The Entombment

Rembrandt (Rembrandt van Rijn)

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The Entombment demonstrates the combination of firm rectilinear draftsmanship and evocative tone that Rembrandt achieved in his graphic work of the 1650s. The two states of the etching (see also 23.51.7) show Rembrandt's ability to dramatically transform a single image into two strikingly different works of art. Here Rembrandt used the traditional method of wiping the plate clean before printing. As a result, only the ink remaining in the lines cut into the copperplate transferred onto the paper. He created a sense of flickering light by modifying the density of the hatching.

Drawings and Prints

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The Department’s vast collection of works on paper comprises approximately 21,000 drawings, 1.2 million prints, and 12,000 illustrated books created in Europe and the Americas from about 1400 to the present day. Since its foundation in 1916, the Department has been committed to collecting a wide range of works on paper, which includes both pieces that are incredibly rare and lauded for their aesthetic appeal, as well as material that is more popular, functional, and ephemeral. The broad scope of the department’s collecting encourages questions of connoisseurship as well as those pertaining to function and context, and demonstrates the vital role that prints, drawings, and illustrated books have played throughout history.

Metropolitan Museum of Art