Rembrandt was born in 1606 in Leiden, Holland. In his lifetime, Rembrandt’s etchings were admired and collected more than his paintings. He created approximately 300 etchings that reveal his range of experimentation, his expressive use of line, and his innovative solutions to creating brilliant lights and shadowy darks with the printed line. He is still appreciated as a superlative printmaker and one of the most inventive artists of all time.

Early in Rembrandt’s career, when this work was created, he produced detailed works of a small and intimate scale and often focused his attention on vagabonds and beggars. These outcasts of society, who were often depicted by artists with contempt and ridicule, offered Rembrandt a chance to study true emotion, unposed gesture, interesting facial expressions, and states of mood. He exposes the beggars’ anger, despair, and dismal emotions in his etchings. Here, in a rare first-state etching of Beggar in a High Cap, Leaning on a Stick, a weary beggar pauses to lean on his walking stick. His face reveals his advanced age and the lines accrued from a harsh existence. The captivating facial expression, fatigued posture, and wonderfully rendered drapery are all typical of Rembrandt’s expressive style in etching.