ca. 1649

Prints and Drawings

Many consider this print the apotheosis of Rembrandt's activity in etching. In one frame, Rembrandt illustrates no fewer than four moments from chapter nineteen of the Gospel of Saint Matthew, including the famous (mistranslated) parable, "It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of heaven." The rich young man sits with his hand over his face to the left of Christ, while the camel stands in an almost total shadow in the extreme right. With the central, towering position of Christ and the movement of light to dark across the surface, Rembrandt's composition unifies the print's narrative complexity. Here, Rembrandt merges technique—his experiments with multiple sources of light and the full range of light, dark, and gray tones—and message.

Medium

Etching

Dimensions

10 15/16 × 15 1/4 in. (27.8 × 38.8 cm)

Credit Line

Fritz Achelis Memorial Collection, Gift of Frederic George Achelis, B.A. 1907

Accession Number

1925.130

Culture
Period

17th century

Classification
Disclaimer

Note: This electronic record was created from historic documentation that does not necessarily reflect the Yale University Art Gallery’s complete or current knowledge about the object. Review and updating of records is ongoing.

Bibliography
Object copyright
Additional information

Object/Work type

etchings, figures (representations), religious art

Signed

n.s.

Technical metadata and APIs

IIIF

Open in Mirador

View IIIF manifest

The International Image Interoperability Framework, or IIIF, is an open standard for delivering high-quality, attributed digital objects online at scale. Visit iiif.io to learn more

Linked Art

API response for this object

Linked Art is a Community working together to create a shared Model based on Linked Open Data to describe Art.