Etching, after circa 1640.

I. 21.7 x 18.1 cm, S. 21.7 x 18.1 cm.

See Hollstein 1 (Lastman).

This etching is a reverse copy of an etching formerly thought to be by Pieter Lastman, an important Dutch painter of historical scenes and also the teacher of Rembrandt, and now attributed to Jan van Noordt, a contemporary of Rembrandt and fellow Amsterdam artist. According to the Minneapolis Institute of Art, where is an impression of the van Noordt etching, "After 1520, artists explored the Bible for themes of lust and eroticism. Judah's two sons died childless-each while married to Tamar. Veiled, she offers herself along the roadside and is impregnated by Judah, as her slung leg and the frowzy, fevered lines of the costumes anticipate. Later outraged by her pregnancy, Judah wants Tamar killed until she proves he is the father, by producing the staff he had given her during their tryst (Genesis 38). Their descendants led to David, then Jesus. The German reformer Martin Luther cited this story as proof that even Christ was 'born of flesh that was very sinful'."

PROVENANCE
Unidentified collector, initials RS black ink stamp verso (Lugt 2238a); Nils Rapp (Sweden 1882-1974), with the ink stamp verso (Lugt 2130a); The collection of Engineer and Major Frank Bensow (1883-1969), with the ink stamp verso (Lugt 982c).