The stoning of St Stephen.

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. It also explains why, in later centuries, they were affordable for Bishop Ditlev Monrad, who donated this example to the Colonial Museum in 1869, and Sir John Ilott. Te Papa has another (superior) impression of this print, from the first state, presented to the National Art Gallery by Ilott in 1964 (1964-0001-3).

 

Rembrandt had chosen the martyrdom of St Stephen as the subject of his first recorded painting, completed in 1625 at the age of 19 (now in the Musée des Beaux-Arts, Lyon). Some ten years later, he reprises the theme in this dramatic etched portrayal of the saint's murder by stoning. According to the Acts of the Apostles from the Bible, Stephen was a disciple of Jesus and deacon in the early Christian church who was assigned to distribute food and charities to widows and needy members of the community. His teachings espoused Jesus as saviour and his arguments against traditional Jewish beliefs offended the authorities of certain synagogues, who falsely accused him of preaching against the Temple (blasphemy) and sentenced him to death. Considered the first martyr of Christianity, Stephen is compassionate to the end, imploring God to forgive his murderers of their sins.

Challenging traditional forms of historical narrative, Rembrandt interpreted the events of that day through visual clues and fragmented narratives, whilst incorporating images of modern-day political martyrdom as a powerful reminder of the ongoing cost of freedom: Stephen's killers could pass for thugs you'd wouldn't want to encounter in Amsterdam alleyways or canalboats.

This impression dates from the 18th century and is the third of four states (only the first was by Rembrandt). It has been reworked in mezzotint, which is evident in the left margin in the hair of the man at top left, on the right elbow of the man bending over in the left foreground, in the shadow of the stone he is picking up, and in the shaded area next to St Stephen’s face. Our print pre-dates the reworking of shadows in Henri Louis Basan's Parisian workshop (e.g. the vertical lines on the helmet of the man raising a stone above his head and cross-hatching on his belt and in front of his cuirass), dating from c. 1797-1809.

References: New Hollstein Dutch 140, 3rd of 4 states; Hollstein Dutch 97, 1st of 2 states.

See:

Minneapolis Institute of Art, https://collections.artsmia.org/art/55301/the-stoning-of-st-stephen-rembrandt-harmensz-van-rijn

 

New Hollstein, Rembrandt vol. I (2013), p. 226.

 

Dr Mark Stocker   Curator, Historical International Art     August 2017

 

 

New Hollstein Dutch 140, 3rd of 4 states

Hollstein Dutch 97, 2nd of 2 states