Three Crosses

Rembrandt, the innovative printmaker, constantly pushed boundaries in his pursuit of distinctive tonal effects and dramatic portrayals. He combined etching, drypoint, and engraving, sometimes favoring drypoint alone. His exploration extended to paper choices, recognizing how texture and tone impacted the final piece, enhancing desired effects.

“The Three Crosses” is a striking engraving from 1653. Depicting Christ’s crucifixion between thieves, the composition includes mourning figures and conversing men. Rembrandt ingeniously incorporated references to famous artworks. This print highlights Rembrandt’s mastery, executed with exceptional skill and vision using drypoint and burin techniques.

Nadine Orenstein:

What Rembrandt does, that I find rather amazing is, he really sums up so much about humanity. It’s a familiar story that expresses universal emotion. Rembrandt looked at people all around him, all the time, was always sketching. How people stand; how people faint; how people move their head as opposed to the rest of their body. That’s what he introduces into a biblical subject. Rembrandt is able in just a few lines to show emotion in its most universal and simplest forms. From simple figures, bathed in very bright light—he shows them just in outline—to very detailed figures in the darkness. He’s playing with this alternation of dark and light. Rembrandt printed it on vellum, a material that keeps the ink hovering on the surface, and that beefs up the richness of the image. Rembrandt is making changes right on the surface. First he put Christ’s foot straight down, then he put this head on top. When I look at it I see the artist at work. Every single impression around the world (and there’s only maybe fifteen or so of these in existence) looks slightly different, so he’s really making a painted print.