Art Institute of Chicago

St. Francis Beneath a Tree Praying

Rembrandt van Rijn

Date

1657

Medium

Etching and drypoint on ivory laid paper

Culture

Holland

Department

Prints and Drawings

Institution

Art Institute of Chicago

Rembrandt saturated the dark, inky forest of his Saint Francis beneath a Tree Praying with velvety burr along drypoint lines and deep tone wiped selectively throughout the plate. Instead of the Dutch Reformed Church, this image reflects the vision of the Roman Catholic Church in its emphasis on the lives of the saints and therefore may have been a private commission. The unusually elderly Saint Francis gazes toward a large crucifix, which might be real or imagined, within the forest glade and speaks directly to it. With his head angled and mouth open, Francis is hardly passive in prayer but rather an active advocate of Christianity.

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