rembrandt grey

In his late career in the 1650s, the Dutch artist Rembrandt created drawings that were inspired by miniatures from Mughal India. This was the only time the artist engaged with the artistic style of a "dramatically foreign culture". They depict Mughal emperors, noblemen, courtiers, and sometimes women and common folk. They were executed on expensive Asian or Japanese paper, and only 23 drawings survive today.
The early-1600s witnessed a growth in trade between Mughal India and the Dutch East India Company, and many artists, including Rembrandt, were exposed to Indian objects and works of art for the first time. Rembrandt's Mughal drawings were a result of this cultural exchange that occurred due to global trade.
The drawings are not strictly copies of Mughal paintings, and it is not known whether they were intended for personal use or were commissions. This departure in his oeuvre has been interpreted as Rembrandt's way of reinventing himself as an artist during a low point in his late career, when he faced bankruptcy. In 2005, Dr. Marian Bisanz-Prakken of Albertina wrote: "It is supposed that Rembrandt's creative examination of the Mughal miniatures may have exerted some influence on the pen and wash style of his late drawings."

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