The Holy Family

Rembrandt van Rijn

c. 1632

Etching

Minneapolis Institute of Art

An etching depicts a family group in a dimly lit interior. A man in a hat reads from a book to a woman holding a baby. The scene is rendered with dense cross-hatching. Rembrandt had a great gift for conveying intimacy with just a few etched lines. Here he places the Holy Family in a setting of comfortable domesticity—so comfortable, in fact, that Mary has kicked off her shoe while nursing. In this fashion, Rembrandt humanizes the sacred to make it more accessible. Gallery Not on View The William M. Ladd Collection Gift of Herschel V. Jones, 1916