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ARTSN6 Sunday, December 10, 2006 R The Washington Postx

SUBJECTRembrandts Hundred Guilder Printanthologizes almost all the events inChapter 19 of the Gospel of Matthew. Itsalmost as though the various figuresmentioned in that narrative are lined up,waiting their turn to come onstage withChrist.

THE SICK His subjects are usually taken fromeveryday life. (J. von Sandrart, 1679)

As per the first verse of Matthew 19,invalids crowd around Christ waiting to be

healed. Rembrandts fame depended onthese kinds of humble details, and muchwork must have gone into the foreshortenedfigure on the wheelbarrow (1) and into allthe very different faces (2) of the halt andlame (3) who have gathered for a Christiancure. The central subject in the narrative ofMatthew 19:1 gives Rembrandt a perfectpretext to gather together just the kind ofaccidental, incidental detail that his patronsloved. (Of course, he doesnt need anyexcuse to include a gorgeously drawn dog.)

Rembrandt made the pose of the sickwoman lying at Christs feet a close echo ofthe pose Renaissance painters hadtraditionally given to the Virgin Mary, as shecollapses at the foot of the cross on whichher son is nailed. (Its the pose she has inRembrandts own, later crucifixion printcalled The Three Crosses.) Because ofsuch borrowings from earlier art the centralthird of this print can provide a kind ofpremonition of what is to come, whenJesuss hands will go from being halfoutstretched in blessing, as here, to fullyextended in crucifixion, with his motherswooning at his feet and his followers takingup positions all around the pair.

THE CHILDREN He would spend a whole day or even twoarranging the folds of a turban until hewas satisfied. (A. Houbraken, 1720)

Saint Peter (traditionally shown bald)tries to push away a mother who asks for ablessing on her child (4), but Christ holdshis Apostle back, as in the 13th verse of the

Bible passage. The mother is dressed in agenerically Eastern costume, perhapsevoking the crossing into Judea that thechapter in Matthew opens with.

THE RICH YOUNG MAN He often went topublic sales,where he boughtold andout-of-fashionclothes. (F.Baldinucci, c.1700)

Rembrandtidentifies the richyoung manmentioned in the16th verse bydressing him inthe old-fashionedfinery of a courtierfrom a Renaissance portrait (5). He isshown either gravely pondering thequestion he is about to ask (What goodmust I do to gain eternal life?) or alreadywith heavy heart, as the Bible describeshim, at the answer Jesus gives (sell yourpossessions and give to the poor andRembrandt shows poor people surroundingthe wealthy character.)

THE CAMEL and THE RICH MAN He was fascinated . . . by every kind ofexotic object. (J. von Sandrart, 1679)

Toward the end of the gospel chapter,

Christ says it is easier for a camel to passthrough the eye of a needle than for a richman to enter the kingdom of God, and thefigures of the camel (6) and the richman (7) seem to bookend Rembrandtsprint. They are about as far from Christ, andhis grace, as Rembrandts setting allows.(Could the print even include an evocationof the needle? The strange figure at the farright (8), whom the beast seems to bestaring at, has some kind of shaft and loop ofmetal hanging from his hat.)

THE ARTIST Rembrandts love of money was such thatas a joke his pupils would paint smallcoins onto the pavement, to get him to tryto pick them up. (A. Houbraken, 1720)

The rich man in the print could very wellrepresent Rembrandt himself. A number ofthe self-portraits that he made around thistime depict him in a fur-lined cloak thatcloses with gold frogs, as in the print, andwearing the same 16th-century style ofberet (9). (Rembrandt turned thatoutmoded headgear into a kind of personaltrademark his self-portraits were a hotcommodity, produced in quantity and theberet went on to become a classic symbol ofan artists vocation.) The figures canestrongly recalls the mahl stick a rodwith a knob at one end that painters used tosteady their hands also seen in many ofRembrandts self-portraits. Rembrandtbelieved in extravagant, conspicuousconsumption. Here, however, he depictshimself as almost the only figure turned

away from Christ, as though the printacknowledges that the artists worldlinessmight also work as a rejection of his saviorsteachings.

THE APOSTLES He was prolific in painting facialexpressions. (A. Houbraken, 1720)

The arguing men gathered around atable (10) are usually described as thePharisees who, in Matthew 19:3, try to tripup Christ with a trick question on divorce.But the figures in the print are so clearlyderived from the seated Apostles inLeonardo da Vincis Last Supper, whichRembrandt himself drew copies of, that itseems more likely that they represent thesame characters here. Throughout thischapter in Matthew, Christs Apostlesdispute their leaders radical teachings.

In One Work, a Singular Genius

DIRECTION His etchings depend on certain dashes andstrokes, and coarse marks that stand in for anoutline, which nevertheless provide a deep andpowerful chiaroscuro. (F. Baldinucci, c. 1700)

Rembrandt was and is famous for hischiaroscuro his depictions of hard, brightlight standing out in a dark place. This etchingtook chiaroscuro further than any of his earlierprints. Theres bright light shining through thearchway at the far right of the image, but thatdoesnt seem to be the cause of the hard shadowscast directly behind the figures in the center(11). Those shadows seem to be cast by a sourcesomewhere near us, as we stand looking at thepicture as though theres only light-filled airseparating our world from the Bibles.

REFLECTION He made skillful use of reflections by whichmeans light could be made to penetrate areas ofshadow. (J. von Sandrart, 1679)

By ever so slightly lightening the dark wall tothe right of Christ (12), Rembrandt reinforcesthe sense that theres real, empty space insidehis scene, through which light can bouncearound from one surface to the next. Here, thelight may be coming from Christs glowing aura which otherwise doesnt seem to have mucheffect on the surfaces around it.

EVOCATION He would put light,shadow and theoutline of objects ashe thought fit, even ifthey were inopposition toelementary laws ofperspective. (J. vonSandrart, 1679)

The crisp shadow ofpraying hands onChrists robe (13)couldnt really be castby the praying figureshown off at an angleto the right. If thelight in the scene isimagined as comingfrom the world of theviewer, then its ourclasped hands that wesee imaged on Christ as though echoingthe praying hands ofthe donors who wereoften included inearlier sacred images.The HundredGuilder Print, that is,subtly evokes ourdevout presence infront of it.

LIGHTPROCESSThe technique of the HundredGuilder Print leaves me breathless,since I cant understand how hewas able to complete it after such acrude sketch. (A. Houbraken,1720)

Rembrandts prints were collectedby connoisseurs, eager to appreciateevery step in the masters artisticprocess. (One Sicilian noblemanowned 189 of his etchings; a minorDutch painter owned 54.) Theywould even buy prints thatRembrandt designed to look likerandom accumulations ofpreliminary sketches a casualnessthat must in fact have been carefullycalculated by the printmaker.Similarly, the Hundred GuilderPrint, Rembrandts most technicallyambitious print, simulates the entirecourse of its own creation:Rembrandt carries his imagethrough from figures rendered onlyin rough outline (14), at the far left,to the immaculately finished detailsin the shadows at far right (15). Theprint is probably not the product of adecades worth of work, as has often

been claimed. It seems more likely itwas done all at one go in 1648 or so.

SKILL This artists specialaccomplishment was the inventionof an extravagant manner ofetching never used by others. (F.Baldinucci, c. 1700)

The picture includes a full rangeof bravura techniques, from crispfine lines etched into the copperplate with acid (16), to blurred,moody lines done in drypoint (17),which add depth and character toareas of shadow. Drypoint lines are

scratched with a fine needle directlyinto the finished plate after its beenetched, and their characteristicblurred effect disappears after onlythe first 10 or 15 images are printed.Impressions of this image thatpreserved the blurrings of drypointwould have been, and still are,particularly prized by collectors giving Rembrandt several differentmarkets and price points for thefull range of an edition, which couldstretch to several hundred prints.

RELIEF He is good at putting togethertones and half-tones, and has agreat sense of light and shade. (A.Felibien, 1685)

One of any printmakers mosthighly prized skills was the ability torender the rich three dimensions ofreality using only a few tones ofblack and gray. Rembrandts printsets out to demonstrate a range ofdepth effects: from flatoutlines (18), at far left, to figuresthat could almost be carved in lowrelief (19), to the high-relief ofChrist in the center of the print (20)(note the deep shadows that clusterall around him, as though he were astatue in a niche) to the full depth ofthe figures at far right.

TECHNIQUE

By Blake Gopnik Washington Post Staff Writer

Detail of BenozzoGozzolis Saint UrsulaWith Two Angels andDonor, circa 1455-60. Ashadow on Christs robeevokes a similar stance.

NATIONAL GALLERY OF ART

NATIONAL GALLERY OF ART

Detail from The Crucifixion by Benvenutodi Giovanni, probably from 1491. Maryspose is echoed in that of the sick womancollapsed at Christs feet.

FRICK COLLECTION, NEW YORK

Detail of TitiansPortrait of a Manin a Red Cap, from1516, an example ofRenaissance dress.

NATIONAL GALLERY OF ART, ROSENWALD COLLECTION

The 1638 Rembrandt etching Self Portraitin a Velvet Cap With Plume.

NATIONAL GALLERY OF ART

Rembrandts Studies With the Headof Saskia: random or calculated?

NATIONAL GALLERY OF ART