Rembrandt's Father - John Boydell

A 1764 mezzotint by John Boydell, depicting a portrait of Rembrandt's father, Harmen Gerritsz van Rijn, after an original painting.

This mezzotint, published by John Boydell in 1764, reproduces a portrait attributed to the Dutch master Rembrandt van Rijn. The subject is identified in the plate as Rembrandt's father, Harmen Gerritsz van Rijn. Boydell, a significant figure in the eighteenth-century British print trade, commissioned this work to bring the aesthetic qualities of Dutch Golden Age painting to a wider audience through the medium of printmaking.

The print employs the mezzotint technique, which is well-suited to capturing the dramatic light and shadow characteristic of Rembrandt's original work. By roughening the copper plate to create a dark ground and then smoothing areas to produce highlights, the engraver achieves a soft, tonal quality. This method allows for subtle transitions between the deep shadows of the background and the illuminated features of the sitter's face and collar. The subject wears a wide-brimmed hat and a period-appropriate ruff, rendered with a focus on texture and form.

John Boydell was instrumental in developing the print market in London, operating from his shop in Cheapside. His publications often featured works from private collections, such as the one mentioned in the inscription, which belonged to William Baillie. This print serves as a record of how eighteenth-century British audiences engaged with European Old Masters. The composition remains faithful to the seventeenth-century style, focusing on the psychological presence of the sitter through direct eye contact and a sombre, atmospheric treatment of light. The print is a technical example of the high standards maintained by the Boydell workshop during this period, demonstrating the capacity of mezzotint to translate the painterly effects of oil on canvas into a monochromatic medium.