REMBRANDT VAN RIJN The Adoration of the Shepherds: A Night Piece.
Etching, engraving and drypoint, circa 1657. 152x197 mm; 6x7 3/4 inches. Biörklund's sixth state (of 8); Usticke's sixth state (of 10); White and Boon's sixth state (of 8); New Hollstein's eighth state (of 11). With thread margins or trimmed on the plate mark. A brilliant, luminous and richly-inked impression with selective wiping, very strong contrasts and no sign of wear, all the figures distinct and burr throughout the image.
Fine lifetime impressions of this subject, like the current work, are extremely scarce. We have found only two other similar impressions at auction in the past 30 years (one sold Christie's, New York, December 10, 1991, lot 44; the other, on Japan paper, sold Kornfeld, Bern, September 17, 2021, lot 115).
The current impression has been selectively wiped to create bright highlights of the lantern, as well as the face to its left and that of Mary and the sleeping Christ child to the right. Bartsch 46; Biörklund 52-1; Hollstein (White and Boon) 46; New Hollstein 300.
