Rembrandt Harmensz. van Rijn

Christ driving the Money Changers from the Temple

Details

Rembrandt Harmensz. van Rijn
Christ driving the Money Changers from the Temple
etching with touches of drypoint, 1635, on laid paper, with an indistinct watermark fragment, a fine impression of the first state (of four), with touches of burr on the rays of Christ's halo and elsewhere, with thread margins, in very good condition
Plate 137 x 170 mm., Sheet 139 x 172 mm.

Provenance

St. John Dent (d. circa 1884), London (Lugt 2373); his sale, Sotheby, Wilkinson & Hodge, London, 28 March 1884 and six following days, lot 828 (£7.5s; to Page?).
Sotheby's, London, 27 November 1962, lot 13 (to Colnaghi).
With Colnaghi, London (their stock number C. 32177 in pencil verso).
Acquired from the above, 23 January 1963 (£120).

Literature

Bartsch, Hollstein 69; Hind 126; New Hollstein 139 (I/4).

Brought to you by

Maya Jelbart

mjelbart@christies.com +44 (0)20 7389 2328

Lot Essay

In a rare incident of direct appropriation, perhaps as a homage to the greatest printmaker before him, Rembrandt replicated the figure of Christ from a woodcut of the same scene in Albrecht Dürer’s Small Woodcut Passion of 1508. Both Dürer and Rembrandt capture the sheer anger of Christ, yet Rembrandt’s scene on the whole is quite different in sentiment, as he clearly delights in the comical element of the unfolding chaos: a man is being dragged across the floor by his cow, another dives to catch an escaped pigeon, while a dog is barking madly at Christ’s heels, excited by the commotion all around.

The present impression compares well with the Cracherode impression and is superior to the Sloane impression in the British Museum.

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