The Shell (Conus marmoreus)
Also titled De schelp (Conus marmoreus)
Rembrandt van Rijn (Leiden, 1606–1669)
1650
- Medium
- paper
- Classification
- Dimensions
- height 97 mm x width 129 mm
- Museum
- Rijksmuseum
- Rights
- Public Domain Mark, as the museum states it.
- Who can see it
- Little Ones profiles and older: it shows gentle subjects for the very young. How works are placed
About this work
Collecting exotic shells was a popular hobby in the 17th century, and it excited Rembrandt’s interest too. He had a small natural history collection of his own, including this marbled cone shell; it is similar in shape to the conus cervus, a ‘deer’ cone. He rendered the form and markings of the shell with meticulous care on the copperplate. Note that the shell appears in mirror image.
