Young Woman Sleeping by Rembrandt van Rijn - 1654/1654 - 246 x 203 mm British Museum Young Woman Sleeping by Rembrandt van Rijn - 1654/1654 - 246 x 203 mm British Museum

Young Woman Sleeping

drawing • 246 x 203 mm
  • Rembrandt van Rijn - July 15, 1606 - October 4, 1669 Rembrandt van Rijn 1654/1654

The sitter of this blurred portrait can only be recognised in generalised terms as Hendrickje Stoffels who was Rembrandt's wife. The study is drawn entirely with the brush in brown wash with some white bodycolour, which is experimental for Rembrandt who mostly used pen or chalk in his drawings. This technique is also most appealing to the modern eye, and reminds us of oriental drawings and calligraphy made with the brush.

With the tip of the brush and only a few broad strokes Rembrandt has rapidly and skilfully outlined the body of the sleeping woman. He also used the white of the paper to create not just her form but also the atmosphere surrounding her.

The drawing can be compared in style and appearance to Rembrandt's painting of Hendrickje, A Woman Bathing in a Stream from the collection of National Gallery, London. In the painting, dated 1654, she wears a similar, loose-fitting garment. She may have been pregnant because in the same year Hendrickje gave birth to their daughter Cornelia. She died in 1663 and was buried in the Westerkerk, Amsterdam, where Rembrandt was buried six years later.