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Rembrandt States: "Peter and John..."

This learning object enables viewers to compare two impressions of Rembrandt's etching of Peter and John Healing the Cripple at the Gate of the Temple.

Rembrandt worked on this print's copper plate in 1659. The DAC holds two impressions of the print. The earlier of the two was printed in the second state during Rembrandt's lifetime. The later one is a posthumous impression--that is, a print made from the original plate, but after the artist's death--in the fourth state, probably printed in the nineteenth century.

The "state" of an etching becomes different each time the artist (or anyone else) changes its metal plate by adding or removing marks that make up the image. Variations in the inking of a plate do not constitute a change of state. The earliest impressions from a plate are called the first state. Impressions made after the first time the plate is changed constitute the second state, and so on.

In this learning object, especially clear changes are seen in areas on the right. Among them are the reworking of foreground shadows with cross-hatching, and the clearing of the sky by means of burnishing. Also evident is a general weakening of the image in the later print, due in part to the plate's reduced ability to hold ink after the wear of having had many earlier impressions made from it (the diagonal line near the right side of its lower edge is a printer's crease, caused by a small fold in the paper when the print was pulled).

Media files

Each QuickTime movie below begins with Rembrandt's lifetime impression and ends with the posthumous impression, showing changes and continuities between the two. The first version will download most efficiently over slow Internet connections; later versions have more gradual transitions and larger file sizes.

To use these learning objects requires software such as QuickTime Player, available as a free download for Macintosh and Windows.

Suggestions for use

Click on your media player's "Play" button to watch the image change automatically from the earlier to the later print (with a speed and subtlety dependent upon which version of the learning object is being viewed). Click on the player's "beginning" and "end" buttons to toggle instantly between the two images. Drag the player's timeline marker (usually a triangle or circle on a line below the picture) back and forth while looking at the entire image or one area of it to see how changes made to the plate, and many years of wear, had huge effects on the sense of the work. The intermediate renditions of the image do not reflect actual steps in these processes, but this digital transition effect complements abrupt comparison to make more perceptible some relationships between the two images.

Original object information

Rembrandt Harmensz van Rijn (Dutch, 1606-1669), Peter and John Healing the Cripple at the Gate of the Temple, 1659. Etching, drypoint, and engraving on laid paper. Second of four states. Dimensions: plate 179 x 217 mm. (7 x 8-1/2 in.). References: Bartsch 94; Hind 301; White and Boon (B. 94) second of four states. Accession no. 1947.D1.213. Gift of George W. Davison (B.A. Wesleyan 1892), 1947.

Rembrandt Harmensz van Rijn (Dutch, 1606-1669), Peter and John Healing the Cripple at the Gate of the Temple, 1659, probably a 19th-century impression. Etching, drypoint, and engraving on heavy laid paper. Fourth of four states, posthumous restrike. Dimensions: plate 180 x 213 mm. (7-1/8 x 8-3/8 in.). Accession no. 1976.19.1. Friends of the Davison Art Center funds, 1976.

Non-interactive images of more Rembrandt prints also are available for viewing.

Terms of use

These learning objects are provided for study and teaching via the DAC website. They may be downloaded and saved for private reference or direct (in-person) instructional use, but may not be reused in any other way without permission from museum staff.