Description
Rembrandt van Rijn
Portrait of Cornelis Claesz Anslo, Mennonite Preacher, after the 1641 composition
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The image reproduces the portrait Rembrandt made in 1641 of Cornelis Claesz Anslo, an Amsterdam cloth merchant and Mennonite preacher. Seated at a table, Anslo holds a pen and rests his hand on a book, surrounded by volumes that reinforce his role as an orator, scholar, and religious leader. The contrast between the illuminated face, the heavy garments, and the densely worked background draws attention to the sitter’s intellectual presence.
The original composition was executed by Rembrandt in etching and drypoint, from a plate measuring approximately 18.8 × 15.8 cm. The present example is catalogued as a later print.
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Medium: etching and drypoint print
Dimensions: 16 × 13 cm
Inscription: handwritten inscription in German on the mount: “Authentische Rembrandt Radierung” (“authentic Rembrandt etching”). The inscription is later and does not constitute the artist’s signature or a certificate of authenticity.
References for the original composition: New Hollstein 197; Hind 187; White & Boon 271
Provenance: private collection of Teodoro Harffen, acquired in Europe.
