print
- Museum number
- 1848,0911.40
- Description
-
'The Three Crosses'; Christ crucified between the two thieves, man holding spear and wearing tall urban on a horse directed to the right to the left of Christ, numerous figures mourning at right, a group of men standing in the left foreground, a rearing horse behind them, one figure wearing a turban walking towards the right; fourth state with signature and date no longer legible, with almost the entire plate redrawn, different horse and rider to the left of Christ, sky darkened, on the left and right, overshadowing the thief on the right, a rearing horse added on the left, most figures of the group of men in the left foreground removed, on of the men in the centre foreground removed, many of the mourners removed, redrawn or moved, before posthumous addition of the address of Frans Carelse in centre foreground. 1653
Drypoint and burin, the plate heavily inked
- Production date
- 1653
- Dimensions
-
Height: 385 millimetres
-
Width: 451 millimetres
- $Inscriptions
-
- Curator's comments
- For comment see 1842,0806.139.
2006 label text for 400th Anniversary display:
Rembrandt
The three crosses, 1653
Drypoint and burin, Hind 270, 4th state
One of Rembrandt's most famous prints, in which he envisaged Christ's crucifixion with a proto-cinematic eye. A sense of confusion reigns among the figures, with startling contrasts of light. These are achieved by using drypoint, which prints with a velvety blackness. The horseman in profile is based on a medal designed by Antonio Pisanello (before 1395-1455), of which Rembrandt may have owned a cast.
Purchased, 1848,0911.40
- Location
- Not on display
- Exhibition history
-
2000/1 Jul-Jan, Amsterdam, Rijksmuseum, Rembrandt the Printmaker
2002 May-Sep, Karlsruhe, Zentrum für Kunst, Iconoclash...
2007 Mar-Apr, BM Easter Passion exhibition
2015 – 2016 4 Dec - 29 May, National Museum of Singapore, 'Treasures of the World’s Cultures'
2019 7 Feb-4 Aug, BM, G90, 'Rembrandt: thinking on paper'
- Acquisition date
- 1848
- Department
- Prints and Drawings
- Registration number
- 1848,0911.40