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拍品專文
Christ returning from the Temple with his Parents is the final in a series of six prints from 1654, all in a similar format, depicting scenes from the childhood and youth of Christ (see also lots 20 & 21). It is the rarest and arguably finest of them, and the only one of the series in which Rembrandt made extensive use of drypoint and burr. Furthermore, it is one of the few plates in which he depicted a scene of close human interaction within a landscape setting, and he did it with the psychological insight and ability to bring a scenery to life that only he was capable of.
Over the course of its history the scene has been variously interpreted as the Holy Family's flight into Egypt or their return from Egypt. It was only in the early 18th century that it was first identified as relating to an episode in the Gospel of Luke, in which the twelve year-old Jesus, having gone missing in Jerusalem during the feast of Passover, is discovered by his parents sitting among the rabbis in the temple.
Everyone who heard him was amazed at his understanding and his answers. When his parents saw him, they were astonished. His mother said to him, 'Son, why have you treated us like this? Your father and I have been anxiously searching for you'. 'Why have you been searching for me?' he asked. 'Didn't you know I had to be in my Father's house?' But they did not understand what he was saying to them. Then he went down to Nazareth and was obedient to them. (Luke 2: 47-51)
Rembrandt's etching depicts the Holy Family as they return home to Nazareth after this episode, with the boy Jesus flanked by his parents each holding his hands, accompanied by a small dog. It is a common scene of family life, a child suspected of truancy being firmly escorted by his parents while plaintively pleading his innocence. In the background is a sunlit vista full of bucolic charm, with shepherds watering their flocks at a small river, and a bridge and city nestled in the foothills of a craggy landscape. The lengthening shadows, created with generously applied drypoint, wonderfully evokes the late afternoon as the family sets out on their long journey.
The loss of the Child Jesus is one of the seven sorrows of the Mater Dolorosa, a popular topos of Christian imagery and devotion. The hunched posture of the Virgin and her grieved face convey this quiet misery. Despite Mary's sorrowful expression, the print is a very tender, intimate depiction of the Holy Family, and may reflect Rembrandt's personal circumstances at the time: his son Titus had turned twelve the year before, and in 1654 Hendrickje Stoffels gave birth to their daughter, Cornelia.
(See: Hinterding, in: Bikker, 2014, p. 173-191; and Rosenberg, 2017, no. 40, p. 236-241.)
Over the course of its history the scene has been variously interpreted as the Holy Family's flight into Egypt or their return from Egypt. It was only in the early 18th century that it was first identified as relating to an episode in the Gospel of Luke, in which the twelve year-old Jesus, having gone missing in Jerusalem during the feast of Passover, is discovered by his parents sitting among the rabbis in the temple.
Everyone who heard him was amazed at his understanding and his answers. When his parents saw him, they were astonished. His mother said to him, 'Son, why have you treated us like this? Your father and I have been anxiously searching for you'. 'Why have you been searching for me?' he asked. 'Didn't you know I had to be in my Father's house?' But they did not understand what he was saying to them. Then he went down to Nazareth and was obedient to them. (Luke 2: 47-51)
Rembrandt's etching depicts the Holy Family as they return home to Nazareth after this episode, with the boy Jesus flanked by his parents each holding his hands, accompanied by a small dog. It is a common scene of family life, a child suspected of truancy being firmly escorted by his parents while plaintively pleading his innocence. In the background is a sunlit vista full of bucolic charm, with shepherds watering their flocks at a small river, and a bridge and city nestled in the foothills of a craggy landscape. The lengthening shadows, created with generously applied drypoint, wonderfully evokes the late afternoon as the family sets out on their long journey.
The loss of the Child Jesus is one of the seven sorrows of the Mater Dolorosa, a popular topos of Christian imagery and devotion. The hunched posture of the Virgin and her grieved face convey this quiet misery. Despite Mary's sorrowful expression, the print is a very tender, intimate depiction of the Holy Family, and may reflect Rembrandt's personal circumstances at the time: his son Titus had turned twelve the year before, and in 1654 Hendrickje Stoffels gave birth to their daughter, Cornelia.
(See: Hinterding, in: Bikker, 2014, p. 173-191; and Rosenberg, 2017, no. 40, p. 236-241.)