# Saint Jerome Reading in an Italian Landscape

**Rembrandt van Rijn** (Dutch, 1606–1669)  
c. 1653  
Etching, burin, and drypoint on ivory laid paper  
Image/plate: 26 × 21 cm (10 1/4 × 8 5/16 in.); Sheet: 27 × 21.9 cm (10 11/16 × 8 5/8 in.)

Courtesy of the Art Institute of Chicago, 1941.1048. [The museum's record](https://www.artic.edu/artworks/43244).

## About this work

Saint Jerome sits reading in the sunlight while his lion peers out from behind a tree, and a hill town with Italian buildings rises in the distance. Rembrandt drew on Venetian prints and drawings he owned, by Titian and his circle, for the landscape, combining it with his own free, varied line. Parts of the plate are densely worked and others left almost bare, and the mix of etching, burin and drypoint lets him move from deep shadow to dazzling light.

_Written by Ochre Editions._

Rembrandt van Rijn made this in about 1653, aged about 42. It is now at the Art Institute of Chicago.

### What you’re looking at

A work made of etching, burin, and drypoint on ivory laid paper.

_Description from the Art Institute of Chicago._

### 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.
- **Laid paper.** Handmade on a mould of close-set wires, which leave fine parallel lines you can see when the sheet is held to the light.

### [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: Print
- Culture: Holland
- The artist was about 42
- Real size: about 10 × 8½ in (26 × 21 cm). The 8 × 10 in print is close to life size.
- Century: 17th century
- Colour: white
- Rights: public domain (CC0 1.0); free to use for any purpose.

## Get it

- Free download, full resolution: https://img.ochreeditions.com/m/144.jpg?dl=1
- Image: https://img.ochreeditions.com/a/144/1920.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; 20 × 30 in $86
- Framed reproduction: 8 × 10 in $78; 11 × 14 in $98; 12 × 16 in $108; 16 × 20 in $138; 18 × 24 in $164; 20 × 30 in $208
- 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; 20 × 30 in $5

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/saint-jerome-reading-in-an-italian-landscape-aic-43244).