Rijksmuseum

Portrait of Lieven Willemsz van Coppenol, known as ‘The Smaller Plate’

Date

c. 1658

Medium

Japanese paper

Institution

Rijksmuseum

This is the first portrait etching Rembrandt made of Lieven van Coppenol. The print shows the calligrapher at his desk in a domestic interior. His grandson looks on as he pens a perfect circle, proof of his skill. The presence of the boy possibly alludes to Coppenol’s previous post as a schoolmaster, which he had been forced to give up following a nervous breakdown.

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