Abraham Entertaining the Angels by Rembrandt van Rijn

Rembrandt van Rijn, Christ Crucified between the Two Thieves (The Three Crosses), second state, 1653, drypoint and burin, National Gallery of Art, Washington, Gift of Horace Gallatin 1949.1.50

Christ Crucified between the Two Thieves by Rembrandt van Rijn

Rembrandt van Rijn, Christ Crucified between the Two Thieves (The Three Crosses), fourth state, 1653, drypoint and engraving, National Gallery of Art, Washington, Rosenwald Collection 1943.3.7174

These two prints, each created almost entirely in drypoint, demonstrate Rembrandt's great technical skill as a printmaker. Using a heavy drypoint line, Rembrandt could describe figures and shapes quickly in outline, with little cross-hatching, giving the image a sense of urgency and drama.

Yet the burr that makes drypoint so velvety and atmospheric is also unpredictable. It prints differently each time the plate is inked and gradually wears away. An artist such as Rembrandt can take advantage of these changes, buffing the plate to remove figures and adding washes of ink to create dark tonal areas.

In a later state of this print, we can see how Rembrandt has removed some of the figures, reducing the scene to a stark, nightmarish vision.