Notes

The white tablet in the lower corner, probably intended for an inscription, was frequently cut off, but in this case it has been preserved completely, with fine paper margins all around it. Such a well-conserved print as this one is very rare.

According to Seidlitz, together with the One-Hundred-Guilder print, this etching is in his opinion the most magnificent of all of Rembrandt’s oeuvre of etchings. It is an outstanding example of the use of chiaroscuro, one of his favourite techniques.

Rembrandt’s interest in human expressions extends not just to portraits and figure studies, but also to his grandest religious subjects. Even his harshest critics valued the genuineness and immediacy of the emotions expressed by his figures. The death of the Virgin is a fine example of how he depicted sublime religiosity with humanity.

This distinctly Roman Catholic subject has less to do with religion than with artistic traditions. Many great artists have depicted the death of Mary, and Rembrandt gave the subject his own interpretation. Usually the Virgin is shown surrounded by the Apostles, but Rembrandt’s gathering includes women, too. Mary is traditionally shown in the bloom of youth, but thinking through the human implications of the story, he made her appropriately old and sick. For good measure, he invented a physician to check her pulse.

The freedom of his handling of the etching needle is especially evident in the upper register of the image, where the high-timbered chamber is visited by a host of cloud-borne angels. Rembrandt was willing to let the viewer see the how the image evolved, evident in the arcing traces he left after reconfiguring the risers supporting the bed.

As one of the towering figures in the history of art, Rembrandt, a miller’s son from the university town of Leiden, was an artist of unmatched genius. Equally gifted as a painter, printmaker, and draftsman, Rembrandt proved himself to be as skillful at making portraits as he was at creating religious and mythological narratives. His landscapes are just as remarkable as his rare still lifes and subjects detailing everyday life.

Widely recognized as the greatest practitioner of the etching technique in the history of art, Rembrandt created 300 prints that constitute a body of work unparalleled in richness and beauty. During his lifetime, Rembrandt’s extraordinary skills as a printmaker were the main source of his international fame. Unlike his oil paintings, prints travelled light and were relatively cheap. For this reason, they soon became very popular with collectors not only within, but also beyond the borders of the Netherlands.