A Supplicant

This etching apparently shows an unidentified literary or historical scene, possibly from the Bible. An old man kneels pleading his case, before a high official who sits on a throne. A young man in a feathered cap and a bent-over old women witness the action. It is the work of Pieter Rodermondt, an artist from The Hague who was keenly interested in the art of Rembrandt. The Supplicant employs several Rembrandtesque devices. The figures are animated and dressed in exotic clothing. With cocked heads and leaning postures they seem to be considering a knotty issue. The artist freed the men from static poses by drawing them with broken contours and selectively allowing their forms to dissolve into light. Strong chiaroscuro contrasts heighten the drama. The architecture is like a stage set, arbitrary, and not convincingly logical. Though not the breed that Rembrandt normally depicted, a small dog enlivens the foreground and adds to the sense of space.