275 - Rembrandt Harmensz. van Rijn (1606 Leiden – Amsterdam 1669), Medea: Or the Marriage of Jason and Creusa.

Rembrandt Harmensz. van Rijn (1606 Leiden – Amsterdam 1669), Medea: Or the Marriage of Jason and Creusa. Etching, with touches of drypoint on laid paper, Strasbourg Bend watermark (?). (1648). 24.3 x 18 cm (sheet). Bartsch 112; White/Boon 112 III (of V); Hinterding/Rutgers (The New Hollstein) 241 III (of V). Provenance: Baron Carlo Marochetti (1805–1867), Paris and London, with his handwritten collector’s mark on the reverse (Lugt 392); John Whitcomb Bayley (1787–1869), London, Cheltenham, Italy, and Paris (Lugt 1412); Johann Carl Diedrich Hebich (1818–1891), Hamburg, with his collector’s mark (Lugt 1250); Unidentified collector’s blindstamp ‘D’ in the lower right, recorded on prints by Rembrandt (Lugt 711a); Marion Blacklock Miller, by descent to her estate; Sotheby’s, New York, May 3, 1996, lot 164. A very fine impression of New Hollstein’s third state (of five), prior to the addition of the verses in the lower margin, featuring rich burr at the foot of Medea and along the lower edge of the drapery on the left, and remarkable depth in the dark areas below. Hinterding records only eight impressions of this third state. Rembrandt created illustrations for only three books, of which *Medea* was the second. The etching was commissioned by his friend and patron Jan Six for the title page of his tragedy *Medea*, which premiered at the Amsterdam Stadsschouwburg in October 1647 and was subsequently published in 1648 and 1679. Only the fourth state of the etching was used as the frontispiece for the first edition, while the fifth state appeared in deluxe copies of the second edition. Impressions of the first three states—before the addition of the signature, date, monogram, and verses in the lower margin—are rare. For his illustration, Rembrandt chose the wedding scene, although Six did not include it in his adaptation of the tragedy—perhaps because it allowed the artist to encapsulate the impending catastrophe in a single image. The viewer’s gaze is guided by the sweeping staircase from the wedding couple toward Juno, goddess of marriage, seated above. Medea, Jason’s abandoned first wife, appears ominously in the shadows below, holding a dagger and poised to fulfill her vow of revenge. Through this complex, circular composition and the dramatic contrast between the illuminated wedding ceremony above and Medea concealed in darkness below, Rembrandt evokes the full scope of the tragedy. – A few small foxing spots. The reverse side has two small areas of surface rubbing and old adhesive strips in the upper corners. Otherwise in good condition. Taxation: subject to regular taxation (VAT: Regular Taxation).