425 - Rembrandt Harmensz. van Rijn (1606 Leiden – Amsterdam 1669), The Flight into Egypt: A Night Piece.

Rembrandt Harmensz. van Rijn (1606 Leiden – Amsterdam 1669), The Flight into Egypt: A Night Piece. Etching and drypoint on laid paper, watermark “Countermark” (cf. Hinterding, variant “PEH-a”). (1651). 12.6 x 11 cm (sheet). Bartsch 53; White/Boon 53 V (of VI); Hinterding/Rutgers (The New Hollstein) 262 VI (of X). Provenance: Probably Jean Gruyer (1871–1929), on the reverse with the written collector’s mark (Lugt 3899); Unknown collection, on the reverse with an unidentified collector’s stamp (not listed in Lugt). A very good, dark lifetime impression of New Hollstein’s sixth state (of ten), with the cross-hatching on Joseph’s chest and at the donkey’s muzzle printing clearly. Trimmed on or just within the platemark. Rembrandt returned to the subject of the Flight into Egypt on several occasions (cf. Bartsch 52 and 55). Here, he transformed the biblical narrative into a dramatic nocturne of extraordinary darkness. The lantern provides the sole source of light, revealing only fragments of the scene: Joseph stands out most clearly, while the Virgin and the donkey almost dissolve into the surrounding darkness. Rembrandt’s treatment of nocturnal light owes much to Adam Elsheimer, whose celebrated night scenes were widely known through the engravings of Hendrick Goudt. – Verso with a few minute brown spots. Otherwise in very good condition. Taxation: subject to differential taxation (VAT: Margin Scheme).