The Ship of Fortune
Medium
etching
Dimensions
sheet (trimmed to plate mark): 11.3 x 16.8 cm (4 7/16 x 6 5/8 in.)
Classification
Department
CG-E
Museum
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Credit
Rosenwald Collection
Accession Number
1943.3.7092
Art Historical Context
### The Ship of Fortune Step aboard the whimsical world of Rembrandt van Rijn's *The Ship of Fortune* (1633), a masterful etching from the Dutch master's early career. Created when Rembrandt was just 27 and establishing his reputation in Amsterdam during the Dutch Golden Age, this intimate print—trimmed to a compact 11.3 x 16.8 cm—captures his innovative spirit. Housed in the National Gallery of Art's Rosenwald Collection, it exemplifies the Baroque era's blend of drama, light, and human emotion in print form. Etching, Rembrandt's chosen medium here, involved coating a copper plate with acid...
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...