tween the Museum's drawing and two of the early chalk
drawings of men in the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam (inv.
A 2046, A 2045).^5 In both of these studies, direct parallels
can be seen with the Museum's sheet in its broad, some-
times jagged lines, especially along the neck and shoulder
of the man at the left and the neck of the one at the right.
These are most evident in the left arm of the man facing
forward and along the back, neck, and right sleeve of the
man with a stick turned to the right in the Rijksmuseum
drawings.^6
A comparison with the Abrams drawing of an old
woman does reveal a certain similarity. However, the
works differ in important respects. The Abrams drawing
is self-contained and timid, lacking the boldness of form
and almost crude vigor of the Museum's study. The use
of broad pen strokes illustrates the difference between
them. In the Museum's drawing these are intrinsic to the
design and have been used to develop broad areas such as
the neck, shoulder (of the left figure), ear, and back of the
head. In the Abrams drawing, broad strokes are em-
ployed without apparent consideration of their diverse
effect; sometimes they simply continue or reiterate pas-
sages already drawn. The same is true of another Lievens
drawing of a woman facing left (location unknown)
which shows no greater understanding of the differen-
tiation of pen work (the latter often becomes decora-
tive).^7 Therefore it is precisely on the basis of the principal
differences between early Rembrandt and Lievens ob-
served by Schatborn that the separation of hands can be
established, with the Museum's drawing clearly the
work of Rembrandt. It is both bolder and less elegant
than Lievens' work, a rendering by a daring if not yet
fully formed artistic personality.
It is to be fully expected that at this early point in his
career Rembrandt would have been drawing with certain
mannerisms of graphic technique analogous to those of
Lievens, and it is predictable that the results would differ
in just the ways described here. In addition the direct re-
lationship between the drawing and the signed painting
of 1626 fully conforms to the evidence of style, situating
the former shortly before the two studies of men in the
Rijksmuseum. Therefore this early drawing by Rem-
brandt, one of the few connected to a painting, should
be accorded a place as an important datum for the study
of his draughtsmanship.- Letter to W. Robinson, July 29, 1982.
- W. Sumowski, Drawings of the Rembrandt School (New York,
!983), vol. 7, no. i639x. - O. Benesch, The Drawings of Rembrandt (London, 1973),
vol. i, no. 54. - Ibid., no. 48.
- Ibid., nos. 30 recto, 31.
- Ibid., nos. 31 and 30 recto, respectively.
- Sumowski (note 2), no. i64ix.
REMBRANDT • DUTCH SCHOOL 255