212 - Rembrandt Van Rijn - The adoration of the shepherds - 1652

Rembrandt Van Rijn - The adoration of the shepherds - 1652 Description: The adoration of the shepherds: a night piece; the holy family sits on the right in the light of a lantern, with the Virgin lying under a sheet which she holds up from her face to look at Christ who is sleeping between her and Joseph, on the right, who holds a book and looks up towards the shepherds leaning in from the left, the one closest to the center holding a lantern, the silhouettes of cattle in the left foreground. Etching made by Rembrandt in 1652.Original Rembrandt etching on strong laid paper, a very good impression of the final state. Dimensions: 15,00 cm x 19,80 cm Condition: This well inked impression does justice to the nature of this fine night piece. A good impression in perfect condition on a sheet of strong laid paper with good margins. Literature: New Hollstein (Dutch & Flemish) / The New Hollstein: Dutch and Flemish etchings, engravings and woodcuts 1450-1700 (300.XI) ----- Hind 1923 / A Catalogue of Rembrandt's Etchings; chronologically arranged and completely illustrated (255) ----- White & Boon 1969 / Rembrandt's Etchings: An Illustrated Critical Catalogue (46 VIII) ----- Hinterding et al. 2000 / Rembrandt the Printmaker (67)--------- In this etching Rembrandt injects a new immediacy to the subject by the humanity and naturalism of his depiction. The heavily bundled baby and the exhausted Virgin sheltering beneath a blanket provide a sense of the harsh realities of giving birth in a stable in the early hours of a freezing night. Medium: Engraving Date: 1652