St. Francis beneath a tree praying

Details

Bartsch 107; White/Boon 107; Hinterding/Rutgers (The New Hollstein) 299 II (von II).

Description

A very good impression, with burr and selective-wiped plate tone, of this very rare subject, the drypoint overlays velvety black. With a margin of up to 4 mm around the platemark. According to von Seidlitz, this sheet is one of Rembrandt’s most beautiful landscape depictions, probably created under the influence of Titian or Campagnola.
The mystic Francis of Assisi (ca. 1181-1226) was a young patrician who turned down his rich inheritance for a life of poverty and preaching and was canonised just two years after his death. Rembrandt depicts the saint in his hermitage in the densely wooded hills of Assisi, kneeling in prayer, his hands folded on the open pages of a large Bible, in front of a large crucifix. In a departure from the iconography of the saint, Rembrandt depicts him as an elderly man. The hood of his simple monk’s habit reveals his bearded face, with closed eyes and slightly open mouth. There are no late prints, as the plate was lost early on. Classified as “RR” by Nowell-Usticke and labelled “A rare plate, especially so when fine, and much sought after”. – Evenly slightly darkened. Two tiny tears to the right edge. A carefully closed, approx. 3 mm long tear to the left edge. Verso with old mounting strips to upper edge. Otherwise in a very fine condition.
Extremely rare!