ILLNESS AND WELLNESS: ‘The Hundred Guilder Print’ by Rembrandt (1647 – 1649)
‘It is hard to describe the greatest painter of the north and the greatest printmaker of them all, because Rembrandt is so many people. Try to pigeonhole him anywhere, and he escapes. Call him a Dutchman, and he shows a deeper understanding of the essentials of the Italian High Renaissance than any northerner. Call him a master of shadows, and he draws a figure with three or four lines. Call him spiritual, and he throws grossness at you….’
-Hyatt Mayor, the Metropolitan’s Curator Emeritus of Prints
The indefinable Rembrandt Van Rijn (1606 – 1669) has made his mark in history more through his etchings than his paintings. His scratches and scribbles; his bizarre variety of lines from loose to quick, cross hatched to deep and from dark to blotty have succeeded in depicting the world through its black and white beauty . Rembrandt’s needle like a quill weaved lines of life and creativity. His secret weapon was the dry point technique. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RM0qlQ0lyBc )
The most powerful print composed by Rembrandt is undoubtedly the Hundred Guilders Print. Rembrandt wiped the ink differently each time he printed thus creating 100 renditions of one image.
Famous since the 1700’s, the painting derives its odd nickname from the price once paid for a copy at an auction. It is also acknowledged as ‘Christ healing the sick’, ‘Christ Preaching’ or ‘Christ Ministry’
The plural scene is set with limpid fusion and high emotional intensity. Contrary to Michelangelo, Rembrandt was not obsessed with the muscular. His style is boundless representing the human being in all ages, statures and conditions. They are subtle and yet complex; detailed and yet bare; grouped and yet isolated. But like the musicians of an orchestra Rembrandt’s drawings symphonise to form one unique whole.