Rijksmuseum

Vrouw met de pijl

Date

1661

Medium

paper

Institution

Rijksmuseum

Modelling with raised arms is tiring. To provide this woman with some relief, she most likely held onto a cord. Rembrandt set her in a narrative context by transforming the cord into an arrow and introducing the face of a man in the darkness at the left. Perhaps she represents Venus who takes away Cupid’s arrow; the scene has also been interpreted as Cleopatra with her lover.

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