Image, Word, and Touch: Rembrandt‘s The Sacrifice of Abraham, and the Printmaking as an Exercise of Intimacy

Abstract

This study of Rembrandt‘s etching The Sacrifice of Abraham (1655) analyzes its iconography and its partial break with the word, through the artist‘s emphasis on bodily hexis and the print‘s haptic qualities. The image is analyzed to the light of biographical information about the Dutch artist, the differences between Dutch prints of the 17th century and painting, with regards to dimensions, collecting and the spectator‘s habits.