The Circumcision in the Stable
Rembrandt Harmensz Van Rijn (1606-1669), The Circumcision in the Stable, etching, 1654. References: Bartsch, Hollstein 47, White and Boon 47 I (of II), Hind 74. First state (of 2). [signed and dated twice in the plate] On laid paper with the Foolscap with five pointed collar watermark (cf. Ash and Fletcher 19Aa). In good condition, touches of grey wash in shadows, with narrow margins, 3 3/4 x 5 3/4 inches.
Provenance:
Ex. Coll: Georg Rath (Lugt 1206)
H. Weber (Lugt 1383)
G. Bjorklund (Lugt 1138c)
A fine, strong sharp and clear lifetime impression of the relatively rare first state.
In the second state the blank spaces in the upper middle and the upper far left were filled in. In the earliest first state impressions the plate corners are square, in the later impressions of the first state the corners were rounded.
The literature on Rembrandt watermarks indicates that the Foolscap watermark was found frequently on Rembrandt prints printed (by him) at about 1650; all the watermarks found in the White and Boon second state impressions have been posthumous (according to Rembrandt the Printmaker, Hinterding et al.).
The iconography for this print is a bit unusual, for generally the circumcision of Christ was depicted in a Temple, and indeed Rembrandt showed the circumcision in a Temple in an earlier etching, and in a drawing and a (now lost) painting. But theologians have pointed out that it was forbidden for a newborn’s mother to enter a Temple for 40 days after giving birth.
The strong shadowing lines at the right recall the dramatic lines of Rembrandt’s drypoint the Three Crosses, done the prior year.
POR