Faust (The Scholar in His Study)

Artist: Rembrandt van Rijn, Dutch, 1606–1669
Date: c.1652
Material: Etching, drypoint, and engraving on oatmeal paper
made in: Amsterdam, Noord-Holland province, Netherlands, Europe
Classification: Prints
Collection: Prints, Drawings, and Photographs
Current Location: Not on view
Dimensions: plate: 8 1/4 x 6 5/16 in. (21 x 16 cm)
sheet: 8 5/16 × 6 3/8 in. (21.1 × 16.2 cm)
Credit Line: Gift of Mark Steinberg Weil and Phoebe Dent Weil
Rights: Public Domain
Object Number: 238:2021

NOTES

This enigmatic image depicts a scholar rising from his armchair at the sight of a smoky apparition before a window. A brilliant light emanating from a medallion penetrates the dark interior of the study. The disk contains a form of the Jewish mystical symbol of the tetragrammaton, a reference to the letters YHWH, the name of God, but those letters have been replaced with the letters INRI, which refer to Jesus. The oatmeal paper Rembrandt van Rijn used for this impression enhances the diffused light of the scene.

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