Vrouw met een plassend kind

Vrouw met een plassend kind by Rembrandt van Rijn is an evocative drawing dating from his late period, approximately 1658-1660. Executed on paper using ink, this intimate piece is classified as a genre study typical of the Dutch Golden Age. This drawing originated in the Netherlands, a culture rich with domestic and everyday visual narratives during the seventeenth century.

Rijn’s mastery of line work is evident in this informal study. The medium allows the artist to capture an ephemeral domestic moment, depicting a common, unsentimental scene of daily life. The subject matter centers on a woman attending to a young child, who is shown relieving himself. Such candid observations of human behavior were frequent explorations in the work of Rijn and his contemporaries. The use of ink facilitates swift, economical strokes that suggest form and movement rather than meticulously detailing every feature, lending the piece an immediacy characteristic of his best draughtsmanship.

Created toward the end of his career, this work demonstrates the continued power of Rijn’s technical skill. Unlike formal portraits or grand historical canvases, this genre drawing emphasizes the unposed interaction and vulnerability of its subjects. Rijn consistently used drawing as a fundamental tool for observation, often developing these studies as preliminary ideas for his more elaborate etchings or oil paintings.

This significant drawing is currently housed in the collection of the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam. Due to its historical importance and age, this masterwork is often available for scholarly study and reproduction. High-quality prints derived from this important public domain artwork allow art lovers worldwide to appreciate the intimacy and expressive skill inherent in Rijn’s late drawings.