The Shell
Guide
Adjust the guideNew to it · Medium
Looking for this guide.
From the museum
In the 17th century, seashells became popular collectible objects because they were considered rare and exotic. They also became common subjects for still-life paintings known as Vanitas, which symbolically represent the transience of life. The etchings of both Wenceslaus Hollar and Rembrandt van Rijn could represent the simultaneous beauty and fragility of existence. While still lifes in general are exceedingly rare in Rembrandt’s work, Hollar’s etching (1996.609) comes from a series of seashells, consisting of 38 plates. Rembrandt’s shell could have been inspired by Hollar’s work, though Rembrandt’s decision to render the shell in a three-dimensional space represents a marked difference between the two etchings.
The museum’s own description, in English. Licence: CC BY 4.0
What did you think?
Save this work’s image and museum information on this device to read without a connection.
Ask about this work
Ask in your own words. The answer comes from what the museum has written about the work, and says so when that does not hold it.
Details
- Maker
- Rembrandt van Rijn, Dutch, 1606-1669
- Date
- 1650
- Medium
- Etching on ivory laid paper
- Dimensions
- Plate: 9.7 × 13.2 cm (3 7/8 × 5 1/4 in.); Sheet: 9.9 × 13.4 cm (3 15/16 × 5 5/16 in.)
- Place of origin
- Holland
- Held by
- Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago · Not on view
- Credit line
- Clarence Buckingham Collection
Image: Art Institute of Chicago, CC0
