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Descent from the Cross by Torchlight

1654
Not on view
This etching is part of a series of scenes from the Passion of Christ that Rembrandt created around 1654. Here, he diverged from traditional representations of the Descent from the Cross by focusing on the silent activity of taking down and burying Christ’s body. Only the bottom portion of the cross is visible on the left, and Christ’s head is in partial shadow. The figures that carry him and the hand that reaches up from the darkness to support his head are depicted in bright light.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Descent from the Cross by Torchlight
  • Artist: Rembrandt (Rembrandt van Rijn) (Dutch, Leiden 1606–1669 Amsterdam)
  • Date: 1654
  • Medium: Etching and drypoint; first of four states
  • Dimensions: Sheet: 9 3/8 in. × 7 in. (23.8 × 17.8 cm)
    Plate: 8 1/4 × 6 3/8 in. (21 × 16.2 cm)
  • Classification: Prints
  • Credit Line: Gift of Felix M. Warburg, 1917
  • Object Number: 17.14
  • Curatorial Department: Drawings and Prints

More Artwork

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Abraham Casting out Hagar and Ishmael, Rembrandt (Rembrandt van Rijn) Dutch, Etching with touches of drypoint
Abraham Casting out Hagar and Ishmael
Rembrandt (Rembrandt van Rijn)
1637
St. Jerome Reading, Rembrandt (Rembrandt van Rijn) Dutch, Etching
St. Jerome Reading
Rembrandt (Rembrandt van Rijn)
1634
Return of the Prodigal Son, Rembrandt (Rembrandt van Rijn) Dutch, Etching, pen and ink
Return of the Prodigal Son
Rembrandt (Rembrandt van Rijn)
1620–69
St. Jerome in Prayer, Rembrandt (Rembrandt van Rijn) Dutch, Etching
St. Jerome in Prayer
Rembrandt (Rembrandt van Rijn)
1635
Portrait of Lieven Willemsz van Coppenol, Writing Master (the larger plate), Rembrandt (Rembrandt van Rijn) Dutch, Etching and drypoint; fourth state
Portrait of Lieven Willemsz van Coppenol, Writing Master (the larger plate)
Rembrandt (Rembrandt van Rijn)
1658

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