These three large-scale religious works by Rembrandt explore the tonal range and expressive potential of printmaking. Through stark contrasts of light and dark, the seventeenth-century Dutch prints communicate a strong sense of mood and emotion. Christ Preaching, at center, compresses different stories from the New Testament Gospel of Matthew into one scene. Christ Presented to the People, at left, and Christ Crucified between Two Thieves, at right, are panoramic reimaginings of iconic Christian subjects that were ubiquitous in early modern European art.

Rembrandt does not need to render a figure in detail to communicate psychological presence, and crowds of ordinary figures command almost as much attention as the scenes’ sacred protagonists. In the print at left, Christ Presented to the People, at the center of the crowd a mother holds up a toddler. Because scraped drypoint lines wear down more quickly in the process of printing, Rembrandt continued to rework this composition on the copper plate after he printed this impression. In later states, the mother and child and the rest of the crowd at center are replaced by the unobstructed stone wall.

Christ Crucified between Two Thieves at right was also reworked numerous times. This impression of it is printed on vellum, made from prepared calf skin. Smoother and less absorbent than paper, vellum could register more subtle qualities of ink, thus enhancing the depth of the blacks and the velvety textures of the blurred drypoint lines. In an otherwise shadowy Christ Preaching at center, a print that is mostly created through etching, Rembrandt explored the material properties of Japanese paper to modulate the luminous areas of the untouched paper surface. Rembrandt likely worked on this print for years. Its nickname, “The Hundred Guilder Print,” alludes to the high price it fetched already in the seventeenth century.