Rembrandt Harmensz. van Rijn

A very good, early impression of the second state (of six) printing darkly, with great clarity and depth, intense contrasts and with much burr. With a margin up to 5 mm wide around the platemark. For a considerable time, the figure depicted was identified as Jacob Haaringh, the son of Thomas Haaringh, the Amsterdam official who supervised the liquidation of Rembrandt’s assets following his declared insolvency in 1657 and 1658. Recent research, however, has revealed the sitter to be Pieter Haaringh, a younger relative. Pieter Haaringh held the position of Receiver at the Amsterdam Orphan Chamber and was responsible for overseeing voluntary public auctions. It is presumed that he assisted Rembrandt in the sale of his belongings in 1655, prior to the formal declaration of bankruptcy, and it remains plausible that he acted as auctioneer during that transaction. – Very few isolated tiny brown spots on the reverse, with faint pencil notes and the number ‘50’ in brown ink verso, otherwise in very good condition. Very rare in this early state!