Minneapolis Institute of Art
Beggar with a Wooden Leg
Rembrandt van RijnLinkedCulture matchlcp-d6807541bb3d
- Date
- 1630
- Medium
- Etching
- Department
- European Art
- Institution
- Minneapolis Institute of Art
- Object ID
- 55103
From the Minneapolis Institute of Art record
Beggars were a common sight on Dutch streets, so much so that Amsterdam passed an antibeggary law in 1613. The measure targeted vagabonds, idlers, the lame, and those pretending to be lame-like the subject of Beggar with a Wooden Leg, whose foot is visible behind his bound knee. Such rogues would be shipped to the workhouse to be reformed. While other artists depicted beggars as objects of derision or censure, Rembrandt chose to humanize them, attracted by the heroism of their decay and ruin. Netherlands, Europe
The authoritative record is held by Minneapolis Institute of Art. LinkedCulture surfaces this object and its connections; it does not alter institutional metadata.
Get printable QR codesHide QR codes
Open QR codes for this object page and the museum record. They stay collapsed until needed.
Provenance & credit
As published by the source institution. Coverage varies — not every institution's open-data feed includes ownership history.
- Credit line
- The William M. Ladd Collection Gift of Herschel V. Jones, 1916
Related across collections
Semantically similar works from Minneapolis Institute of Art and other institutions.