Descent from the Cross by Torchlight

Rembrandt (Rembrandt van Rijn)

1654 · Etching and drypoint; first of four states · Drawings and Prints

This etching is part of a series of scenes from the Passion of Christ that Rembrandt created around 1654. Here, he diverged from traditional representations of the Descent from the Cross by focusing on the silent activity of taking down and burying Christ’s body. Only the bottom portion of the cross is visible on the left, and Christ’s head is in partial shadow. The figures that carry him and the hand that reaches up from the darkness to support his head are depicted in bright light.

Artist

Rembrandt (Rembrandt van Rijn)

Date

1654

Medium

Etching and drypoint; first of four states

Department

Drawings and Prints

Credit line

Gift of Felix M. Warburg, 1917