View of the Diemerdijk with a Milkman and Cottages ('Het Melkboertje')

View of the Diemerdijk with a Milkman and Cottages ('Het Melkboertje') by Rembrandt (Rembrandt van Rijn) is a remarkable example of Dutch Golden Age printmaking, executed primarily between 1645 and 1655. This specific impression is identified as the third and final state, showcasing the artist’s characteristic adjustments to the plate over time. Using the combined techniques of etching and drypoint, Rembrandt renders a seemingly ordinary, yet evocative, scene along the Diemerdijk, a crucial dyke protecting the city of Amsterdam.

The composition centers on the vast Dutch landscape, skillfully articulated through meticulous line work. A cluster of rustic cottages and small houses is nestled near the water's edge, partially illuminated by a faint light source. The intimate subject matter, which lends the work its common nickname, is the small figure of the milkman moving across the path in the foreground. Rembrandt uses the sharp lines of etching and the rich burr of drypoint to great effect, contrasting the texture of the wooden structures and the distant atmospheric sky. Further adding context to 17th-century life, small boats can be glimpsed navigating the waterway in the distance.

As one of the master printmaker's key landscape studies, this work demonstrates Rembrandt’s unparalleled ability to evoke atmosphere and everyday intimacy through his graphic arts. Its technical quality means that prints derived from such fine impressions are widely studied today by historians interested in the evolution of etching. This impression of View of the Diemerdijk with a Milkman and Cottages ('Het Melkboertje') is held in the permanent collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, and because of the artwork's age, high-resolution images are often available through the public domain.