# Reclining Female Nude

**Rembrandt van Rijn** (Dutch, 1606–1669)  
1658  
Etching, drypoint, and engraving on Japanese paper; second of six states  
Plate: 3 3/16 × 6 1/4 in. (8.1 × 15.9 cm) Sheet: 3 3/4 x 6 3/4 in. (9.5 x 17.1 cm)

Courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 29.107.28. [The museum's record](https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/337063).

## About this work

A nude woman reclines, her body emerging softly from deep shadow, in one of a group of etchings of the nude that Rembrandt made in 1658. He built up the darkness with dense etched hatching, drypoint and engraving, so that the figure glows against it. This impression, the second of six states, is printed on Japanese paper, whose smooth, warm surface Rembrandt favoured for its ability to hold rich, velvety tones.

_Written by Ochre Editions._

Rembrandt van Rijn made this in 1658, aged 52. It is now at The Met in New York.

### How it was made

- **Drypoint.** Lines scratched straight into the plate with a needle throw up a ridge of metal, the burr, which holds ink and prints a soft, furred line. The burr wears down, so early impressions are the richest.
- **Etching.** The artist draws with a needle through a waxy coating on a copper plate, and acid bites the exposed lines. The plate is then inked, wiped and printed under pressure, so the line keeps the freedom of drawing.
- **Engraving.** Lines cut directly into a metal plate with a steel burin, which makes them swell and taper. It took years to master, and for centuries it was how paintings travelled as pictures.

### [Rembrandt van Rijn](https://www.ochreeditions.com/artists/rembrandt-van-rijn)

Dutch, 1606–1669; born in Leiden; died in Amsterdam

Rembrandt trained in Leiden and Amsterdam, settled in Amsterdam in the early 1630s and became the city’s most sought-after portraitist. His later work grows rougher and more searching, with thick paint, deep shadow and faces that seem lost in thought, as in Aristotle with a Bust of Homer, painted for a Sicilian collector. He was also the leading etcher of his age, reworking plates through many states and making the medium as expressive as painting.

_Written by Ochre Editions._

## Facts

- Type: Prints
- The artist was 52
- Real size: about 3½ × 6½ in (10 × 17 cm). The original is small: even the 8 × 10 in print shows it larger than life.
- Century: 17th century
- Subjects: Female Nudes
- Colour: brown
- Rights: public domain (CC0 1.0); free to use for any purpose.

## Get it

- Free download, full resolution: https://img.ochreeditions.com/m/1011.jpg?dl=1
- Image: https://img.ochreeditions.com/a/1011/1920.jpg
- Giclée reproduction on Hahnemühle Photo Rag: 8 × 10 in $28; 11 × 14 in $38; 12 × 16 in $42; 16 × 20 in $56; 18 × 24 in $68
- Framed reproduction: 8 × 10 in $78; 11 × 14 in $98; 12 × 16 in $108; 16 × 20 in $138; 18 × 24 in $164
- Canvas reproduction: 8 × 10 in $58; 11 × 14 in $72; 12 × 16 in $79; 16 × 20 in $98; 18 × 24 in $118
- Print-ready file: 8 × 10 in $2; 11 × 14 in $2; 12 × 16 in $3; 16 × 20 in $3; 18 × 24 in $3

Sizes stop where the museum's file would print below 150 pixels per inch. Everything sold is a reproduction, made to order. [Order a print](https://www.ochreeditions.com/art/reclining-female-nude-met-337063).