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Saskia in Bed, Rembrandt van Rijn, c. 1635

Saskia in Bed, Rembrandt van Rijn, c. 1635

red chalk, h 130mm × w 175mm Catalogue entry

This quick scribble almost certainly shows Rembrandt’s wife, Saskia, whom he often drew during her confinements and illnesses. A very similar drawing, now in London, depicts the same woman holding a baby. Because Rembrandt favoured red chalk in the mid-1630s, that baby is most likely Rembrandt and Saskia’s firstborn son, Rumbartus, who was baptized on 15 December 1635 and died two months later.

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Catalogue entry