Rembrandt made a false start when he began this print. An upside-down head is visible on Mary’s left knee. Evidently the artist soon realized that the head was poorly positioned and too small. For this print Rembrandt must have had several sources of inspirations, such as Dürer’s Madonna on the Crescent Moon, the title-page for his Life of the Virgin, or Jan van de Velde’s print of the same subject, but the strongest influence was Federico Barocci’s etching Madonna and Child.
Rembrandt’s Virgin and Child in the Clouds is clearly a free copy or interpretation of Barocci’s Madonna and Child. Not only is their similarity in size, but also in copying faithfully the composition, in the handling of the light and dark, and in the etching technique – simple crosshatching in the shaded areas. Although the composition is the same, the effect achieved is completely different. While Barocci’s Madonne has a young sweetly doll like face with a child that is a burly infant gazing directly at the viewer, Rembrandts Virgin seems scarcely aware of the child’s presences. She is staring past the viewer into the space. The Christ child is also less robust, a sickly baby that turns away from the viewer, wholly unconscious of his divinity. It is strongly possible that Rembrandt owned an impression of Barocci’s print, as his 1656 inventory lists an album with copper prints by Vanni and others including Barocci, see M. Schapelhouman in Rembrandt the Printmaker, London, p. 193. Rembrandt created The Virgin and Child in the Clouds in 1641. In September of that year Rembrandt’s son Titus, was born to his wife, Saskia. She might have been very ill at the time the print was made, as she was to die the following June 17, before the age of thirty. The subject may have echoed sentiments Rembrandt was feeling at the time, allowing him to turn the composition into an image for personal reflection.
Impression of the newly recognised second state reflecting a fine chiaroscuro. The etching plate was preserved well into the 18th century. The plate was referenced for the last time in 1767 (Peter Haan’s sale catalogue).