Pen and brown ink, 143 x 115 mm. No watermark. Chain lines: 36 mm. Inscribed in the lower left corner, in pen and black ink, RimBrant, and numbered in pencil, No 11. Mark of J. G. De la Gardie (Lugt 2722a). Inscribed on the verso, in pen and brown ink, Portrait de Vieillard la plume. N. 826 Reimbrant.

Preparatory drawing (in reverse) for the etching of 1646 (Bartsch 280). The portrait was posthumous, as Sylvius had died in 1638. A portrait was painted for his widow in 1645, perhaps by a pupil. However, there is a preparatory by Rembrandt in the National Gallery, Washington, quite close in style to the present drawing. These portraits were probably based on studies made in connection with Rembrandt’s etched portrait of 1633 (Bartsch 266).

The drawing was dated 1646 by Benesch, but a date as early as about 1640 has been proposed by Welcker and Boon. The sketch shows the final arrangement of the etching, including the position of the two verses below. The main difference is the absence of the outstretched hand casting a shadow outside the frame. This was introduced in a second preparatory drawing in the British Museum. However, the different manner of the two drawings may be due to their place in the creative process, rather than to a change in style. The first shows the peculiar calligraphy of initial studies, a kind of tentative scribble, in which the pen is seldom lifted from the paper. The second drawing is concerned with the distribution of light and shadow, which is achieved with short strokes and hatching, aided by wash. Pen and brown ink, 143 x 115 mm. No watermark. Chain lines: 36 mm. Inscribed in the lower left corner, in pen and black ink, RimBrant, and numbered in pencil, No 11. Mark of J. G. De la Gardie (Lugt 2722a). Inscribed on the verso, in pen and brown ink, Portrait de Vieillard la plume. N. 826 Reimbrant.

Preparatory drawing (in reverse) for the etching of 1646 (Bartsch 280). The portrait was posthumous, as Sylvius had died in 1638. A portrait was painted for his widow in 1645, perhaps by a pupil. However, there is a preparatory by Rembrandt in the National Gallery, Washington, quite close in style to the present drawing. These portraits were probably based on studies made in connection with Rembrandt’s etched portrait of 1633 (Bartsch 266).

The drawing was dated 1646 by Benesch, but a date as early as about 1640 has been proposed by Welcker and Boon. The sketch shows the final arrangement of the etching, including the position of the two verses below. The main difference is the absence of the outstretched hand casting a shadow outside the frame. This was introduced in a second preparatory drawing in the British Museum. However, the different manner of the two drawings may be due to their place in the creative process, rather than to a change in style. The first shows the peculiar calligraphy of initial studies, a kind of tentative scribble, in which the pen is seldom lifted from the paper. The second drawing is concerned with the distribution of light and shadow, which is achieved with short strokes and hatching, aided by wash. [Magnusson, Dutch Drawings no. 322]