Abraham's Sacrifice

∍UK/EU consumer notice
*VAT (reduced rate)

Price Realised GBP 37,800

Estimate

GBP 20,000 - GBP 30,000

Loading details

Try our

Cost calculator

REMBRANDT HARMENSZ. VAN RIJN (1606-1669)

Abraham's Sacrifice

Price Realised GBP 37,800

REMBRANDT HARMENSZ. VAN RIJN (1606-1669)
Abraham's Sacrifice
etching and drypoint
1655
on laid paper, without watermark
a fine impression
printing with good clarity and depth
with considerable burr, fine horizontal wiping marks and a subtle plate tone
trimmed to or on the platemark
generally in very good condition
Plate & Sheet 158 x 132 mm.

Albertina, Vienna, with their de-accession stamp verso (Lugt 5f); probably their sale, C. G. Boerner, Leipzig, 14-15 November 1924, lot 513 ('Vorzüglicher, frischer Abdruck').
With E. & R. Kistner, Nuremberg.
Private Collection, Switzerland; acquired from the above; then by descent to the present owners.

Bartsch, Hollstein 35; Hind 283; New Hollstein 287

Conditions of Sale
FAQs
This lot is offered by Christie Manson & Woods Ltd

Brought to you by

Stefano FranceschiSpecialist

A Christie's specialist may contact you to discuss this lot or to notify you if the condition changes prior to the sale.

sfranceschi@christies.com +44 (0) 20 7752 3103

View condition report

Lot Essay

The young Rembrandt had painted the subject of the sacrifice in 1635 (Hermitage Museum, St Petersburg), but the etched version appears more subtle in the staging. Abraham, at centre, presses Isaac's head against his side and covers his eyes with his right hand, to spare him from the sight of the knife he holds in the other hand. Isaac, kneeling helpless over a large dish, is rescued by the angel. The messenger sent by God, with his spread wings enclosing the main scene, intervenes in the very moment the father is about to accomplish the terrible deed. The figures are mostly rendered in outline and stand out against the dark and tonal background. The image is largely completed in etching, and then worked up and enhanced with touches of drypoint, noticeable in the present impression in the fuzzy, velvety lines of burr to the left of the logs beneath the bowl, in the folds of Abraham and the Angel's garments, and in the dark background at centre left.