A reclining lion

The interest of Rembrandt and artists from his school in exotic animals is attested by the striking drawings of this subject that have survived (for examples by Rembrandt, see P. Schatborn and E. Hinterding, Rembrandt. The Complete Drawings and Etchings, Cologne, 2019, nos. D462, D464-D466, D468 and D473-478, ill.). The lion in this sheet is comparable in pose to that seen in a drawing of a lion by Rembrandt in the Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen, Rotterdam (inv. R12; see ibid., no. D476, ill.). The accomplished execution and strong influence by Rembrandt indicate that the sheet was made by an artist from his close circle. Martin Royalton-Kisch has suggested a date of circa1648-1650. According to an inscription from 1954 on an old photograph in the owner’s documentation, Max Friedländer considered it to be a copy after a drawing by Rembrandt, but there is no particular reason to assume this, as his pupils created their own original works, following the example of their master.

We are grateful to Peter Schatborn and Martin Royalton-Kisch for their assistance in cataloguing this drawing.