Christ driving the money changers from the Temple.

During his lifetime, Rembrandt's extraordinary skills as a printmaker were the main source of his international fame. Unlike his oil paintings, prints travelled light and were relatively cheap. For this reason, they soon became very popular with collectors not only within, but also beyond the borders of the Netherlands, and it also explains why, three centuries later, they were affordable for Wellington collector and philanthropist Sir John Ilott, who presented 37 Rembrandt prints - including this one, to the National Art Gallery between 1952 and 1969.

There are two other copies of this print in the collection; one was presented to the Colonial Museum by Bishop Monrad (1869-0001-406), and another, a reverse copy by an unknown Rembrandt admirer, which was originally mounted in the so-called King George Album of Old Master prints, purchased by the Dominion Museum in 1910 (1910-0001-1/59-80).

The composition of the famous Biblical scene, <em>Christ driving the money changers from the Temple</em> (John 2:15), is based on a painting that Rembrandt made ten years earlier when he was only 19, which is now in the Pushkin Museum, Moscow. Its composition revolves around Christ's hand holding the whip in the centre of the picture. The raised hand is bathed in light, Christ's face almost hidden in shadow. The figure is borrowed from Albrecht Durer's woodcut of the same subject, in the <em>Small Woodcut Passion</em> series (c. 1508), although Rembrandt has reversed the pose. His prints from this period show a predominantly linear style, characterised by a vigorous calligraphic energy that reinforces the violent movement of the subject. The point of Rembrandt's etching-needle seems to weave the image from a continuous thread, with lines that loop sinuously back and forth like the thongs of Christ's whip, leading the viewer from one part of the scene to another.

This impression is the first of four states of the etching by Rembrandt, the only one where he exclusively worked on the plate.

References: New Hollstein Dutch 139, 1st of 4 states; Hollstein Dutch 69, 1st of 2 states

See: https://www.aucklandartgallery.com/explore-art-and-ideas/artwork/4474/christ-driving-the-money-changers-from-the-temple

Dr Mark Stocker     Curator, Historical International Art         August 2017