The Circumcision in the Stable, by Rembrandt van Rijn, 1654
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The Circumcision in the Stable

Also titled De besnijdenis in de stal

Rembrandt van Rijn (Leiden, 1606–1669)

1654

Medium
copper (metal)
Classification
copper plate
Dimensions
height 97 mm x width 147 mm
Museum
Rijksmuseum
Credit line
Purchased with the support of the F.G. Waller-Fonds
Rights
Public Domain Mark, as the museum states it.
Who can see it
Tweens profiles and older: its subjects are known and suit older children. How works are placed

View at the Rijksmuseum

About this work

All of Rembrandt’s etchings are pulled from a copperplate. To make an etching, he would cover the plate with a mixture of resin and beeswax, then draw through that surface with a needle to expose the metal. The plate was immersed in acid, which ‘bites’ grooves in these exposed areas. When the plate was inked and put through a printing press with a sheet of paper, an impression of the design appears on the paper.