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Christ crucified between two thieves: 'The three crosses'

Print
1653 (made), 1660s (amended)
Artist/Maker
Rembrandt Van Rijn (artist)
Place of origin
Amsterdam (made)

About 1660 Rembrandt made extensive changes to this major plate, fundamentally altering large parts of the composition and increasing the darkness and drama of the scene. In this richly-worked fourth state he introduced the dominant figure of a mounted soldier derived from a Renaissance medal by Pisanello.

Object details

Categories
Prints
Printmaking Techniques
Religion
Christianity
Object type
print
Titles
  • Christ crucified between two thieves: 'The three crosses' (published title)
  • Our Lord crucified between two thieves, 'The three crosses' (alternative title)
Materials and techniques
Drypoint
Ink
Paper
Drypoint
Brief description
Drypoint and burin by Rembrandt van Rijn, 'Christ crucified between two thieves: 'The three crosses', fourth state. Amsterdam, ca. 1660.
Physical description
Drypoint and burin depicting three men on crosses, the one in the centre is bathed in rays of light. There are a crowd of people gathered around the crosses and on the left, there are two men on a horses.
Dimensions
  • Height: 38cm
  • Width: 44.5cm
Style
Dutch School
Credit line
Bequeathed by Hans Velten
Object history
Begun in 1653 and reworked in the 1660s.
Bequeathed by Hans Velten.
Subjects depicted
Jesus Christ
The Crucifixion
Summary
About 1660 Rembrandt made extensive changes to this major plate, fundamentally altering large parts of the composition and increasing the darkness and drama of the scene. In this richly-worked fourth state he introduced the dominant figure of a mounted soldier derived from a Renaissance medal by Pisanello.
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).
  • Blanc, Charles, L'oeuvre complet de Rembrandt, décrit et commenté, (Paris, 1859-61).
  • Hind, Arthur M. A Catalogue of Rembrandt's Etchings. (London: Methuen and Co. Ltd., 1923).
  • 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
E.3003-1931

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Record createdJune 30, 2009
Record URL
https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O747372/christ-crucified-between-two-thieves-print-rembrandt-van-rijn/
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