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拍品專文
At various times in his life, Rembrandt returned again and again to the theme of The Presentation in the Temple and produced three etchings and two paintings (Hamburger Kunsthalle and National Museum, Stockholm) of the subject, all very different in style and focus. The subject is based on the Gospel of Luke (2:22-39) and usually combines two related episodes: the actual presentation of the Christ child to the priest – Mosaic law required parents to present their first-born son at the temple – and Simeon’s song of praise. Simeon was an old and pious man in Jerusalem to whom it was revealed ‘… by the Holy Ghost that he should not see death before he had seen the Lord’s Christ’. When he saw Mary and Joseph with the Child at the temple, he recognized Him as the Messiah, and offered a song of praise.
In the present etching, Rembrandt depicts the presentation in a very unconventional manner by focusing almost entirely on Simeon and the priest, while Mary kneels humbly at left with Joseph, almost as an after-thought in the composition, is peeking over her shoulder. The scene takes place in a small corner of the temple, and the intimacy and sanctity is further heightened by the intense darkness of the space. Even the Child’s head, surrounded only by a pale halo, lies in the dark - perhaps a foreshadowing of His death to come. ‘Darkness and light’, as Clifford Ackley rightly pointed out, ‘are the principal actors here' (Ackley, p. 66), and the few intense highlights seek out Simeon and the priest alone. Dominating the entire composition however and binding the two figures further together is the temple guardian or high priest, who stands towering above the scene, the little light there is flickering on his opulent garments, headgear and staff, which points directly down to Simeon – one of the most grandiose and awe-inspiring figures in all of Rembrandt’s printed oeuvre.
With this etching, Rembrandt experimented a lot with different papers and in particular with selectively wiped plate tone. Some impressions, such as the one on Japanese paper at the Rijksmuseum, are so rich in tone that the entire background is almost drowning in black ink, with only a few intense highlights shining in the darkness. The present impression is rich and dark yet cleanly wiped, thus striking a balance between the atmospheric chiaroscuro of the composition and the telling of the story, which is literally obscured in the more experimental versions. The present impression compares well with the Cracherode impression in the British Museum, which equally fine and very similar in character.
In the present etching, Rembrandt depicts the presentation in a very unconventional manner by focusing almost entirely on Simeon and the priest, while Mary kneels humbly at left with Joseph, almost as an after-thought in the composition, is peeking over her shoulder. The scene takes place in a small corner of the temple, and the intimacy and sanctity is further heightened by the intense darkness of the space. Even the Child’s head, surrounded only by a pale halo, lies in the dark - perhaps a foreshadowing of His death to come. ‘Darkness and light’, as Clifford Ackley rightly pointed out, ‘are the principal actors here' (Ackley, p. 66), and the few intense highlights seek out Simeon and the priest alone. Dominating the entire composition however and binding the two figures further together is the temple guardian or high priest, who stands towering above the scene, the little light there is flickering on his opulent garments, headgear and staff, which points directly down to Simeon – one of the most grandiose and awe-inspiring figures in all of Rembrandt’s printed oeuvre.
With this etching, Rembrandt experimented a lot with different papers and in particular with selectively wiped plate tone. Some impressions, such as the one on Japanese paper at the Rijksmuseum, are so rich in tone that the entire background is almost drowning in black ink, with only a few intense highlights shining in the darkness. The present impression is rich and dark yet cleanly wiped, thus striking a balance between the atmospheric chiaroscuro of the composition and the telling of the story, which is literally obscured in the more experimental versions. The present impression compares well with the Cracherode impression in the British Museum, which equally fine and very similar in character.