St. Jerome Praying: Arched
Medium
Etching and drypoint on paper
Dimensions
Plate/image: 10.9 × 8.1 cm (4 5/16 × 3 1/4 in.); Sheet: 11.2 × 8.4 cm (4 7/16 × 3 5/16 in.)
Classification
etching
Department
Prints and Drawings
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
29245
Art Historical Context
In the hallowed tradition of Baroque artistry, Rembrandt van Rijn's *St. Jerome Praying: Arched* (1632) captures the Dutch master's profound spirituality through intimate printmaking. This small etching and drypoint on paper—measuring just 10.9 × 8.1 cm—depicts the revered Church Father St. Jerome in deep contemplation, likely amid his scholarly penance in the desert, a motif symbolizing devotion and introspection. Created early in Rembrandt's career, as he rose to fame in Amsterdam during the Dutch Golden Age, the work reflects the era's fervent religious humanism amid Protestant Reformation ...
About the Artist
Rembrandt van Rijn · 1606–1669
Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn (1606–1669) stands as one of the greatest visual artists in the history of Western art and the most important Dutch painter of the 17th century. Born in Leiden to a prosperous miller's family, Rembrandt transformed painting through his revolutionary use of light and shadow, his psychological depth in portraiture, and his elevation of etching to a fine art. His approx...