Two Studies of a Woman Reading

Two Studies of a Woman Reading

Rembrandt (Rembrandt van Rijn)

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Rembrandt's figure studies capture both the physical and psychological character of his models. Although here his technique appears abbreviated and sketchy, he closely observed and brilliantly summarized such details as the tendrils of the woman's hair, the curve of her fingers, and the roundness of her cheek. Rembrandt's wife, Saskia, may have served as the model for this drawing. In the lower study, she appears in full daylight, while in the upper study, she sits almost completely in the dark, leaning forward to catch a few glimmers of light for her reading; the darkness surrounding her is depicted with strongly diverging hatching.

Drawings and Prints

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Two Studies of a Woman ReadingTwo Studies of a Woman ReadingTwo Studies of a Woman ReadingTwo Studies of a Woman ReadingTwo Studies of a Woman Reading

The Department’s vast collection of works on paper comprises approximately 21,000 drawings, 1.2 million prints, and 12,000 illustrated books created in Europe and the Americas from about 1400 to the present day. Since its foundation in 1916, the Department has been committed to collecting a wide range of works on paper, which includes both pieces that are incredibly rare and lauded for their aesthetic appeal, as well as material that is more popular, functional, and ephemeral. The broad scope of the department’s collecting encourages questions of connoisseurship as well as those pertaining to function and context, and demonstrates the vital role that prints, drawings, and illustrated books have played throughout history.