Portrait of Lieven Willemsz van Coppenol, known as ‘The Smaller Plate’

Unknown artist

This is the first portrait etching Rembrandt made of Lieven van Coppenol. The print shows the calligrapher at his desk in a domestic interior. His grandson looks on as he pens a perfect circle, proof of his skill. The presence of the boy possibly alludes to Coppenol’s previous post as a schoolmaster, which he had been forced to give up following a nervous breakdown.