REMBRANDT HARMENSZ. VAN RIJN 1606-1669
The Descent from the Cross by Torchlight, 1654

Etching and drypoint

Plate: 21 x 16,3 cm
Sheet: 21,9 x 17 cm
The New Hollstein (Hinterding/Rutgers) 286/I (of IV)
White/Boon 83

  • one of Rembrandt's most dramatic night scenes
  • a magnificent impression of extraordinary beauty in perfect condition
  • with an outstanding provenance
  • the best available on the market

PROVENANCE
Wilhelm Eduard Drugulin (1825 – Leipzig – 1879), Lugt 2612
Sotheby, Wilkinson and Hodge, London, 11 June 1866, lot 1360
Dr. August Sträter (1810 – Aix-la-Chapelle  – 1897), Lugt 787
H.G. Gutekunst, Stuttgart, 18 May 1898, lot 719: „Impression of extraordinary beauty, with rich burr, in perfect condition, with margins. From the Drugulin collection. Very rare“.
There acquired by Keppel.
Atherton Curtis ( New York 1863 – Paris 1943), Lugt 94
Gutekunst und Klipstein, Bern, 28 April 1955, lot 94: „Impression of extraordinary beauty, with rich burr, especially in Christ's beard and to the back of the man supporting the corpse; deep black impression on white paper, thereby particularly favourably emphasizing the character of a night scene. In excellent condition, with at least 3 mm margins all around the platemark“.
There acquired by Dr. Louis Karl (owner of Karl & Faber), Munich.
Private collection „P“, not listed in Lugt.

PRICE
Please contact me.

The Descent from the Cross by Torchlight is one of Rembrandt's most dramatic prints. The composition is ingenious. The focus of attention is led not to the centre but to the upper left. The whole movement of the scene starts there with the grisly detail of the nail through Christ's right foot. A man is hammering it out of the foot to finally detach Christ from the cross. Next to him stands a man who holds the torch, the only source of light. Typically for Rembrandt he thought through in detail how the removal from the cross would work. Two men on a ladder are carefully lowering the large cloth in which Christ is wrapped. The man seen from behind is holding the corpse and one can feel the full weight of the body he is bearing. An almost magically illuminated hand comes out of the gloom to the right, as another man comes to his assistance. The foreground is dominated by the bier, which is the destination for Christ's body and where the movement through the composition initiated at the upper left will come to an end. One of the main characters, Joseph of Arimathea, who is draping the sheet, is in the shadow and can be seen only upon closer examination. The same is true for Rembrandt's signature and the date, which the artist has almost hidden in the drapery of the sheet.

This is the most beautiful impression on the market, with rich burr and at least 3 mm margins all around the platemark. The condition is impeccable.