Hundred Guilder Print

The Hundred Guilder Print, c.1647-1649.

The Hundred-Guilder Print, formally titled, Christ with the Sick around Him, Receiving the Children, is widely considered the most technically and visually impressive example of Rembrandt van Rijn's artistic etchings. Employing his signature atmosphere of religious calm, as well as a masterful handling of light and shading, Rembrandt created an awe-inspiring yet relatable image of Christ engaged in his teachings. Rembrandt produced the etching sometime around 1649 with the intention of selling numerous copies of the resulting prints. As the work's common title, Hundred-Guilder Print, implies, these prints were highly valued, even during the artist's lifetime, for their incredible detail and intense emotive qualities. The Hundred-Guilder Print is a definitive masterpiece, not only of Rembrandt's work, but of the Baroque movement in general.

Background

Rembrandt, though best known for his large oil paintings of group portraits, such as Night Watch and Anatomy Lesson of Dr. Tulp, also displayed a unique talent for religious scenes. In works like Return of the Prodigal Son and Hundred-Guilder Print, Rembrandt broke from the long-standing Northern European tradition of ascribing devotional qualities to religious paintings. Instead, Rembrandt depicted Christian mythological events as tender instances of piety and serenity. Rembrandt's "Return of the Prodigal Son", c.1665. Rembrandt's religious scenes were particularly appealing to citizens of the Calvinist Dutch Republic because, in keeping with Protestant doctrine, his works did not attempt to supplant direct worship of God with flashy, distracting images. Works like the Hundred-Guilder Print merely expressed a biblical theme, such as charity, or mercy, through unpretentious human interactions. Moreover, common people could easily relate to Rembrandt's works, as his paintings and prints were commissioned primarily for middle-class patrons, and upheld the Dutch Baroque emphasis on the individual. During Rembrandt's lifetime, printmaking was typically a far more profitable trade than painting, as printed images could be made over and over again from a single etching. Etchings could also be slightly reworked to quickly produce a series of related images. Although paintings were typically more valuable than prints as individual pieces, it would take an artist an enormous amount of time to create the same quantity of painted work as could be printed in a few days. In light of these generalizations, Rembrandt’s etching is especially remarkable for the high price that it commanded even during his lifetime. The common name for Rembrandt's etching, Hundred-Guilder Print, refers to its original selling-price. In the early-mid 1600s, one hundred guilders was considered a massive sum for a print, as small landscape oil paintings, which were usually more expensive than prints, only cost three to four guilders. Rembrandt was able to charge so much for his work, partly because of its easily recognizable quality, and partly because of his fame as an artist. Compared to other printed works, Rembrandt’s etching makes very few compromises in detail, and the emotional power expressed the scene is just as potent as that of any of his paintings. By this time in his career, Rembrandt was already a renowned artist, and had gained a significant amount of fame within the new middle-class. The number of middle-class art patrons in the Dutch Republic grew rapidly during the mind 17th century, increasing the market for even the most expensive of Rembrandt’s prints.

Image

The Hundred-Guilder Print is reminiscent of many other Christian religious artworks because it clearly focuses on the figure of Jesus in the center of the scene. The print differs, however, in that it is not based on a single biblical story. Through his use of recognizable figures, Rembrandt illustrates various themes and events from chapter 19 of the gospel according to Saint Mathew. The wealthy youth seated with his head in his hand recalls Christ's admonition against amassing excess wealth, and the mothers presenting their babies to be blessed symbolize Christ's acceptance of all his followers, no matter how individually insignificant. Thus, the etching served an edifying purpose for Rembrandt's original audience because it presents many religious messages all packed together. Rembrandt's "Self Portrait", c.1659-1660. The Hundred-Guilder Print is divided compositionally by degrees of light and shade. Rembrandt illuminates the large group of Pharisees (devout Jews) on Christ's right, with a harsh, bright light, rendering the human forms in stark outlines. This light appears to have its source somewhere outside the frame, as it casts clearly defined shadows from right to left. On Christ's left, the city's sick and poor have gathered in prayer and are bathed in a soft glow that appears to radiate from Christ's head. The resulting cross-pattern of the two light sources has led some critics to suggest that Rembrandt meant to highlight the sick people's genuine faith in Christ and the Pharisees' stubborn disbelief. In any case, Rembrandt certainly shows his talent for accurately rendering complex lighting.

Technique

For the Hundred-Guilder Print, Rembrandt used both etching and engraving on a copper plate. Etching is a type of printmaking in which the artist coats the surface of the print medium in an acid-resistant substance. The artist then draws a design into the substance, exposing portions of the underlying material to be burned away by acid. Engraving is a simpler form of printmaking in which the artist carves directly onto the print medium. Rembrandt used both techniques together, as well as the strategy of crosshatching, or carving a tight network of opposing lines to suggest shading, to produce a wide variety of textures in his print. The atmosphere above Christ's head in the image is very dark: a result of deep, heavy lines place close together. In contrast, some of the figures on the left side of the image are composed almost solely of outlines with very little shading. Throughout his career, Rembrandt was always considered a master of lighting. In most of his paintings, Rembrandt bathes his subjects in a soft, warm glow, meant to highlight certain emotions. What is truly remarkable, however, is how Rembrandt could carry over his delicate shading and lighting into the medium of engraving. Rembrandt was such a master of the printmaking process, that his etchings and engravings can be directly compared to painted masterpieces for their detail and optical accuracy. The Hundred-Guilder Print, in particular, uses light and shading to great effect, giving the image the same kind of compositional divisions and dynamic outlines typically seen only in paintings with color. Wieseman describes the etching as a "technical tour de force, incorporating an enormous diversity of printmaking styles and techniques":

The group of figures at the left side of the print, for example, is deftly indicated with a minimum of lightly bitten lines; in contrast, the evocative richness of the blacks and the depth of tone in the right half of the print represent Rembrandt's experimental competition with the newly discovered mezzotint technique.

The Baillie Print

Around 1775, Captain William Baillie printed an 100 impression edition of an extensively re-worked, by his own hand, version of Rembrandt's original copper plate.

He acquired the plate, already worn down by repeated printings, from the painter and engraver John Greenwood. As an engraver himself, Biallie attempted to restore the work, but his effort was considered "hard and unfeeling, lacking all the subtleties of Rembrandt's own work". After his edition, Baillie cut the plate into four pieces, reworked them further, and had them printed as separate images. To the reduced center fragment with Christ, he added the frame of an arch.

Known locations

While the number of copies Rembrandt printed is unknown, the Hundred Guilder Print is known to be held in the following collections:

• British Museum

• Frick Collection
• Museum of Fine Arts, Boston including Biallie prints
• Metropolitan Museum of Art
• Oberlin College, Allen Memorial Art Museum
• Rijksmuseum