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A man stands near the center, handcuffed, robe tied across his bare chest, looking upper right, wearing crown of thorns.

Dramatically lit with light entering from upper left, highlighting the man (Christ) in an open stage-like area inside an antiquated courtyard. Armored Roman guards with spears stand behind him. A man (Pilate) in fancy robes has his back to the viewer, his face turned to the left with several men kneeling before him on steps, looking up at him. Several men in the middle ground and one leaning from a window at top center, look intently at Pilate. A packed crowd gathers in the background. The contrast between light and dark sculpts the human forms and accentuates the dramatic scene.

Identification and Creation

Object Number
G3239
People
Rembrandt Harmensz. van Rijn, Dutch (Leiden 1606 - 1669 Amsterdam)
Etched and engraved basis for the composition by Jan Joris van Vliet, Dutch (c. 1610 - 1670)
Title
Christ before Pilate: Large Plate
Classification
Prints
Work Type
print
Date
1636
Places
Creation Place: Europe, Netherlands
Culture
Dutch
Persistent Link
https://hvrd.art/o/279720

Physical Descriptions

Medium
Etching and engraving on white antique laid paper
Technique
Etching and engraving
Dimensions
sheet: 53.5 × 41.3 cm (21 1/16 × 16 1/4 in.)
Inscriptions and Marks
  • inscription: verso, center, graphite: [illeg. text] 82.
  • inscription: verso, center, graphite: II
  • inscription: verso, graphite: B [illeg.] 77.
  • inscription: verso, lower left, graphite: B. 77. Cl. 82. Wils. 82. II / Extrémement rare. / Extremely rare
  • collector's mark: lower left, black ink stamp: H. W. [Hermann Weber]
  • inscription: verso, bottom, graphite: Catalogue de la [illeg.], coll. d'est. lairssée par feu allr. Herm. Weber. II [illeg.', Oeuvre de REmbrandz - No. 169. l'Ecce homo.
  • inscription: lower right, graphite: No. 169 II Extre [illeg.] magnifique et extremement rare, de / la planche terminée (CL II, W. II, B. II) avant les / contre [illeg.] sur le visage du [illeg.] qui est audersens . de col[illg.] qui liert le [illeg.]eay. - [illeg.] la [illeg.]. / de la coll. Dr. E. Peart. / No. the following no. hte cat. containts the same print in the / III state; whcih proves that this is the II , No. 170 la mem es / Epr. superbe avec les contrelielles dans le mis. et.
  • inscription: verso, lower right, graphite: [illeg. text] £ 15.6 / 1.12 / £16.18.
  • inscription: verso, lower center, graphite: Ecce homo.
  • inscription: verso, lower left, graphite: [illeg.]: The 1st [illeg.] may be regard as [illeg.] unique; / the figures of Pilate and the principal personas / are merely traced. - 2 impressions / in this sate, one traced with [illeg.], are / in the Brit. Museum
  • watermark: Strasbourg lily [Hinterding v. 2, p. 207, C.zz Because zz indicates that Hinterding has not seen the mark, it is impossible to be precise, but he lists, p. 267, many second-state impressions of this print with variants of the Strasbourg lily C that he dates 1633-41.]

Provenance

Recorded Ownership History
Dr. Edward Peart (1758-1824) (L. 891), London and Butterwick, probably sold [through his sale, Christie's, London, April 12, 1822]. Hermann Weber (1817-1854), Bonn (L. 1383), sold [through his sale, Leipzig, April 28, 1856, lot 169]. Francis Calley Gray, bequest; to William Gray, his nephew, 1856, gift; to Harvard University, 1857

State, Edition, Standard Reference Number

State
iii/v
Standard Reference Number
New Hollstein 155, Bartsch 77, Hind 143, Rovinski 77

Acquisition and Rights

Credit Line
Harvard Art Museums/Fogg Museum, Gift of William Gray from the collection of Francis Calley Gray
Object Number
G3239
Division
European and American Art
Contact
am_europeanamerican@harvard.edu
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Publication History

  • Andrew C. Weislogel and Andaleeb Badiee Banta, Lines of Inquiry: Learning from Rembrandt's Etchings, exh. cat., Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art (Ithaca, 2017), pp. 15, 116-118, 210, cat. no. 26, repr. p. 117

Exhibition History

  • Rembrandt: A Selection of his Works, Busch-Reisinger Museum, Cambridge, 10/18/1984 - 12/11/1984
  • Fine Art for Harvard: The Gray Collection of Engravings, Fogg Art Museum, 09/02/1986 - 11/02/1986
  • Lines of Inquiry: Learning from Rembrandt's Etchings, Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art, Ithaca, 09/23/2017 - 12/17/2017; Allen Memorial Art Museum, Oberlin, 02/06/2018 - 05/13/2018

Related Works

Verification Level

This record has been reviewed by the curatorial staff but may be incomplete. Our records are frequently revised and enhanced. For more information please contact the Division of European and American Art at am_europeanamerican@harvard.edu