Pen and brown ink, brown wash, 240 x 190 mm. Grey particles, most in evidence in the upper part (soot residue from the wash?). Some faint green spots in the lower centre. No watermark. Numbered in the lower right corner, in pen and brown ink, 180 (struck out) and 1798 (Sparre). Mark of the Royal Collection (Lugt 1638).

This is the model for the etching The Great Jewish Bride (Bartsch 340), which was given its title by a collector in the eighteenth century. The seated woman in her sumptuous dress, with a scroll in her hand, has been variously interpreted as Minerva or a sibyl. However, it seems more likely, as Kahr has suggested, that this is a representation of the Old Testament heroine Esther, who used her influence over her husband, the Persian ruler Ahasuerus, to prevent a pogrom of the Jews during their captivity. Having fasted and prayed for three days, she dons her queenly attire before interceding on behalf of her people. She is holding her husband’s decree, which would destroy the Jews. Kahr’s interpretation of a painting in the National Gallery, Ottawa, as Esther has been questioned; it depicts a young woman in magnificent attire, seated in the same position, with a servant combing her hair, but there are no further attributes.

There is a clear resemblance in style between this drawing and a Young Woman at her Toilet in the Albertina, dated to 1632–34. The model in both cases is probably Saskia, who served as Rembrandt’s model in a variety of contexts. She was also the subject of an etched portrait of 1634 (Bartsch 347). Adapting to the subject matter of Esther, our drawing shows a determined female figure with stern features and an upright position. This attitude is even more apparent in the etching, where the portrait likeness to Saskia is also less evident.

The print is usually dated 1635 (although an alternative dating to 1637 has been proposed by Kahr). The face is precisely drawn, and forms are first broadly indicated with fluent pen strokes. Greater emphasis is then introduced by broader and darker pen lines and wash. As White has pointed out, the rich tonal values would have been of greater use to the artist when biting the plate than when making the drawing on the plate. Royalton-Kisch has put forward the interesting hypothesis that the print was begun as a portrait of Saskia, in the earliest stages carried as far as the shoulders, and only then continued as a representation of Esther. The drawing would belong to this phase, the head and hair repeated in a pale ink and the sumptuous dress and the hand holding the decree drawn with bolder strokes in a darker ink.

The question remains why Rembrandt bothered to draw a full-length figure, since it would not fit on the plate. There, the figure is knee-length. There is also more space on the right in the drawing. Perhaps a second version or a painting was contemplated. [Magnusson, Dutch Drawings no. 313]