REMBRANDT. Clement de Jonghe, prints merchant.

Etching, drypoint and burin. mm 207 x 161. Small margin. Status: VI. Signed and dated: Rembrandt f. 1651. Signature and date at the bottom right. Excellent condition.

The model was a well-known print merchant, active in Amsterdam from 1640 until the year of his death, 1679. In his shop he owned a large number of Rembrandt prints. The artist has worked in the various states, modifying the printing a lot: in the third state he adds with the drypoint an arc that increases the stability of the composition; in the IV it reinforces the arch, elaborating it in the form of a niche to give more space to the figure, and also works on the folds and contours of the dress, thus giving greater weight and greater presence to the body. De Bussiere: "Rembrandt, with this subtle and penetrating analysis of a personality of which he knew, above all, to respect the character of impenetrability, has thus created one of the most beautiful portraits of all his work". Pierre François Basan, 1723-97, bought a number of original plates by Rembrandt that had belonged to the great collector Claude Henri Vatelet, and published in Paris a "Recueil" of prints in the second half of the 18th century.