Christ driving the Money Changers from the Temple

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 (see lot 59). 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 aspect 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.