The Holy Family
c. 1632
Medium
etching
Dimensions
plate: 9.6 x 7.3 cm (3 3/4 x 2 7/8 in.) sheet: 10.3 x 7.9 cm (4 1/16 x 3 1/8 in.)
Classification
Department
CG-E
Museum
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Credit
Print Purchase Fund (Rosenwald Collection)
Accession Number
1975.5.1
Art Historical Context
In the intimate glow of Rembrandt van Rijn's *The Holy Family* (c. 1632), we encounter a tender depiction of Mary, Joseph, and the child, crafted as a small etching measuring just 9.6 x 7.3 cm on the plate. This Dutch Golden Age masterpiece, housed in the National Gallery of's Rosenwald Collection, exemplifies Rembrandt's early mastery of printmaking during his Amsterdam years, when he was rising to fame for his innovative religious subjects. Rembrandt, a Baroque genius, revolutionized etching—a technique using acid to incise intricate lines into a copper plate—infusing his prints with dramat...
About the Artist
Rembrandt van Rijn · 1606–1669
Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn (1606–1669) stands as one of the greatest visual artists in the history of Western art and the most important Dutch painter of the 17th century. Born in Leiden to a prosperous miller's family, Rembrandt transformed painting through his revolutionary use of light and shadow, his psychological depth in portraiture, and his elevation of etching to a fine art. His approx...