The Presentation in the Temple

Born in Leiden in 1606, Rembrandt was to become the most important artist of the Dutch Golden Age. His unparalleled skills and achievements as an etcher have made him a continuous source of inspiration to scholars and collectors alike, as well as a profound influence on many later artists, including Goya, Whistler and Picasso.

The technical mastery and inventiveness with which Rembrandt made his 300 or so etchings was already recognised in his lifetime and his prints were widely sought after. Baldinucci, the famous Florentine biographer, praised Rembrandt’s ‘highly bizarre technique, which he invented for etching and which was his alone, being neither used by others or seen elsewhere’ (1686). Rembrandt died in 1669.