[Studies of the Heads of Saskia and Others] signed on the verso by the Parisian print seller Naudet, dated 1801

Amsterdam, 1636. In this etching, Rembrandt has depicted his wife Saskia surrounded by six other subjects of different ages. The etching is reminiscent of a sketchbook page, in which the artist practices different facial expressions and the fall of drapery on his subjects. Saskia receives the most detailed study with very fine lines used to draw her curls and a thin headdress. Each figure looks out in a different direction. Signed on the verso by the early Parisian print seller Naudet - "Chez Naudet Md au Louvre 1801". The "Md" is an abbreviation for 'Marchand", (merchant.) (See Maberley, Joseph, "The Print Collector: An Introduction to the Knowledge Necessary for Forming..." 1880, p.84 and Fagan, Louis, "Collectors' Marks", 1883, p. 73.) There are several prints held in the Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge with Naudet inscriptions, one being "Two boys blowing bubbles. Bartsch 365; Hollstein (White and Boon) 365. Usticke's second state (of 2), with the horizontal scratches between the head of Saskia and the turbaned head in profile upper left. With slight loss on three corners and a small closed tear. Signed in the plate "Rembrandt f 1636" in the bottom left, the "f" somewhat faint.