"Lieven van Coppenol with His Grandson (the "Small Coppenol")"

Catalogue number: Bartsch 282.

Lieven Willemsz van Coppenol (c. 1599-1671) was a well-known calligrapher. His family originates from the Spanish Netherlands from where his grandparents fled and settled in Haarlem about 1579. Van Coppenol appears to have taken part in the development of calligraphy at every level, from schoolboy competitions to publishing, teaching, corresponding with peers, and finally striving, obsessively, to be recognized as the greatest calligrapher. He was far from achieving that distinction, although he had considerable skill.

Van Coppenol’s first commission for a portrait from Rembrandt was for a portrait print of modest size, the “Small Coppenol.” This print shows the portly writer at his desk, pen poised above a perfect circle. Rembrandt drew a compositional study for the etching, which then went through major revisions in several states. (The present picture is the fifth state of six.) Apparently it never pleased the patron, Rembrandt therefore proceeded to make the larger etched portrait of Van Coppenol (the “Large Coppenol,” which is the artist’s largest portrait print. For the Large Coppenol Rembrandt painted a preliminary sketch in oil.