13. Rembrandt van Rijn
(1606-1669)
Christ and the Woman of Samaria

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Rembrandt, Christ and the Woman

Christ and the Woman of Samaria

Etching and drypoint, 1657-58, 124 x155 mm., Bartsch 70 iv/iv, Hind 294 iii/iii, Boon/White 70 iii/iii, Nowell-Usticke 70 iv/v. A late but perfectly respectable impression, probably from a Basan edition, without burr, with traces of the slipped stroke across the church tower in the background and with only traces of the hair to the left of the woman’s face, on fairly thin laid paper with good margins. With the exception of the hair, the impression corresponds quite well to Rembrandt’s finished conception of the work as shown in lifetime impressions, with a good balance of elements and even a sense of the warmth of the day. After this state, the dark areas began to wear badly and the plate was rather hideously reworked by unknown hands.