Description: Pen and brown ink, 235 x 197 mm. Ruled framing lines in reddish-brown ink. Watermark: Double-headed eagle (close to Heawood 1303: Amsterdam 1644). Chain lines: 22 mm. Inscribed at the bottom, in pen and black ink, Abraham parle a son fils de la soumission qu’on doit a la volonté de Dieu. Numbered in the lower right corner, in pen and brown ink, 1852 (Sparre) and 81 (struck out).

The old man is loosely sketched, with different possibilities suggested, regarding both his stance, which remains unclear, and the position of his arms and hands. Only the face, shaded by the turban-like headgear, is more fixed. In contrast, the boy is defined with heavy contours and hatching. Kruse connected this sheet with the etching Bartsch 34, of 1645. He expressed mild doubts about it being an autograph Rembrandt drawing, and reported that it was accepted as such by Hind, doubted by Seidlitz and Falck, while Saxl suggested that Hoogstraten had drawn the figure of Isaac. Kruse himself was of the opinion that there was only one hand, and praised the expressiveness of the two faces. 

The quality of the drawing seems beyond doubt, but it has still been considered by some to be a copy. Valentiner first suggested Horst, comparing the drawing to other works attributed to that artist. While discarding Valentiner’s argument, Sumowski has kept the attribution to Horst, comparing the sheet to David on his Deathbed in Besançon, the “only authentic drawing” by the artist. He regards it as a study for a painting of 1643 in Dublin, but in his work on the paintings of Rembrandt’s pupils it is not included.

The attribution to Horst has been generally accepted, but Bjurström preferred to ascribe the drawing to Bol.  Indeed, the stylistic similarities with some of the drawings attributed to that artist in the Nationalmuseum collection are striking. As Henkel pointed out, Bol, Horst and Victors were pupils of Rembrandt at the same time. [Magnusson, Dutch Drawings no. 201]

Abraham och Isak