Encounters at the Morgan (Part I) — Rembrandt’s Lions: Art and Exile in the Dutch Republic

The Mill, ca. 1645-48, oil on canvas, Rembrandt van Rijn (1606-1669)

During a recent visit to the Morgan Library & Museum in Manhattan, I had the pleasure of seeing Rembrandt’s Lions: Art and Exile in the Dutch Republic, an exhibition devoted to the great master of the Dutch Golden Age.

The clear highlight for me was The Mill, a magnificent painting whose quiet grandeur transforms an ordinary landscape into something timeless. While admiring it, my companion pointed out a curious detail I had not known. At some point in its history, the canvas had been unevenly trimmed to fit a stretcher, leaving the composition slightly tilted to the right. Once brought to my attention, the irregularity became difficult to ignore, though it did nothing to diminish the painting’s beauty.

Another favorite was The Three Trees, Rembrandt’s celebrated 1643 etching, incorporating drypoint and engraving. Widely regarded as his most ambitious landscape print, its dramatic sky and sweeping countryside demonstrate his extraordinary command of the medium.

It was a wonderful opportunity to admire an artist whose mastery of light, shadow, and composition continues to captivate nearly four centuries later.

Fortunately, this remarkable encounter with Rembrandt is only the beginning. With Rembrandt and the Ancients coming to the Metropolitan Museum of Art in 2027, there is even more to look forward to.

~ By Giovanni di Napoli, November 9th, Feast of Sant’Agrippino di Napoli

The Three Trees, 1643, etching, engraving, and drypoint, Rembrandt van Rijn

(L) The Beheading of St. John the Baptist, 1640, etching and drypoint, Rembrandt van Rijn. (R) Self-Portrait with Raised Sabre, 1634, etching and drypoint, Rembrandt van Rijn

(L) Portrait of Herman Doomer, 1640, oil on panel, Rembrandt van Rijn.
(R) Head of a Girl, ca. 1645, oil on panel, Rembrandt van Rijn

(L) Self-Portrait Etching at a Window, 1648, etching and drypoint,
Rembrandt van Rijn. (R) Man with a Fur-Trimmed Hat, ca. 1645-48,
oil on canvas, Ferdinand Bol (1616[?]-1680[?]) 

The Large Lion Hunt, 1641, etching, Rembrandt van Rijn

The Small Lion Hunt (with Two Lions), ca. 1629; The Small Lion Hunt (with One Lion), ca. 1629, etching, Rembrandt van Rijn

Dutch lion dollar, 1662, silver, unidentified artist 

Johannes Jansz Visscher (1587-1652), after Claes Jansz Visscher (1618-1679) Novissima et accuratissima leonis Belgici, seuseptemdecim regionum description (Newest and most accurate description of the Belgian lion, or of the seventeen provinces), 1611, engraving with hand coloring

Judas Returning the Thirty Pieces of Silver, ca. 1628-29, pen and brown ink and gray wash, over black chalk, Rembrandt van Rijn