Peasant with His Hands behind His Back

"Peasant with His Hands behind His Back" is an important print created by Rembrandt van Rijn in 1631. Executed using the combined techniques of etching and burin, this small-scale work is characteristic of the burgeoning printmaking market during the early Dutch Golden Age, a period flourishing between 1601 to 1650. Rijn, who was rapidly establishing his reputation in Amsterdam, leveraged the expressive potential of intaglio processes to capture immediate, detailed character studies, often of ordinary people encountered on the street.

The piece presents a single, simply dressed male figure seen from behind, his hands tightly clasped or potentially tied at the small of his back, drawing the viewer’s attention immediately to the figure’s posture and humility. The precise detail rendered by the burin technique, which allowed Rijn to create deeper blacks and defined contours, contrasts effectively with the looser, more spontaneous lines achieved through the etching needle. This focus on everyday subjects, particularly rural or marginal figures, reflected a common interest in human types rather than strictly grand historical narratives during this era.

As a representative example of early seventeenth-century Dutch graphic arts, this work showcases Rijn’s remarkable ability to imbue even minor figures with psychological depth and dignity, a hallmark of his approach to portraiture and genre scenes. Today, the original impression of the print, Peasant with His Hands behind His Back, is held in the renowned collection of the National Gallery of Art. Due to its historical significance and age, high-resolution prints and images of this celebrated masterwork are frequently available for educational use through public domain archives, ensuring wider access to Rijn's foundational contributions to the art of etching.