The Descent from the Cross by Torchlight

1654

Rembrandt van Rijn

Associated Names
Rembrandt van Rijn

Artist, Dutch, 1606 - 1669

This is a drawing of a group of people engaged in an activity involving a figure draped in a cloth. The drawing shows figures arranged in a solemn and dynamic composition. The central focus is on figures interacting with a draped cloth. The background is darker, accentuating the central figures. The use of shading and cross-hatching creates texture and depth, adding to the serious atmosphere of the scene. The style displays characteristics of chiaroscuro, highlighting the contrasts between light and dark.

Media Options

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Artwork overview

  • Medium

    etching and drypoint

  • Credit Line

    Rosenwald Collection

  • Accession Number

    1943.3.7162

  • Catalogue Raisonné

    White/Boon 1969, no. 83, State only

Artwork history & notes

Provenance

Paul Davidsohn [1839-1924?], Berlin (Lugt 654); Lessing Julius Rosenwald (Lugt 1760b); 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.

1946

  • The Life of Christ as Depicted in the Etchings of Rembrandt, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 1946, no cat.

1947

  • Loan Exhibition of Paintings by Frans Hals and Rembrandt, Los Angeles County Museum, 1947, no. 38.

1953

  • Masterpieces of Graphic Art from the Rosenwald Collection, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 1953-1954, no catalogue.

1955

  • Miniatures and Prints from the Lessing J. Rosenwald Collection, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 1955, no catalogue.

1956

  • Masterpieces of Graphic Art from the Lessing J. Rosenwald Collection, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 1956, no cat.

1958

  • Drawings and Prints by Rembrandt from the Rosenwald and Widener Collections, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 1958, no catalogue.

1961

  • University of Notre Dame Art Gallery, South Bend, IN, 1961.

1969

  • Rembrandt in the National Gallery of Art [Commemorating the Tercentenary of the Artist's Death], National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 1969, no. 53, 56, repro.

1973

  • Etchings by Rembrandt, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 1973, no catalogue.

1977

  • Seventeenth-Century Dutch Drawings from American Collections, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. (not included in tour), 1977.

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.

1993

  • The New Hollstein Dutch & Flemish Etchings, Engravings and Woodcuts, 1450-1700. Rotterdam: Sound & Vision Interactive, 1993: no. 286, i/iv.

Wikidata ID

Q65024657

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