DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.67683#0494
HOLLAND
336
universal in its appeal. Here again we see amazing draughtsman-
ship and modeling, not of the kind practiced by the Florentines,
but highly individualized and expressed in terms of chiaroscuro.
The use of line as a means for the expression of form was not
unknown to Rembrandt, as his etchings show. The process of
the etcher is this: Upon a polished copper plate is laid a thin
coating of a mixture of wax, gum, and rosin called the ground,
in which the etcher draws his design with a sharp needle, ex-
posing the copper below. This plate he then immerses in an acid,
known as the mordant, which bites the copper along the lines
exposed. The ground is then removed and a print made as in
engraving. The difference between the processes of engraving
and etching is that greater ease and facility can be obtained by
the needle working freely in the soft wax than by the burin cut-
ting directly into the hard metal. These two processes are analo-
gous to the two techniques of the black- and red-figured Greek
vases, where we saw that the Greek abandoned the black for the
red in order to attain greater freedom in drawing.
That this use of line appealed to Rembrandt is clear from the
large number of etchings that he made. His subject matter he
took from the life round about him — the landscape of Holland,
the beggars of Amsterdam, peasants, and the common folk of all
kinds. In the Hundred Guilder Print (Pl. 134 c) there is great
facility in the expression of form and character, with the greatest
economy of line. Here we have an example of Rembrandt’s
method of unifying several contrasting groups into a whole.
The center of interest is the figure of Christ, toward which the
figures on both sides inevitably lead and which is further em-
phasized by the brilliant illumination contrasting with the dark
background. Christ is raising his hands with tenderness in
welcome to the woman carrying a little child whom Peter is
attempting to push aside; just behind her comes another woman
with a baby, urged on by an eager child. In the crowd at the left
in the open diffused light are the fat, supercilious Pharisees and
the sneering crowd; one youth, however, sits on the ground with
his head resting on his hand, pondering deeply. At the right
are grouped the sick; apparently a crowd of them are coming
through the opening in litters and wheelbarrows, or limping
along with the help of friends. The pictorial effect of this side of
the print is due to the same kind of illumination that we have
seen in Rembrandt’s paintings. The light accentuates now one
4 The subject of the print is Christ Healing the Sick. Hundred Guilder Print is a title probably
derived from the price which the print brought at an auction sale.
336
universal in its appeal. Here again we see amazing draughtsman-
ship and modeling, not of the kind practiced by the Florentines,
but highly individualized and expressed in terms of chiaroscuro.
The use of line as a means for the expression of form was not
unknown to Rembrandt, as his etchings show. The process of
the etcher is this: Upon a polished copper plate is laid a thin
coating of a mixture of wax, gum, and rosin called the ground,
in which the etcher draws his design with a sharp needle, ex-
posing the copper below. This plate he then immerses in an acid,
known as the mordant, which bites the copper along the lines
exposed. The ground is then removed and a print made as in
engraving. The difference between the processes of engraving
and etching is that greater ease and facility can be obtained by
the needle working freely in the soft wax than by the burin cut-
ting directly into the hard metal. These two processes are analo-
gous to the two techniques of the black- and red-figured Greek
vases, where we saw that the Greek abandoned the black for the
red in order to attain greater freedom in drawing.
That this use of line appealed to Rembrandt is clear from the
large number of etchings that he made. His subject matter he
took from the life round about him — the landscape of Holland,
the beggars of Amsterdam, peasants, and the common folk of all
kinds. In the Hundred Guilder Print (Pl. 134 c) there is great
facility in the expression of form and character, with the greatest
economy of line. Here we have an example of Rembrandt’s
method of unifying several contrasting groups into a whole.
The center of interest is the figure of Christ, toward which the
figures on both sides inevitably lead and which is further em-
phasized by the brilliant illumination contrasting with the dark
background. Christ is raising his hands with tenderness in
welcome to the woman carrying a little child whom Peter is
attempting to push aside; just behind her comes another woman
with a baby, urged on by an eager child. In the crowd at the left
in the open diffused light are the fat, supercilious Pharisees and
the sneering crowd; one youth, however, sits on the ground with
his head resting on his hand, pondering deeply. At the right
are grouped the sick; apparently a crowd of them are coming
through the opening in litters and wheelbarrows, or limping
along with the help of friends. The pictorial effect of this side of
the print is due to the same kind of illumination that we have
seen in Rembrandt’s paintings. The light accentuates now one
4 The subject of the print is Christ Healing the Sick. Hundred Guilder Print is a title probably
derived from the price which the print brought at an auction sale.