Peasant with his Hands behind his Back, Rembrandt van Rijn, 1629
etching, h 59mm × w 50mm More details
Rembrandt’s rapid progress as a printmaker is easy to see in this group of poor wretches. The seated woman is still somewhat crudely executed, but the beggar woman with a gourd and her male companion already testify to greater mastery of the technique. The little prints of a man and a woman are etched in the finer style that Rembrandt was to develop later.