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Noah's Ark

A work made of pen and brown ink and brush and brown ink wash on cream laid paper.
CC0 Public Domain Designation

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  • A work made of pen and brown ink and brush and brown ink wash on cream laid paper.

Date:

c. 1660

Artist:

Rembrandt van Rijn
Dutch, 1606-1669

About this artwork

Among his most expressive uses of the reed pen, this drawing is a fully realized depiction of Noah’s family boarding the ark prior to the great flood described in the Old Testament’s Book of Genesis. The vessel occupies the entire width of the sheet, and Rembrandt emphasized the act of departure by placing figures in the lower left corner who gesture inward, as if indicating where they will soon go. Rembrandt drew a borderline—albeit somewhat haphazardly—around the perimeter of his composition, indicating his satisfaction with his interpretation of the well-known biblical subject. This type of multifigure scene with a literary source provided the standard so many of his pupils aimed to match.

Status

Currently Off View

Department

Prints and Drawings

Artist

Rembrandt van Rijn

Title

Noah's Ark

Place

Holland (Artist's nationality:)

Date  Dates are not always precisely known, but the Art Institute strives to present this information as consistently and legibly as possible. Dates may be represented as a range that spans decades, centuries, dynasties, or periods and may include qualifiers such as c. (circa) or BCE.

1660

Medium

Pen and brown ink and brush and brown ink wash on cream laid paper

Dimensions

20.3 × 24.8 cm (8 × 9 13/16 in.)

Credit Line

Clarence Buckingham Collection

Reference Number

1953.36

IIIF Manifest  The International Image Interoperability Framework (IIIF) represents a set of open standards that enables rich access to digital media from libraries, archives, museums, and other cultural institutions around the world.

Learn more.

https://api.artic.edu/api/v1/artworks/90522/manifest.json

Extended information about this artwork

Object information is a work in progress and may be updated as new research findings emerge. To help improve this record, please email . Information about image downloads and licensing is available here.

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