Label Type
Cultural/Historical ContextLabel
"Rembrandt was born in Leyden in 1606, and by the age of nineteen he was studying under Pieter Lastman in Amsterdam. It is partly because of his skill in exploiting chiaroscuro and atmospheric effects that he is considered one of the great masters of the Baroque style. Rembrandt is best known for his paintings, but throughout his career he created many prints. He split his time between Leyden and Amsterdam, never leaving Holland, and died in 1669.
Landscape with a Cow and a Square Tower is a small yet impressive example of Rembrandt’s printmaking. The approximate date is 1645, as determined by comparisons with other Rembrandt etchings, especially works ranging in date from 1640 to 1650. The print is believed to be unsigned, but if one looks closely, a small ‘R’ can be seen in the lower left corner.
The overall scene is sketchy, but it does create a sense of atmosphere and depth. The image represents a man standing left of center in the foreground, while another man and a cow can be seen further in the distance. The figures are a very small part of the composition, dominated by a characteristically flat Dutch landscape with a distant town.
This type of landscape subject was very popular in Northern Baroque art, and this particular print represents the first state of the plate. In a later state, Rembrandt added lines to the sky and a backpack on the main standing in the foreground. Among more than two hundred prints by the artist, this example is considered an “unobtainable” or extremely rare work (only 32 prints received this distinction, according to Nowell-Usticke).
Chris Strailman
From “Landscape in the Printmaker’s Eye: Selections from Purdue University’s Permanent Art Collection”
Class Project in Art & Design 490M, Art Museum Practices (2005)
Instructor, David C. Parrish
Bibliography:
G. Schwartz, Rembrandt: All the Etchings Reprinted in True Size (London, 1977), pp. 13-19; Gordon Nowell-Usticke, Rembrandt’s Etchings, States and Values (New York, 1988), Inv. No. B206; Seymour Slive, Dutch Painting (New Haven, 1995), pp. 55-96; B.P.J. Broos, “Rembrandt van Rijn,” The Dictionary of Art, 26 (New York, 1996), pp. 152-179.
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