The Virgin and Child with the Cat and Snake

1654

Rembrandt van Rijn

Associated Names
Rembrandt van Rijn

Artist, Dutch, 1606 - 1669

This print shows a seated woman holding a small child in her arms. She is leaning slightly forward, the child's face pressed to her face. The woman's facial features are hard to identify against the crosshatching gray lines on her skin, but it seems as if her eyes are closed, and her hair is covered with a cloth or headscarf. She wears a long, simple dress with sleeves. The child's body is mostly obscured by the woman's arms, but its face is turned towards us, and it appears to be smiling slightly. On the left, a cat or similar animal is seated on a cushion or ledge. Behind the woman is a window, and the room is cluttered with other furniture including a chair, an open chest, and what may be a fireplace in the bottom right corner. Outside the window, a man is visible, with short hair and a beard. He appears to be looking into the room. Curtains hang down on the walls, and stairs lead downward in the bottom left corner. A halo-like circle seems to surround the head of the woman, and rays of light radiate from her. Upon closer inspection, a snake is visible emerging from the skirts of the woman, its tongue outstretched.

Media Options

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Artwork overview

  • Medium

    etching

  • Credit Line

    Rosenwald Collection

  • Dimensions

    plate: 9.5 x 14.4 cm (3 3/4 x 5 11/16 in.)
    sheet: 9.9 x 14.9 cm (3 7/8 x 5 7/8 in.)

  • Accession Number

    1943.3.9112

  • Catalogue Raisonné

    White/Boon 1969, no. 63, State i/ii


Artwork history & notes

Provenance

Lessing Julius Rosenwald (Lugt 1760b) purchased at Hollstein and Puppel Sale (Lot #752) 1929; given to the National Gallery of Art 1943

Associated Names

Exhibition History

1930

  • Prints and Drawings by Rembrandt van Rijn (1606-1669) from the Collections of Lessing J. Rosenwald, Pennsylvania Museum of Art, 1930

  • Rembrandt Etchings: Lent by Mr. Lessing J. Rosenwald, Philadelphia Art Alliance, 1930.

1932

  • Etchings by Rembrandt van Rijn (1606-1669) from the Collections of Lessing J. Rosenwald, Sears, Roebuck, and Co. Art Galleries, Washington, D.C., 1932.

1933

  • An Exhibition of Prints from the Collection of Lessing J. Rosenwald, Carnegie Institute, Pittsburgh, PA, 1933, no. 106.

1990

  • Eva/Ave: Woman in Renaissance and Baroque Prints, NGA, 1990, no. 49, repro.

2006

  • Strokes of Genius: Rembrandt's Prints and Drawings, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.

Bibliography

1923

  • Hind, Arthur M. A Catalogue of Rembrandt's Etchings. London: Methuen and Co. Ltd., 1923.

1969

  • White, Christopher and Karel G. Boon. Rembrandt's Etchings. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Van Gendt & Co., 1969.

1990

  • Russell 1990, cat.no.49.

1993

  • The New Hollstein Dutch & Flemish Etchings, Engravings and Woodcuts, 1450-1700. Rotterdam: Sound & Vision Interactive, 1993: no. 278, i/iv.

Wikidata ID

Q65024903

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