Rare etchings by Dutch master Rembrandt Van Rijn, considered the greatest practitioner of the etching technique in the history of art, focus on the beggar as subject.
Rembrandt Van Rijn made between 1629 and 1654, this exhibition focuses on a subject the artist frequented his in his formative years: the beggar.
Rembrandt’s images document and humanize the vagrant population living in 17th century Dutch society that considered these individuals repulsive and outcast. Often using biblical subjects and narratives, Rembrandt draws parallels in many of the etchings between the plight of the homeless and derelict, and figures such as Joseph, Mary and Jesus. Each etching on paper executed in a style closer to drawing than engraving portrays individualism, character and emotion of each figure rendered, beckoning the viewer’s empathy and compassion.