Rembrandt Harmensz. van Rijn
(Leiden 1606-1669 Amsterdam)
“The Raising of Lazarus: The Larger Plate”, c. 1632
[John 11: 1-44]
Etching and engraving
36,6 x 25,8 cm
On laid paper with Strasbourg lily watermark
Signed in the centre: ‘RHL’ (in monogram) van Ryn f’ (the f added in state III)
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Notes:
Rembrandt van Rijn often revisited this important biblical subject, in which Christ foreshadows his own death and resurrection by reviving the dead Lazarus. The artist produced several versions of this scene from different vantage points. In this dramatic, arched composition, both the viewer and the onlookers wait inside the burial cave. Christ turns his back to the viewer, and as he raises one hand in a ray of blinding light, Lazarus begins to emerge from his grave.
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.
Provenance
- Mr. I. Legh Philips (19th century English collector, pencil inscription verso, not in Lugt)
- Private collection, Gloucestershire, UK
- Private collection, Switzerland
- Private collection, The Netherlands.
Literature
Bartsch 73; Hind 73;
The New Hollstein Dutch no. 113, fifth state (of IX);
Nowell-Usticke C 1, Plate still in existence.
Condition
A delicate and detailed lifetime impression of New Hollstein’s fifth state (of nine), on laid paper with Strasbourg lily watermark and the initials ‘WR’ (Hinterding’s A’a), with pronounced inking to the two heads reworked by Rembrandt at the centre right, with some minor wear in the densely hatched areas, but before any later rework. Only circa 15 prints of the first 4 states are known and currently in public collections of museums with just a few still in private collecitons.