Storytelling in Miniature

Rembrandt van Rijn
Dutch, 1606–1669

Canal with a Large Boat and Bridge

Etching and drypoint, 1650
3 1/4 x 4 3/8 in.
Given in memory of Grace J. Hitchcock, 1969.353

Rembrandt concentrated on etched landscapes during two separate periods of activity: 1640–45 and the early 1650s. Before 1640, he used landscapes mostly as backdrops for figurative scenes that occupied the foreground. Gradually, landscapes became more important in his work and developed into subjects in their own right. In this print the large boat in the foreground is partially shaded on the right, an effect superbly rendered with the use of selective drypoint.