Course: The Metropolitan Museum of Art > Unit 1
Lesson 8: Observations- Emmoser, Celestial globe with clockwork
- Rembrandt, Christ Crucified between the Two Thieves: The Three Crosses.
- "Krishna Holds Up Mount Govardhan to Shelter the Villagers of Braj", Folio from a Harivamsa (The Legend of Hari (Krishna))
- Rochford’s Girls I Have Known
- Dürer, Self-portrait, Study of a Hand and a Pillow
- Groom and Rider
- Van Eyck, The Crucifixion; The Last Judgment
- Evans, Subway Passengers, New York City
Rembrandt, Christ Crucified between the Two Thieves: The Three Crosses.
Met curator Nadine Orenstein on universal emotion in Rembrandt van Rijn’s Christ Crucified between the Two Thieves: The Three Crosses, 1653.
The Three Crosses, Rembrandt's finest works in any medium, represents the culmination of his virtuosity as a printmaker. He drew on the copperplate entirely in drypoint which allowed him to fully exploit the velvety areas of burr raised by the drypoint tool as it cut into the copper. When Rembrandt created this impression, he deliberately left ink on the printing plate; it lightly veils the figures standing at the foot of the cross on the right; a thicker layer almost completely covers the bushes along the right edge. By creatively inking the copperplate, Rembrandt in a certain sense painted each impression. Each time he printed the copperplate he created a unique work. He further varied impressions by printing them on different supports; this impression is printed on vellum, which infuses the composition with a warm light. Vellum, less absorbent than paper, holds ink on the surface, softening lines and enhancing the richness of entire effect.
View this work on metmuseum.org.
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- Can someone tell me more about Vellum?(3 votes)
- Vellum is parament made from sheep or goat's skin, and was used primarily in the medieval period since paper was not available in Europe yet.(2 votes)
- What type of acid was utilized to etch the plates ?(2 votes)
- Rembrandt's Christ Crucified is a drypoint technique of printing. No acid is used on the copper plate. An engraved copper plate is placed in a bath of ferric chloride to make the lines below the copper surface.(2 votes)
- Why did he make people in the dark more detailed, and people in the light more simple?(2 votes)
- I was wondering if frames from older painting are given with the original painting or if they were made later? Who made the frame for this painting?(2 votes)
- Oh, also. What is vellum? And why does the "ink float on the surface"? Wouldn't it float off of the surface eventually? (Smear, wipe off, that sort of thing.)(1 vote)
- Vellum is a term for calf skin that has been stretched to the point that it is thin and transparent paper. Sometimes it is used as transparent decorative paper for wedding invitations or for artwork. I have used it for artwork before it is great for adding layers to drawings. Vellum does not absorb water or ink so ink doesn't sink in, it is just on the surface. Paper would allow the ink to be absorbed.(2 votes)
- She said there are around 15 or so of these in print and that they were being continually retouched as if he was making a "painted print". I've never heard of this term. What is a painted print?(1 vote)
- i think she was referring to how it was a print, but because Rembrandt kept changing it, each copy was different. The same way how copies of paintings are a little different each time in comparison to an exact print which creates exact replicas of itself. so "painted print" isnt an actual term.(1 vote)