Signed with the artist's monogram and dated in the plate RHL 1628 (the '2' reversed).

A clear and sharp 17th century / lifetime impression of Bartsch's second and final state Usticke's first state, of this extremely rare etching, characterized by Nowell-Usticke as 'a scarce, very desirable portrait,' printed after the bust was added to the plate along with the signature and date.

A minor defect in the sheet about 1cm above the head of the sitter, some thin spots in the sheet visible only from the verso, otherwise in excellent condition. Collections in which impressions of this state of this etching can be found: Rijksprentenkabinet, Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam; Kupferstichkabinett der Staatlichen Museen, Berlin-Dahlem; Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge; StŠdelsches Kunstinstitut, Frankfor-on-Main; Teylers Stichting, Haarlem; Ermitage Museum, Leningrad; The British Museum, London; Pierpont Morgan Library, New York; Ashmolean Museum, Oxford; Bibliothque Nationale, Paris; Graphische Sammlung Albertina, Vienna. Rembrandt's mother, Neeltgen Willemsdochter Zuytbrouch, daughter of a baker, bore nine children, of which Rembrandt was the eighth. Rembrandt seems to have recorded her features in a number of etchings, this one included. However, there is no documentary evidence that the old lady in these works is indeed Rembrandt's mother. It was during the 1679 inventory of Clement de Jonghe's estate that these images were assumed to be depictions of the artist's mother.

Bartsch 354 ii/ii; Hind 1; Biorklund-Barnard 28-A; Usticke 354 i

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