The golf player

Rembrandt van Rijn produced this curious etching around 1654, showing a figure playing an early form of golf or a similar stick-and-ball game. The player swings at a ball while another figure watches from the background. Rembrandt's economical linework captures the moment of action with his characteristic fluidity.

The print offers a rare glimpse of 17th-century Dutch recreation, when games resembling golf were played on ice or fields. Rembrandt's interest in everyday subjects extended to sports and leisure activities as well as more dramatic scenes. Now at the National Gallery in London, this etching documents popular entertainment of the Dutch Golden Age.