The Triumph of Mordecai
c. 1641
Medium
etching and drypoint on laid paper
Dimensions
sheet (trimmed close to plate mark): 17.2 x 21.3 cm (6 3/4 x 8 3/8 in.)
Classification
Department
CG-E
Museum
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Credit
New Century Fund
Accession Number
1998.25.2
Art Historical Context
In the heart of Rembrandt van Rijn's masterful printmaking oeuvre stands *The Triumph of Mordecai* (c. 1641), an etching and drypoint on laid paper that captures a pivotal biblical moment from the Book of Esther. Here, the virtuous Jew Mordecai is paraded triumphantly through the streets of ancient Persia on the king's horse, led by his humbled enemy Haman. Created during Rembrandt's prolific Amsterdam years, this intimate work (17.2 x 21.3 cm) exemplifies the Dutch master's Baroque genius for drama and human emotion, rendered in a trimmed sheet that draws viewers close to the scene's intensit...
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...