Man slaughtering an ox

Catalogue number: Benesch A18.

Rembrandt occasionally enhanced the modeling of mass and volume by applying opaque white watercolour to create highlights on his drawings. However, he more often used to opaque white medium to correct or edit out lines that he wished to soften or suppress. The white body colour, however, is sometimes oxidized, becoming dark. In the present drawing, the legs of the man wielding the sledgehammer are covered with white body colour that has been oxidized and darkened.