Woman with the Arrow, Rembrandt van Rijn, 1661
etching, h 204mm × w 123mm More details
Modelling with raised arms is tiring. To provide this woman with some relief, she most likely held onto a cord. Rembrandt set her in a narrative context by transforming the cord into an arrow and introducing the face of a man in the darkness at the left. Perhaps she represents Venus who takes away Cupid’s arrow; the scene has also been interpreted as Cleopatra with her lover.
