Image of Gallery in South Kensington
On display at V&A South Kensington
Europe 1600-1815, Room 6, The Lisa and Bernard Selz Gallery

Christ presented to the People: oblong plate

Print
1655 (made)
Artist/Maker
Rembrandt Van Rijn (artist)
Place of origin
Netherlands (made)

This is a good impression of the late fifth state, taken after Rembrandt reduced the plate at the top. This he did, presumably for a practical reason: to allow printing on single sheets of his expensive Japanese paper. It also has the effect of placing the principal figures including those of Christ and Pilate centrally in the composition, thereby focusing the drama upon the protagonists. C.A. Ionides, who presented the print to the V&A, possessed all three of Rembrandt's major prints depicting episodes from the life of Christ.


Object details

Categories
Prints
Religion
Christianity
Object type
print
Titles
  • Christ presented to the People: oblong plate (published title)
  • Our Lord before Pilate (alternative title)
Materials and techniques
Drypoint
Paper
Drypoint
Brief description
Drypoint by Rembrandt van Rijn, 'Christ presented to the People: oblong plate', fifth state. Amsterdam, 1655.
Physical description
Drypoint depicting a courtyard with two men standing on a platform with a small group of people behind them. The man on the left is wearing a turban and robes, holding a long staff in his right hand while his left hand is pointing towards the other man, who is in chains with his hands crossed. There is a crowd of onlookers below the platform, also spectators watching from the windows around the courtyard.
Dimensions
  • Printed image height: 362mm
  • Printed image width: 460mm
  • Including current lining paper height: 415mm
  • Including current lining paper width: 525mm
Measured by Conservation
Credit line
Bequeathed by Constantine Alexander Ionides
Object history
Bequeathed by C.A. Ionides, 1900.
Purchased by Ionides from Thibaudau for £125, before 1881.
Subjects depicted
Christ
Pilate, Pontius
Summary
This is a good impression of the late fifth state, taken after Rembrandt reduced the plate at the top. This he did, presumably for a practical reason: to allow printing on single sheets of his expensive Japanese paper. It also has the effect of placing the principal figures including those of Christ and Pilate centrally in the composition, thereby focusing the drama upon the protagonists. C.A. Ionides, who presented the print to the V&A, possessed all three of Rembrandt's major prints depicting episodes from the life of Christ.
Bibliographic references
  • Taken from V&A Internal Catalogue
  • Bartsch, Adam von. Catalogue raisonné de toutes les estampes qui forment l'oeuvre de Rembrandt (Vienna, 1797).
  • White, Christopher and Boon, Karel G. Rembrandt's Etchings: An Illustrated Critical Catalogue in Two Volumes, I. Text. (Amsterdam: Van Gendt & Co; London: A. Zwemmer Ltd., 1969).
  • Hind, Arthur M. A Catalogue of Rembrandt's Etchings. (London: Methuen and Co. Ltd., 1923).
  • The Catalogue of the Constantine Alexander Ionides Collection. London. Victoria and Albert Museum, 1904, 636.
  • Blanc, Charles, L'oeuvre complet de Rembrandt, décrit et commenté, (Paris, 1859-61).
  • Biörklund George. Rembrandt's Etchings, True and False: A Summary Catalogue in a Distinctive Chronological Order and Completely Illustrated, (Stockholm, London & Paris, 1955) (2nd ed. 1968).
Collection
Prints, Drawings & Paintings Collection
Accession number
CAI.636

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Record createdMarch 31, 2008
Record URL
https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O151803/christ-presented-to-the-people-print-rembrandt-van-rijn/
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