Rembrandt, 1651, etching and drypoint on laid paper

Overall: 4 3/4 x 12 1/2 in. (12 x 31.8 cm)

Gift of Jean K. Weil in memory of Adolph Weil Jr., Class of 1935

Mistakenly named after the so-called home of the Goldweigher, a portrait etching by Rembrandt, this landscape is in fact based on the Saxenburg estate of Bloemendaal, owned by Christoffel Thijs, the man who sold Rembrandt his house in Amsterdam. The St.-Bavokerk of Haarlem can be seen in the distance. Rembrandt was deeply in debt and behind on his mortgage payments at the time he produced this print.

The panoramic nature of the landscape space, with a curving sweep and gentle undulations, is unique to Rembrandt’s work, even his etchings. Patches of drypoint burr suggest the diffusion of light, haziness of the atmosphere, and bleakness of the fields. It is likely that Rembrandt sketched this scene outside on the high dunes of Bloemendaal.