Portrait of Lieven Willemsz van Coppenol, Writing Master (the larger plate)

Description

Lieven Willemsz van Coppenol sits turned toward the viewer, a large pale sheet and quill standing out against the dark background. Rembrandt gives the elderly writing master a substantial presence through the relationship between face, hand and paper. The bright sheet makes the sitter’s activity part of the composition, allowing the tools of writing to frame an individual rather than displace him.

The 1658 portrait combines etching and drypoint. Coppenol’s identity as a writing master makes the image a meeting between two forms of skilled mark-making, though the person remains central. Rembrandt gives the sitter a substantial presence within the larger plate, allowing profession and individual likeness to share attention without turning the portrait into an inventory of accomplishments or a purely decorative emblem of learning.

Read our guide to giclée prints or browse the Rembrandt collection.