Boaz and Ruth

Rembrandt van Rijn, c. 1645

The widow Ruth was encouraged by her mother-in-law, Naomi, to offer herself to Boaz, a relative of Naomi’s deceased husband. Ruth then lay down on the threshing floor at Boaz’s feet. To thank her for her hard work during the harvest, Boaz poured six measures of barley on her shawl. Ruth and Boaz would eventually marry and become the ancestors of King David (and thus of Christ).

  • Artwork typedrawing
  • Object numberRP-T-1930-9
  • Dimensionsheight 126 mm x width 143 mm
  • Physical characteristicspen and brown ink, with opaque white

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Rembrandt van Rijn

Boaz and Ruth

Amsterdam, c. 1645

Inscriptions

  • inscribed on verso, in pencil: centre (with the Hofstede de Groot cat. no.), Hde 1254; below that, by Hofstede de Groot, f josij.-; lower left (with the Hofstede de Groot cat. no.), 1254; lower centre, Rembrandt van Rijn / de Leijden 1606-1674; lower right, 51 (?)

  • stamped on verso: centre, with the mark of the museum (L. 2228)

Technical notes

Watermark: Foolscap

Condition

Light foxing throughout1Typical of most drawings formerly in the collection of Hofstede de Groot, which at some point during his ownership were stored in unfavourably damp conditions.

Provenance

…; purchased from Paul Mathey (1844-1929), Paris, with three other drawings, through the mediation of the dealer P. Roblin (?1853-1908), Paris, by Dr Cornelis Hofstede de Groot (1863-1930), The Hague, 1903;2Hofstede de Groot notes, KB. by whom donated to the museum, 1906, but kept in usufruct; transferred to the museum (L. 2228), 1930

Object number: RP-T-1930-9

Credit line: Gift of C. Hofstede de Groot, The Hague

The artist

Biography

Rembrandt Harmensz van Rijn (Leiden 1606 - Amsterdam 1669)

After attending Latin school in his native Leiden, Rembrandt, the son of a miller, enrolled at Leiden University in 1620, but soon abandoned his studies to become an artist. He first trained (1621-23) under the Leiden painter Jacob Isaacsz van Swanenburg (c. 1571-1638), followed by six months with the Amsterdam history painter Pieter Lastman (c. 1583-1633). Returning to Leiden around 1624, he shared a studio with Jan Lievens, where he aimed to establish himself as a history painter, winning the admiration of the poet and courtier Constantijn Huygens. In 1628 Gerard Dou (1613-75) became his first pupil. In the autumn of 1631 Rembrandt moved to Amsterdam, where his career rapidly took off. Three years later he joined the Guild of St Luke and married Saskia Uylenburgh (1612-42), niece of the art dealer Hendrik Uylenburgh (c. 1587-1661), in whose house he had been living and working. She died shortly after giving birth to their son Titus, by which time Rembrandt was already in financial straits owing to excessive spending on paintings, prints, antiquities and studio props for his history pieces. After Saskia’s death, Rembrandt lived first with Titus's wet nurse, Geertje Dircx (who eventually sued Rembrandt for breach of promise and was later imprisoned for her increasingly unstable behaviour), and then with his later housekeeper, Hendrickje Stoffels (by whom he had a daughter, Cornelia). Mounting debts made him unable to meet the payments of his house on the Jodenbreestraat and forced him to declare bankruptcy in 1656 and to sell his house and art collection. In the last decade of his life, he, Hendrickje and Titus resided in more modest accommodation on the Rozengracht, but Rembrandt continued to be dogged by continuing financial difficulties. His beloved Titus died in 1668. Rembrandt survived him by only a year and was buried in the Westerkerk.

Entry

The episode represented, from the Book of Ruth, shows the widow Ruth spreading out her shawl, into which Boaz pours six measures of barley (Ruth 3:15). The Moabite woman had gone to Canaan, the land of her deceased Israelite husband, with her mother-in-law (also a widow); they lived humbly and during the harvest Ruth gleaned leftover barley in the fields owned by Boaz, a relative of Ruth’s late father-in-law. Ruth was encouraged by her mother-in-law to offer herself to Boaz, so she had laid down to rest on the threshing floor at his feet. He and his workers treated her with kindness as she gleaned, and he then offered her as compensation for her work six measures of barley to take back to her mother-in-law. Ruth and Boaz eventually married and became the ancestors of King David and hence of Christ.

The scene that Rembrandt chose to depict is seldom represented in the visual arts. Ruth is usually shown in the countryside, for example, in works by Rembrandt’s students. This drawing depicts the occasion simply and directly. Rembrandt corrected earlier versions of the arms of both Ruth and Boaz with opaque white. Boaz holds the round bin on its side and pours out the barley in exact measures onto Ruth’s shawl. The two figures are linked by the motif of the shawl in this symmetrical composition. Boaz’s expression reflects his preoccupation with his task, whereas Ruth’s firmly drawn profile conveys her gratitude and involvement in the event, which will have far-reaching consequences for her future. The drawing was made around the mid-1640s, around the same time as Christ Appearing to Mary Magdalene as a Gardener (inv. no. RP-T-1961-80).

Peter Schatborn, 2017

Literature

C. Hofstede de Groot, Die Handzeichnungen Rembrandts, Haarlem 1906, no. 1254; W.R. Valentiner, Rembrandt: Die Meisters Handzeichnungen, 2 vols., Stuttgart and elsewhere 1925-34, I (1925), no. 149 (c. 1650); M.D. Henkel, Catalogus van de Nederlandsche teekeningen in het Rijksmuseum te Amsterdam, I: Teekeningen van Rembrandt en zijn school, coll. cat. The Hague 1942, no. 54 (1647-48); O. Benesch, The Drawings of Rembrandt (rev. edn. by E. Benesch), 6 vols., London 1973 (orig. edn. 1954-57), no. 643 (1649-50); P. Schatborn, Catalogus van de Nederlandse tekeningen in het Rijksprentenkabinet, Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam, IV: Tekeningen van Rembrandt, zijn onbekende leerlingen en navolgers/Drawings by Rembrandt, his Anonymous Pupils and Followers, coll. cat. The Hague 1985, no. 23, with earlier literature; M. Schapelhouman, Rembrandt and the Art of Drawing, Amsterdam 2006, pp. 91-92, fig. 89; RRP V (2011), p. 231, fig. 210; H. Bevers, W.W. Robinson and P. Schatborn, Drawings by Rembrandt and his Pupils: Telling the Difference, exh. cat. Los Angeles (J. Paul Getty Museum) 2009-10, p. 152, fig. 23a

Citation

P. Schatborn, 2017, 'Rembrandt van Rijn, Boaz and Ruth, Amsterdam, c. 1645', in J. Turner (ed.), Drawings by Rembrandt and his School in the Rijksmuseum, online coll. cat. Amsterdam: https://data.rijksmuseum.nl/200117973

(accessed 6 December 2025 12:35:39).

Footnotes

  • 1Typical of most drawings formerly in the collection of Hofstede de Groot, which at some point during his ownership were stored in unfavourably damp conditions.
  • 2Hofstede de Groot notes, KB.