A Woman Seated on a Man’s Lap

Willem Basse (1613/14–1672), etching, c. 1634

Basse certainly knew Rembrandt in 1634, when they made a book together. This print suggests that he saw him at work that year on his similarly dressed full-length wedding portraits of Marten and Oopjen. That Basse gave the man Rembrandt’s moustache and the woman the eyebrows of Saskia implies an ‘inside joke’ between artists, perhaps celebrating Rembrandt’s marriage to Saskia the same year.

  • Artwork typeprint
  • Object numberRP-P-1878-A-498
  • Dimensionsheight 176 mm x width 142 mm
  • Physical characteristicsets