Darkened Room
Rembrandt and Frans Hals were contemporaries and are recognised as the supreme portraitists of the Dutch Golden Age. Rembrandt was in addition one of the greatest of all printmakers and made over 300 etchings exploring the full expressive range of the print from self-portrait etchings to large-scale prints. During his lifetime his etchings were acclaimed throughout Europe as an individual contribution to art and were more widely collected and admired than his paintings. His reputation was more easily spread by prints than by paintings and in 17th century England it was the former that were widely known. This print's inappropriate original title was 'The Negress Lying Down', given by the first cataloguer of his work in the 18th century. Rather than portraying a black model it was a life study made in semi-darkness as an exercise in exploring the effects of light and shade, seen in the dark, rich tones that envelop the figure. The same pose of a female nude seen from behind, lying on her bed had been explored a decade earlier by Velazquez in his painting The Toilet of Venus (1647-51). Whilst the similarities are striking, Rembrandt can never have seen the work of the Spanish master, but it is likely that both artists were familiar with a common source. Etching, drypoint and burin on paper. Accepted by HM Government in lieu of Inheritance Tax and allocated to the Ferens Art Gallery, 2007.
