The Artist's Mother: Head and Bust, Three-Quarters Right

The etching The Artist's Mother: Head and Bust, Three-Quarters Right by Rembrandt (Rembrandt van Rijn), dating from 1628, exemplifies the artist's burgeoning skill in printmaking during his early career in Leiden. This particular impression is identified as the New Holl. second state of four, indicating the refinement and evolution of the copper plate over successive working stages. The medium of etching allowed Rembrandt to capture subtle textures and deep shadows with remarkable control, even in his youthful period.

The work focuses intimately on the subject, generally accepted to be Neeltgen Willemsdr. van Zuytbrouck, Rembrandt's mother. As with many of his early self-portraits and family studies, Rembrandt utilized his mother as an accessible and frequent model for exercises in expression and psychological character studies. These intense early portraits of women demonstrate a foundational commitment to realism, contrasting the effects of light and shadow on the model’s aging face. The three-quarters pose highlights the deep lines etched into her face, conferring a quiet dignity upon the subject.

Classified as a Print, this piece showcases the nascent high-contrast lighting techniques that Rembrandt was mastering in the late 1620s. While small in scale, the etching reveals extraordinary detail through dense cross-hatching and careful tonal variation, creating a powerful sense of volume and presence. Such personal yet technically sophisticated studies were crucial preparatory steps for the grander commissions that followed. Today, this important record of the artist's early experimentation resides in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and reproductions of these historically significant prints are frequently made available through the public domain.