Jongen met uil c. 1625

"Jongen met uil" (Boy with an Owl), an etching by Cornelis Bloemaert, is a charming example of 17th-century Dutch portraiture. Dated c. 1625, this work features a young boy with a sly grin holding a perched owl. The inscription below reads, "I have the owl for my pleasure, seek, brother, you see him here," suggesting the image is a playful representation of the boy's ownership of the animal, perhaps even a personal emblem. This small, but intricately detailed print, now in the Rijksmuseum, showcases Bloemaert's ability to capture the subtle expressions and textures of his subjects, highlighting the relationship between human and animal.