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The Flight into Egypt: a Night Piece

1651
Not on view
By the light of Joseph's lantern, the Holy Family journeys through a nighttime landscape (Matthew 2:13-15). In the 1650s Rembrandt created a number of night pieces-dark prints that allowed him to explore the various ways in which single sources of light illuminate otherwise pitch-black scenes. In this earliest experiment in creating dark prints, Rembrandt left ink on the surface of the printing plate, as though he were painting the etched copper plate anew with each impression. As a result, he created impressions of the same print that are unique in their treatment of light and dark. Here, the Virgin atop the mule is bathed in shadow, yet she stands out against an inky black landscape; Joseph steps through a play of shadows created by the brilliance of the lantern, the windows of which are the only spot where Rembrandt allowed the original white of the paper to remain visible.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: The Flight into Egypt: a Night Piece
  • Artist: Rembrandt (Rembrandt van Rijn) (Dutch, Leiden 1606–1669 Amsterdam)
  • Date: 1651
  • Medium: Etching with plate tone; first state
  • Dimensions: Plate: 5 × 4 5/16 in. (12.7 × 11 cm)
    Sheet: 5 1/16 × 4 3/8 in. (12.8 × 11.1 cm)
    Mount: 19 1/4 x 14 1/4 in. (48.9 x 36.2 cm)
    Frame: 21 × 16 in. (53.3 × 40.6 cm)
  • Classification: Prints
  • Credit Line: Gift of Felix M. Warburg and his family, 1941
  • Object Number: 41.1.52
  • 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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