REMBRANDT HARMENSZ. VAN RIJN
Leiden 1606 - 1669 Amsterdam
The Tribute Money (1st State), circa 1635
Etching with drypoint
75 x 103 mm.; 2 3/4 x 4 inches
Provenance:
A.P.F. Robert-Dumesnil (Lugt 2200)
S. William Pelletier (with his mark)
Reference:
Bartsch/Hollstein 68
Hind 124
Biörklund/Barnard 35-2
Notes:
1. A very fine, early impression of the 1st State (of two states), printing with rich burr and with inky plate edges.
2. According to the Bible (Matthew XXII, 15-22), the Pharisees understood the growing influence of Jesus who had chased the money-changers from the temple and who had become known for apparently having healed the blind, the lame and other afflicted ones. They therefore tried to entrap Jesus concerning a question of a point of law:
“Tell us then...is it lawful to pay a census tax to Caesar or not?”...[Jesus replied]: “Show me the coin that pays the census tax.”. They then handed him a Roman coin. He thereupon said to them: “Whose image is this and whose inscription?”. They replied: “Caesar’s”. He then said to them: “Then repay to Caesar what belongs to Caesar and to God what belongs to God”. When they heard this...they went away.
3. The provenance on this work includes Alexandre-Pierre-François Robert-Dumesnil (Paris 1778 - 1864 Paris). Robert-Dumesnil was the author of the eight volumes: Peintre-Graveur Français. His interest in collecting prints started in 1826 and in 1835 he abandoned his business activities in order to devote himself entirely to the world of print collecting. His goal was to add to the earlier accomplishments of Bartsch (Adam Bartsch, Le Peintre Graveur, 21 vols., Vienna, 1802-1821). The title of his first volume was: Peintre-Graveur Français, ou catalogue raisonné des estampes gravées par les peintres et les dessinateurs de l’école Française, ouvrage faisant suite au “Peintre-Graveur” de M. Bartsch. The first six volumes of Robert-Dumesnil appeared by 1850. The last two volumes were completed later by Georges Duplessis, curator at the Bibliothèque Nationale.