The Rest on the Flight into Egypt: lightly etched (B., Holl. 58; H. 216)

Details

Rembrandt Harmensz. van Rijn
The Rest on the Flight into Egypt: lightly etched (B., Holl. 58; H. 216)
etching, 1645, a very good impression of this rare, lightly bitten print, printed with a light tone and horizontal wiping scratches, with narrow margins, a soft, unobtrusive crease through the subject towards the upper edge of the sheet, otherwise in very good condition
(FPR 50)
P. 130 x 115 mm., S. 135 x 119 mm.

Provenance

Christie's, London, 28 June 1990, lot 155

Special notice

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Lot Essay

In 1645 Rembrandt etched three plates in a rather unusual fashion, very light and in the manner of a silverpoint drawing rather than an etching. Early cataloguers of his etchings ascribed this very pale appearance to a technical error, believing that he had been too quick to remove the plate from the acid bath. However, as he had produced over two hundred prints by this time, it is highly unlikely that he would have committed such a basic error. In these years he was preoccupied with this particular scene in painting, drawing as well as etching. Unlike his etching of the same subject set at night (Bartsch 57), the scene here is far more relaxed. The figures look for all the world like a family enjoying a picnic rather than one fleeing from persecution.
Reproduced actual size

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