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The Virgin and Child with the cat and snake

Print
1654 (printed)
Artist/Maker
Rembrandt Van Rijn (artist)
Place of origin
Netherlands (made)

This print shows a homely scene of maternal affection but it is also a powerful piece of Christian symbolism. While the cat on the left is playing with the Virgin's hem, a snake can be seen slithering out from under her skirt. The Virgin is treading on the snake, symbolising her role as the new Eve, who will triumph over Original Sin. Joseph looks in from outside the window, symbolising his closeness to, but also his separation from, the Virgin and Child. The pattern of the window's glazing creates the impression of a halo around the Virgin's head.

This print is thought to be part of a set of prints of the early life of the Christ and was the first time Rembrandt produced a print series, despite the popularity of such series with other artists such as Albrecht Dürer, Lucas van Leyden and Lucas Cranach.

Object details

Categories
Prints
Christianity
Interiors
Architectural Fittings
Designs
Printmaking Techniques
Object type
print
Titles
  • The Virgin and Child with the cat and snake (published title)
  • The Holy Family with the Serpent (alternative title)
Materials and techniques
Etching
Paper
Etching (Printing Process)
Brief description
Etching by Rembrandt van Rijn, 'The Virgin and Child with the cat and snake', first state. Netherlands, 1654.
Physical description
Etching depicting a domestic interior with fireplace to the right, also in the room a trunk and chair, a woman is cradling an infant in the centre of the scene, behind her a window through which a man is looking. To the left a cat playing with a snake.
Dimensions
  • Platemark height: 9.5cm
  • Platemark width: 14.5cm
  • Sheet height: 103mm (trimmed to)
  • Sheet width: 152mm (trimmed to)
Style
Dutch School
Marks and inscriptions
  • Rembrandt. f. 1654. (Signed and dated)
  • [watermark looks like a three or five point crown but needs checking once out of mount] (reverse)
  • [collector's mark University Library, Cambridge] AD.12.38-66 (reverse)
Gallery label
(1983)
Rembrandt is the most famous and influential etcher in the history of printmaking. His work is admired for combining technical mastery of the medium with enormous emotional power. Because this is the first state of this print before the artist got rid of the two white spaces along the top edge on the right, we know that this impression dates from Rembrandt's own lifetime.

Printmaking Techniques Gallery, Henry Cole Wing
Credit line
Bequeathed by Constantine Alexander Ionides
Object history
Bequeathed by C.A. Ionides, 1900.

With the mark of the collection of Cambridge University Library (Lugt 2475) and accession number AD.12.38-66 on the back. 'On 2-3 April 1878 a sale of Rembrandt etchings and engravings by early German masters, took place at Sotheby's in London, described at the time as duplicates from the collections of Cambridge University. See Print Quarterly Vol.X No. 4 December 1993, p. 403. This print was lot 100 in that sale. According to the annotated copy of the sale catalogue in the National Art Library, the price it reached at auction was £2. [Information taken from the V&A Internal Catalogue of the V&A's prints collection].
Subjects depicted
Maternity
Cat
Virgin Mary
Joseph (Of Nazareth, Saint)
Jesus
Summary
This print shows a homely scene of maternal affection but it is also a powerful piece of Christian symbolism. While the cat on the left is playing with the Virgin's hem, a snake can be seen slithering out from under her skirt. The Virgin is treading on the snake, symbolising her role as the new Eve, who will triumph over Original Sin. Joseph looks in from outside the window, symbolising his closeness to, but also his separation from, the Virgin and Child. The pattern of the window's glazing creates the impression of a halo around the Virgin's head.

This print is thought to be part of a set of prints of the early life of the Christ and was the first time Rembrandt produced a print series, despite the popularity of such series with other artists such as Albrecht Dürer, Lucas van Leyden and Lucas Cranach.
Associated object
E.655-1993 (Original)
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), B.63.
  • 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).
  • Print Quarterly. Vol. X, No. 4, December 1993, p. 403.
  • Important and historical collection of the etchings of Rembrandt comprising three hundred lots in singularly perfect condition; being duplicates from the Cambridge University collections; forty-five lots of engravings by the early German masters. London, Sotheby's, 2-3 April 1878, Lot 100.
  • Bartsch, Adam von. Catalogue raisonné de toutes les estampes qui forment l'oeuvre de Rembrandt (Vienna, 1797).
  • Hollstein, F. W. H. (Friedrich Wilhelm Heinrich), 1888-1957. Dutch and Flemish etchings, engravings and woodcuts, ca. 1450-1700. (Amsterdam: M. Hertzberger, 1949-), vol. 18-19.
  • Lugt, Fritz. Les marques de collections de dessins et d'estampes.
  • Hinterding, Erik, et. al. Rembrandt the Printmaker. (London, British Museum Press, 2000), pp.44-45.
  • 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.646

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Record createdDecember 18, 2002
Record URL
https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O72177/the-virgin-and-child-with-print-rembrandt-van-rijn/
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