393 - Rembrandt Harmensz. van Rijn (1606 Leiden - Amsterdam 1669), The Angel Appearing to the Shepherds.

Rembrandt Harmensz. van Rijn (1606 Leiden - Amsterdam 1669), The Angel Appearing to the Shepherds. Etching, engraving and drypoint on laid paper, watermark Arms of Ravensburg (Hinterding, variant B'a.1°). (1634). 26.1 x 22.2 cm (sheet). Bartsch 44; White/Boon 44 III (of III); Hinterding/Rutgers (The New Hollstein) 125 III (of VI). Provenance: Ernst Friedrich Oppermann (1827 - Berlin - 1888), verso with his collector's stamp (Lugt 887). A very fine, richly tonal and atmospheric lifetime impression, finely drawn in every detail. The landscape in the background is clearly visible and gradually becomes unrecognisable in later prints. With revisions to the tree in the centre of the picture and to the angel's robe. The Angel appearing to the Shepherds is one of Rembrandt’s first religious etchings on a large scale and is one of the earliest night scenes, a genre that would become something of a speciality of the artist. It was one of the subjects first depicted in European art as a true night scene, with the angel as an active light source, illuminating the pictorial space. Rembrandt created this etching in 1634, the year of his marriage to Saskia van Uylenburgh. Trimmed just outside the borderline. – A few isolated brown spots. Lower right corner reattached. Paper slightly time-stained. Verso with remnants and traces of a former mounting. Faint pencil notes on the reverse; otherwise in good condition. Taxation: differenzbesteuert (VAT: Margin Scheme).