Artwork
Christ Preaching and Healing (Fragment from the Hundred Guilder Print)
Christ Preaching and Healing (Fragment from the Hundred Guilder Print) is an ink print by the Baroque artist Rembrandt. It dates from 1649 and is held in the collection of the National Gallery of Art.
About this work
Overview
Christ Preaching and Healing is a fragment of Rembrandt’s celebrated Hundred Guilder Print, executed around 1649. The work is an etching that incorporates drypoint and engraving on laid paper, presenting a segment of a larger narrative scene. Though only a portion survives, the image retains the compositional vigor and chiaroscuro typical of Rembrandt’s mid‑career prints.
Subject & Meaning
A blind man kneels before the Christ figure, suggesting a request for healing, and a woman cradles an infant, adding a domestic element to the public sermon.
The composition depicts Jesus addressing a diverse assembly. Some figures listen attentively, while others appear to argue among themselves. A blind man kneels before the Christ figure, suggesting a request for healing, and a woman cradles an infant, adding a domestic element to the public sermon. The grouping underscores themes of faith, compassion, and the social tensions surrounding religious instruction.
Technique & Style
Rembrandt combined etching with drypoint and engraving, allowing him to vary line depth and texture. The drypoint lines are incised deeply, producing rich, almost pencil‑like strokes that contrast with the finer engraved marks. Masterful manipulation of light and shadow creates a three‑dimensional atmosphere, while the laid paper, though aged, still reflects the bright surface originally intended by the artist.
History & Provenance
Created circa 1649, the fragment is part of the larger Hundred Guilder Print, a work that was widely circulated in the Dutch Republic. The surviving piece has been preserved on laid paper and remains in a museum collection, where it serves as evidence of Rembrandt’s printmaking innovations during the later phase of his career.
Artist & collection
Artist
Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn (15 July 1606 – 4 October 1669), known mononymously as Rembrandt, was a Dutch Golden Age painter, printmaker, and draughtsman.
