Christ at Emmaus: the smaller plate.

item details

NameChrist at Emmaus: the smaller plate.

ProductionRembrandt van Rijn; artist; 1634; Netherlands

Classificationprints, etchings, drypoints, works on paper

Materialsink, paper

Materials Summaryetching and drypoint

Techniquesetching, drypoint

DimensionsImage: 100mm (height), 72mm (length)

Registration Number1952-0003-51

Credit lineGift of Sir John Ilott, 1952

Overview

During his lifetime, Rembrandt's extraordinary skills as a printmaker were the main source of his international fame. Unlike his oil paintings, prints travelled light and were relatively cheap. For this reason, they soon became very popular with collectors not only within, but also beyond the borders of the Netherlands, and it also explains why, three centuries later, they were affordable for Wellington collector and philanthropist Sir John Ilott, who presented 37 Rembrandt prints, including this one, to the National Art Gallery between 1952 and 1969.

This etching is always subtitled 'the smaller plate' to distinguish it from 'the larger plate' of 20 years later (1654) which depicts a near identical theme. An impression of this print is also in Te Papa's collection and was also presented by Ilott (1952-0003-44). The subject, with its dramatic potential, was a favourite of baroque artists.

In this earlier work, Rembrandt conveyed the scene as a rather ordinary event. The three men encircle a small table while a hungry dog begs for scraps, ignoring the bare bone beside him. But the theatrically drawn drape in the upper left suggests that this is not simply a scene of everyday life. The rays of light emanating from Christ's head and the billowing of his garments as if an internal source of energy is radiating outwards convey that this is an exceptional moment.

What was that moment? After he rose from the dead, Christ appeared alongside two disciples who were heading to Emmaus, the two other men depicted in the etching. They didn't initially recognise him but invited him to supper at an inn. When he broke the bread - in the fashion of the Last Supper - recognition dawned on the disciples (Luke 24.30-32) and he thereupon disappeared.

References: New Hollstein Dutch 129, only state; Hollstein Dutch 88, only state

See: Cincinatti Art Museum, https://cincinnatiartmuseum.culturalspot.org/asset-viewer/christ-at-emmaus-the-smaller-plate/_QGRpJp5ZBWjwg?hl=en

Dr Mark Stocker Curator, Historical International Art August 2017