Portrait of Saskia as a Bride

Rembrandt’s young wife Saskia van Uylenburgh appears as a frequent subject in the artist’s works. Berlin boasts a silverpoint drawing, originally intended as an engagement memento, which numbers among the most personal works created in Rembrandt’s hand. Wearing a wide-brimmed hat, Saskia supports her head on her left arm, while in her right hand she holds a flower, possibly a rose. The work plays upon themes relating to love and marriage, although it seems also to allude to the transience of life. ‘Visa rosa est’ was a popular saying during the Baroque period, which equated life to a rose – in full bloom today, fading tomorrow. The lines of writing form an integral part of the composition, Rembrandt having set aside space for the text when he started working on the drawing. There he wrote: ‘This is a likeness of my wife, drawn when she was 21 years old, on the third day of our betrothal. 8 January 1634.’ The word ‘betrothal’ refers to the promise of marriage; the wedding eventually took place on 22 June 1634. It is possible that Rembrandt presented his fiancée with the (presumably framed) drawing as a form of assurance of his promise of marriage. Saskia gazes at her fiancé, smiling tenderly as he draws her. The work’s likely role as a legal document is suggested by Rembrandt’s decision to use parchment as a support – a material used in this period for certificates.