The Flute-player, Rembrandt van Rijn, 1642
etching, h 114mm × w 143mm More details
This print was formerly called ‘het Uylenspiegeltje’ (the scoundrel), and not without reason. Rembrandt concealed all kinds of erotic double entendres in this scene of a shepherd couple beside the water. The man furtively peeks under the woman’s skirt and happens to point with his flute – a phallic symbol – in the same direction. The woman is weaving a wreath of flowers, an allusion to female genitalia.
