. Bulletin - United States National Museum. Science. â¢:; 'â FIGURE 14 Detail of the etched copper plate for Rembrandt's print, Christ sealed dis- puting with the doctors. After Coppier. p. 117. (Smithsonian photo 59395.). FIGURE 15 Detail of Rembrandt's finished print. Landscape with a hay barn and a flock oj sheep, far right, showing drypoint drawing of sheep and post. Enlarged 10 times. (Smithsonian photo 59388.) fairly strong; acid. The lines are relatively broad in relation to their depth, a strong-acid eflfect. Further- more, illustrations of some of Rembrandt's original plates from this
. Bulletin - United States National Museum. Science. â¢:; 'â FIGURE 14 Detail of the etched copper plate for Rembrandt's print, Christ sealed dis- puting with the doctors. After Coppier. p. 117. (Smithsonian photo 59395.). FIGURE 15 Detail of Rembrandt's finished print. Landscape with a hay barn and a flock oj sheep, far right, showing drypoint drawing of sheep and post. Enlarged 10 times. (Smithsonian photo 59388.) fairly strong; acid. The lines are relatively broad in relation to their depth, a strong-acid eflfect. Further- more, illustrations of some of Rembrandt's original plates from this period show a similar broad ;' In addition, in the photograph (figure 14) of at least one of the plates there is seen a peculiarly ragged line which is often caused by bubbles formed on the plate by acid action.''" This appearance of bubbles is characteristic only of the strong acids. Of the acid formulae suggested by Bosse in 1645, only oneâa distillate of vitriol, saltpeter, and alumâappears to be strong enough to produce the observed efifects.^' Generally speaking, Rembrandt's later etchings show evidence of stronger acid biting than his earlier work. which has more of the characteristics of weak mor- dants. ^^ Certainly, a strong acid would produce a much speedier biting and bolder etched lines, pro- viding him with a solid foundation for his fine drypoint work, and enabling him to work continuously, with a minimum of delay. Rembrandt's use of drypoint is, as Jakob Rosenberg says, "the most important inno\'ation in Rembrandt's mature graphic ;" After etching his skeletal design on the plate, he went to work with his drypoint needlesâlong, stiff, iron instrumentsâsharpened to a fine point. An artist generally has se\eral available, so that he does not have to stop and re-sharpen in the course of his work. Rembrandt evidently went even further and deliberately used dull needles to obtain certain light line effects. When the finished
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Keywords: ., bookauthorun, bookcentury1800, bookdecade1870, booksubjectscience
