The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of October 3, 2023

The Strolling Musicians

c. 1635

Rembrandt van Rijn

(Dutch, 1606–1669)

Netherlands, 17th century

Etching and drypoint

Support: Cream(3) laid paper

Sheet: 14.5 x 11.8 cm (5 11/16 x 4 5/8 in.); Platemark: 14.1 x 11.5 cm (5 9/16 x 4 1/2 in.)

Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund 1976.54

Catalogue raisonné: Hollstein 119 (XVIII.63)

State: i/ii

Location

not on view

Description

Although 17th-century Holland produced neither noteworthy composers nor renowned performers, rarely has another culture produced so many visual images of music as the Dutch. In this depiction of a pair of itinerant musicians wearily shuffling from door to door, Rembrandt reveals his compassionate understanding of human frailties. The hurdy-gurdy and bagpipes, as depicted here, were frequently associated with itinerant beggars and blind street singers in paintings and prints of the period.

Inscriptions

Inscription

lower center, in pen and brown ink: 145 ; VERSO, lower left, in graphite: 119 ; lower left, in pen and brown ink: HCX ; lower left, in graphite: [illegible]23 ; lower left, in graphite: B. 119 ; lower center, in graphite: N° 115 ; lower center, in graphite: 1rst state

Provenance
Julian Marshall (1836-1903), London, stamped (Lugt 1494), verso, lower left, in black. James Reiss (1812-1899), Manchester and London, stamped (Lugt 1522), verso, lower right, in purple. Charles C. Cunningham, Jr., Hartford, Conneticut, stamped (not in Lugt). purchased from (R. M. Light & Co., Santa Barbara, California)
Exhibition history

Year in Review, 1976. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (February 1-March 6, 1977).

Prints by Rembrandt and His Circle. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (January 24-May 25, 1984).

Themes and Variations: Musical Drawings and Prints. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (January 25-May 17, 2015).

Source URL: https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1976.54