Peasant Family on the Tramp, Rembrandt van Rijn, c. 1652
etching, h 113mm × w 93mm More details
Rembrandt often depicted beggars and cripples, such as this family on the tramp wearing rather old-fashioned clothing for the time. The peasant woman carries a baby on her back, its little head only just visible.This kind of image will have elicited fierce criticism around 1670: were such subjects worthy of being rendered? Should not art by definition portray only beauty? Rembrandt certainly did not subscribe to this view.
