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The Three Trees

1643
Not on view
The Three Trees is Rembrandt's largest and most striking etched landscape. Here he masterfully combined techniques (drypoint, engraving, varied depths of etched lines, and a speckled tone) to create a sense of nature in flux. He animated the landscape with many details: an artist sketching on the hill at right, a fisher couple at lower left, and an amorous couple hidden in the darkened foreground bushes. Some of the unnatural cloud formations left of center indicate that Rembrandt may have etched The Three Trees on a plate that contained an abandoned sketch for The Death of the Virgin, a composition he continued on a larger plate in 1639.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: The Three Trees
  • Artist: Rembrandt (Rembrandt van Rijn) (Dutch, Leiden 1606–1669 Amsterdam)
  • Date: 1643
  • Medium: Etching, engraving and drypoint
  • Dimensions: plate: 8 3/8 x 10 15/16 in. (21.3 x 27.8 cm)
    sheet: 8 3/8 x 11 1/8 in. (21.3 x 28.3 cm)
    mount: 14 1/4 x 19 1/4 in. (36.2 x 48.9 cm)
  • Classification: Prints
  • Credit Line: H. O. Havemeyer Collection, Bequest of Mrs. H. O. Havemeyer, 1929
  • Object Number: 29.107.31
  • 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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