With the name Rembrandt van Rijn mentioned, certain connotations come to mind: “stuffy old master”, “someone from long ago with little or no importance”, “someone whose paintings are worth more than a 747.” Some may be familiar with his famous use of strong contrasts of light and dark (tenebrism), his mastery at portraits, maybe the Night Watch comes to mind or some other painting not given much attention to in an old gallery on a trip to some city in Europe. But most who know the name Rembrandt do not attach much importance to him and the works he created 350 years ago as relevant to society today. But maybe that doesn’t have to be so.
The LDS Church Art History Museum is running a show displaying 46 various small etchings completed by the artist at certain points in his career, gathered from the museum’s own collection, those at BYU and private lenders; etchings of a religious nature (something not common to the artist as he was a Dutch Protestant and the Protestants were adverse to images of a religious nature). But, as the exhibit reveals to us, these delightful pieces were near and dear to the artist and he created them regardless of the iconoclasism in Holland and represented his deep spirituality. They, despite their minuscule size, have a power and a simplicity and convey a full range of Rembrandt’s talents and a sensitivity which (arguably), is not as apparent in his larger works. There is much which can be learned by a careful viewing of these etching, reduced in their elements, and done at a more rudimentary level and because of this at times Rembrandt’s techniques are even more apparent in this simplicity.
As we have mentioned, tenebrism was something Rembrandt has been associated with throughout history (something seen earlier and probably influenced by Italian Baroque artist Caravaggio), but we can see it vividly here in the etchings, in the flourish of line and the quickness of handling. There is a full range of light and dark that we quickly become used to as we proceed throughout the exhibit. We see light emanating from Christ, divine light from above, natural lighting, lamps, candles, but what we do learn quickly is that Rembrandt’s use of lighting is not arbitrary. It is used symbolically. In the larger etching Christ on the Cross, there is a stark contrast between those figures on the right- Mary, the Magdalen, John the Baptist- bathed in light....those on the left- the Romans, Judas, etc., are cloaked in darkness. Such examples abound throughout the exhibit.
Something further which this exhibit is exceptional in revealing are the subsidiary figures. There are complicated groupings of figures such as peasants, merchants, beggars, old women, children, townspeople, etc., but all are done cursorily in a way (such as the Presentation at the Temple) which captures their simplicity, sensitivity, expression and pathos. More remarkable is the individuality with which these figures, in crowds, groups, literally thrown on top of each other, are given. The 21st century viewer may take this for granted, but in the early 1600's the idea of individuality in society, contrary to the general masses of the middle ages, was coming into being and Rembrandt’s treatment here is remarkable in this respect.
A small etching 3/4 of the way through the exhibit seems to capture what these etchings are about- the potency, the spirituality, the essence of these objects of veneration. This is a self portrait by Rembrandt. We see a man, unsure, humble, clothed in the garments of his century, whose treatment, like the other 45 etchings, handled with such sensitivity and care, invites us, like the other countless figures we have seen in the exhibit, to look closer, and we find a man whose deep pathos, spirituality and vision, gives our soul a bit of a boost. And we leave the exhibit into the open sunshine, back to our 21st century world, with a bit of gladness in our hearts and a little more air beneath our feet.