Lying lion, to the right, Rembrandt van Rijn, ca. 1660
reed pen and brown ink, with some spots deliberately swept with a finger or wet brush, on light brown coloured paper; framing lines in brown ink, h 122mm × w 212mm Catalogue entry
Without hesitation and with smooth lines, Rembrandt put this male lion on paper with a pen. Especially the head and the squeezed eyes of the animal seem to be drawn effortlessly. He created shadows by smearing the ink with his finger here and there. It is clear that Rembrandt drew from a living specimen and wanted to put the scene on paper before the lion would move.
