The Star of the Kings: A Night Piece
c. 1651
Medium
Etching, drypoint, and engraving on ivory laid paper
Dimensions
Image/plate: 9.3 × 14.2 cm (3 11/16 × 5 5/8 in.); Sheet: 9.5 × 14.4 cm (3 3/4 × 5 11/16 in.)
Classification
Department
Prints and Drawings
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
49037
Rights
Public Domain
About this artwork
Rembrandt likely knew Jan van de Velde the Younger’s dark yet straightforward rendition of the Twelfth Night festivities, in which the artist bathed his star-singers in sufficient lantern light so that their features could be made out. In contrast, Rembrandt submerged his revelers in pitch blackness, with only a glimmer of light emanating from their star. Carrying it was an important role (here assumed by a child), and at the end of each verse, pulling a rope set the star in motion. Rembrandt su...
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...