Rembrandt Harmensz. van Rijn

A fine impression of the third state (of six) printing richly, with good contrasts and plate tone. Small margins around the platemark. With revisions to the tree in the centre of the picture and to the angel's robe. Von Seidlitz describes this print as "Rembrandt's masterpiece from the mid-1630s". The Angel Appearing to the Shepherds is one of Rembrandt’s first religious etchings on a large scale and is one of the earliest night scenes, a genre that would become something of a speciality of the artist. It was one of the subjects first depicted in European art as a true night scene, with the angel as an active light source, illuminating the pictorial space. Rembrandt created this etching in 1634, the year of his marriage to Saskia van Uylenburgh. – Along the edges with inconspicuous repairs. In the upper right corner with a tiny tear that does not extend into the image. Verso upper right corner thinned, verso reinforced with a horizontal strip of paper, otherwise in good condition.