Rembrandt in the Library

This etching depicts an art collector in a moment of ease, a print or drawing in his hands and an open album on the table before him. Abraham Francen, the apothecary and connoisseur depicted, was apparently not a person of enormous means, but Rembrandt portrayed him in the company of rich and beautiful things—much like Morgan in his bookman’s paradise.

This is one of 112 prints by Rembrandt that Morgan purchased in 1905 from the collector George W. Vanderbilt, augmenting the 272 he had acquired with the library of Theodore Irwin in 1900. Morgan stored his print collection in custom cabinets in the top-floor “work room,” accessible to staff via elevator or a marble spiral staircase.

View the Morgan’s collection of Rembrandt etchings