The Artist's Mother: Head and Bust, Three-Quarters Right

The woman in this print appears in several early etchings by Rembrandt. She has been identified since the late seventeenth century as Rembrandt's mother Neeltgen Willemsdr. van Zuytbroeck (ca. 1568–1640). In such early prints, when Rembrandt was still exploring the medium of etching, he was nonetheless able to beautifully capture the woman's age and expression with limited linework.