The Descent from the Cross, First Plate, Rembrandt van Rijn, 1633
etching, h 518mm × w 404mm More details
This is the failed first version of the adjacent Descent from the Cross. In preparing the etching, Rembrandt probably overheated the copperplate, causing the etching ground to become too porous. The problem came to light only when the image was ‘bitten’ as the plate was immersed in acid. The acid then bit into parts of the copperplate beyond the etched lines. This impression shows what went wrong.
