Art Institute of Chicago

Noah's Ark

Rembrandt van Rijn

Date

c. 1660

Medium

Pen and brown ink and brush and brown ink wash on cream laid paper

Culture

Holland

Department

Prints and Drawings

Institution

Art Institute of Chicago

Among his most expressive uses of the reed pen, this drawing is a fully realized depiction of Noah’s family boarding the ark prior to the great flood described in the Old Testament’s Book of Genesis. The vessel occupies the entire width of the sheet, and Rembrandt emphasized the act of departure by placing figures in the lower left corner who gesture inward, as if indicating where they will soon go. Rembrandt drew a borderline—albeit somewhat haphazardly—around the perimeter of his composition, indicating his satisfaction with his interpretation of the well-known biblical subject. This type of multifigure scene with a literary source provided the standard so many of his pupils aimed to match.

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