The angel stands on a cloud, wings spread, one hand raised as if speaking.
Bible in art · Luke
The Angel Appearing to the Shepherds
Rembrandt · 1634
National Gallery of Art, Washington
Rembrandt etched this night scene in 1634, in his first years in Amsterdam, and it is one of his most ambitious early prints. He worked the plate again and again with etching, burin and drypoint until most of it was almost black.
Out of a ring of light full of small winged figures the angel steps onto a cloud and raises a hand. Below, the shepherds and their animals scatter in panic through a dark, wooded landscape.
From the text
- Shepherds keeping watch over their flocks by night (Luke 2:8)
- “The glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified” (Luke 2:9)
- “A great multitude of the heavenly host” with the angel (Luke 2:13)
The artist’s own
- Cattle and sheep stampeding, shepherds running and falling
- A palm, a thick wood, a river and a distant town
Details
The angel
The heavenly host
Rays fan out from a bright centre, ringed by a swirl of small winged figures.
Panic
One shepherd stands frozen, another runs, a third has fallen to the ground.
The herd
Cattle and sheep bolt across the lit field.
Rembrandt van Rijn, Dutch, 1606–1669. National Gallery of Art, Washington (Rosenwald Collection, 1943.3.7094) · Etching, burin and drypoint · NGA Open Access: "Images of these works are available free of charge for any use, commercial or non-commercial, under Creative Commons Zero (CC0)." (NGA open data: published_images.csv openaccess = 1)