Lot Essay
Now from about the sixth hour there was darkness over all the land unto the ninth hour. And about the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying '... My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?' (Matthew 28:45-6).
The fourth state of The Three Crosses shows Christ immediately before his physical death. His eyes and mouth are partially open, and his expression displays deep human pain and sorrow, but above all Christ is shown at the critical moment of his most extreme spiritual anguish.
Of all the figures surrounding this event Rembrandt intended only a few to be seen with any degree of clarity. The figure of Saint John stands to the right of the cross with outstretched arms as if beseeching Christ. To the left of the Cross is a mounted soldier with raised sword. Further left is a mounted figure with a long staff probably to be identified with Pontius Pilate (Rembrandt based this figure on a medal by Pisanello from about 1444 depicting Gian Francesco Gonzaga). At the far left is a large horse rearing in panic.
The powerful and dynamic diagonal strokes which cross the plate have the combined effect of focusing the eye on the central tormented figure, strengthening the curtain of darkness at left and right, and, whilst obscuring individual features and the reactions of all the onlookers, intensifying in particular the rush of emotion across the group of spectators at the right.
In the course of printing the fourth state, Rembrandt made supreme use of the effects of tone, selectively wiping the film of ink left on the plate during the inking process and varying this with each impression printed.
The British Museum has two impressions of the fourth state. One of these is printed with a dark veil of ink on the left and right portions of the plate causing them to remain in almost complete shadow (inv. no. 1848-9-11-40). The present impression is comparable to the Cracherode impression (inv. no. iv - 1973-v942) where a similar effect of darkness interspersed with flickering pools of light is achieved in the lower right hand of the composition, and where the dynamic diagonals are allowed most effectively to express their energy. In contrast to the Cracherode impression, the standing figure at the right with the broad-rimmed hat and hands clasped in prayer is here much more clearly discernable and the figures at lower left are hidden in deeper and more mysterious shadows
The fourth state of The Three Crosses shows Christ immediately before his physical death. His eyes and mouth are partially open, and his expression displays deep human pain and sorrow, but above all Christ is shown at the critical moment of his most extreme spiritual anguish.
Of all the figures surrounding this event Rembrandt intended only a few to be seen with any degree of clarity. The figure of Saint John stands to the right of the cross with outstretched arms as if beseeching Christ. To the left of the Cross is a mounted soldier with raised sword. Further left is a mounted figure with a long staff probably to be identified with Pontius Pilate (Rembrandt based this figure on a medal by Pisanello from about 1444 depicting Gian Francesco Gonzaga). At the far left is a large horse rearing in panic.
The powerful and dynamic diagonal strokes which cross the plate have the combined effect of focusing the eye on the central tormented figure, strengthening the curtain of darkness at left and right, and, whilst obscuring individual features and the reactions of all the onlookers, intensifying in particular the rush of emotion across the group of spectators at the right.
In the course of printing the fourth state, Rembrandt made supreme use of the effects of tone, selectively wiping the film of ink left on the plate during the inking process and varying this with each impression printed.
The British Museum has two impressions of the fourth state. One of these is printed with a dark veil of ink on the left and right portions of the plate causing them to remain in almost complete shadow (inv. no. 1848-9-11-40). The present impression is comparable to the Cracherode impression (inv. no. iv - 1973-v942) where a similar effect of darkness interspersed with flickering pools of light is achieved in the lower right hand of the composition, and where the dynamic diagonals are allowed most effectively to express their energy. In contrast to the Cracherode impression, the standing figure at the right with the broad-rimmed hat and hands clasped in prayer is here much more clearly discernable and the figures at lower left are hidden in deeper and more mysterious shadows