REMBRANDT HARMENSZ. VAN RIJN

Medea: Or the Marriage of Jason and Creusa (B., Holl. 112; H. 235; BB. 48-E)

Details

REMBRANDT HARMENSZ. VAN RIJN
Medea: Or the Marriage of Jason and Creusa (B., Holl. 112; H. 235; BB. 48-E)
etching and touches of drypoint, 1648, on golden Japan, first state (of five), a superb impression of this extremely rare state, the touches of drypoint on the faces of the protagonists, on the harp by the base of the background pillar and to the figures nearby all printing with burr, a remarkably large sheet with wide margins (10-18mm. beyond the platemark), the paper with it's inherent characteristics, in very good, fresh, condition
P. 9½ x 6¾in. (240 x 172mm.)
S. 10½ x 7½in. (267 x 190mm.)

Provenance

Dr. Otto Schäfer, his stamp verso (not in Lugt)

Lot Essay

Rembrandt's illustration to his friend Jan Six's play Medea of 1648, is set within the fully realised architectural interior of a contemporary Dutch church, here adapted for pagan use. The "temple", suffused with light and made golden by the paper, dominates the composition and allows Rembrandt to depict the protagonists as well as those behind attending the service, with an economy of line. This light and detail is in powerful contrast to the darker areas below which presage the doom to come; the shrouded figure of Medea advances holding up the poisoned present which will destroy Creusa.