Etching and drypoint, circa 1650. 85x162 mm; 3 1/2x6 1/2 inches, narrow margins. Biörklund's second state (of 2), with the diagonal shading on the lightly-etched smaller cottage and trees lower right; Usticke's second state (e)(of 2), with the sulphur tinting and delicate scratches in the sky distinct; White and Boon's second state (of 2). Ex-collection Edward Peart (Lugt 891, lower left recto). A superb, richly-inked and early impression of this very scarce landscape etching, with burr on the foliage lower center and lower right.
This is among Rembrandt's most inventive landscape compositions and shows his mastery of emphasizing depth, by focusing on darkly-etched farm buildings and an obelisk in the foreground and receding to much more lightly-sketched structures and a solitary figure in a field holding a scythe to the far right. He likely drew this scene from nature; the "obelisk" is the boundary post near Halfweg on the Spaarndammerdijk, roughly the halfway-point between Amsterdam and Haarlem. Bartsch 227; Biörklund 50-3; Hollstein (White and Boon) 227.
