The Angel Appearing to the Shepherds

The Angel appearing to the Shepherds of 1634 is one of Rembrandt’s first religious etchings on a large scale and is one of the earliest night scenes he etched, a genre that would become something of a specialty of the artist. It presents a richly varied composition: the angel and the little putti swirling in the sky around the Holy Spirit, almost invisible in the blinding light, and the stunned shepherds and their animals, fleeing in terror, all suddenly illuminated by the celestial apparition, while the rest of the scene, the two figures emerging from the cave at lower right, curious to see what’s causing the tumult, the distant landscape by night, the travelers down by the river with their fires reflected in the water, and the dense forest with a gnarled old tree and a palm at the edge, all fading into nocturnal twilight. The various parts of the composition each strike a very different tone: the angel does have a certain severity and grandeur about him, while the scene of the panic-stricken herdsmen and beasts is almost burlesque in its vivacity, in contrast with the quiet, lyrical feel of the distant landscape at night. Yet, Rembrandt brings it all together in a grand tableau.