Etching on Ingres d'Arches off-white laid paper (watermark) with large margins.  Signed and dated in the plate (upper right).  The second state according to Bjorklund, the fourth state according to Nowell-Eusticke.  A 20th Century impression printed by Marjorie Van Dyke.  From the 'Millennium' edition limited to 2500 examples.

This superbly printed etching with strong contrasts, selective wiping and velvety tone, was pulled from the original plate as created by Rembrandt in 1634.  The plate, formerly in the collection of Dr. Robert Lee Humber (along with 77 other original Rembrandt etching plates) had been on loan to the North Carolina Museum of Art in Raleigh, N.C. since the early 1960s.  Upon Dr. Humber's death in 1970, his heirs sold the collection of plates to museums throughout the world, and a select group of private collectors in 1993.  The late master printer, Emiliano Sorini spent two years proofing the plate for this etching and along with Marjorie Van Dyke carefully studied various states and proofs of the etchings created from the plate of "Christ and the Woman of Samaria Among Ruins."  This experience provided Ms. Van Dyke, who eventually took over the project, the knowledge and insight to create impressions from the copper plate and gave her direct observation of the dry-point and burin lines, burrs and subtle nuances of the copper plates that Rembrandt had etched.  In creating this impression, Ms. Van Dyke commented, "Because of Rembrandt's mastery of the chiaroscuro technique imparted to him by the work of Caravaggio, careful attention has been paid to the lights and darks of the copper plates to avoid any over-wiping which may render the images more stark than Rembrandt intended . . . I feel as though we have been granted an opportunity to conduct a dialog with Rembrandt, and have adhered faithfully to Rembrandt's intent, vision and printing technique." Consequently, as a result of the expertise and delicate and painstaking work of Ms. Van Dyke and Emiliano Sorini, this impression surpasses in richness, quality and subtlety the impressions pulled from the plate in the last two centuries by the previous owners.

In this dramatic Biblical scene created with strong shadows and contrast, Rembrandt depicts the moment that Jesus revealed himself as the Messiah to the Woman of Samaria.  According to the Gospel of John, Christ and his Apostles stopped in Samaria on their way from Judea to Galilee and rested by Jacob's well near the town of Sychar.  While Jesus was resting alone, a Samarian woman came to the well to fetch water and Jesus asked the woman to give Him a drink.  Jesus revealed that He was the Messiah, and told the woman that "whosoever drinketh of the water I shall give them shall never thirst and have everlasting life."  This story is also the subject of another etching by Rembrandt, a drawing and three paintings.  Rembrandt's Biblical subjects comprise a substantial portion of his etching oeuvre.  They have traditionally been some of the most desirable among collectors for centuries and were innovative for their time in the manner in which they reveal Christ's interaction with the people of His time.