51 HIGHLIGHT REMBRANDT GIFT AND STUDY DAY THE FAMOUS DUTCH 17TH-CENTURY ARTIST Rembrandt Harmensz. van Rijn captures Christ’s ultimate vulnerability in his best-known print, The Three Crosses, Christ Crucified Between the Two Thieves. This remarkable work exhibits acute attention to human emotions and expresses the artist’s search for man’s personal connec- tion to the divine. In 1911, the Smith Studio Club, a student group, had the foresight to select an impression of the fourth state from this series to be the first print added to the museum’s collection. Their choice set a high standard. While the print is an incredible work in its own right, we can only fully appreciate the complexity of the creative process and the development of the compositional scheme in The Three Crosses when we see states side by side. The ability to compare different states of a print allows viewers to consider the artist’s goals for the work of art, and the techniques used to communicate those goals. Rembrandt’s The Three Crosses represents a high-water mark in what different states of a print can tell us. Rembrandt intensively worked and reworked the composition of The Three Crosses, experimenting with different types of paper, vellum and inking variations. Four versions, or “states,” of The Three Crosses were produced during Rembrandt’s life, with a fifth state printed after the artist’s death. It was not until the third state that Rembrandt considered his print formally completed, as his signature affirms. Using just drypoint, a print technique which allows for only a limited number of impressions, Rembrandt did something very bold: Instead of destroying his copper plate after it started to wear down, he decided to rework the composition completely by adding and erasing figures in the scene. The most evident compositional changes are found between the third and fourth states. This wonderful comparative experience is now possible thanks to the generous donation of a third and fifth state by Mary Gordon Roberts ‘60. To celebrate this donation and take immediate advantage of the research possibilities these prints invite, the Cunningham Center for Prints, Drawings and Photographs coordinated a Rembrandt Study Day on April 14, 2018. Organized by Henriette Kets de Vries, assistant curator and manager of the Cunningham Center, and led by Theresa Fairbanks-Harris, senior conservator of paper for the Yale Center for British Art, and Margaret D. Carroll, professor of art at Wellesley College, the Study Day brought experts together with students, faculty, scholars from various institutions and printmakers for some close looking at these three versions of The Three Crosses. Fairbanks-Harris handed out tools—small flashlights and magnifying glasses—to help identify the fine lines and changing figures surrounding Rembrandt’s depiction of Jesus on the cross, and extensively discussed Rembrandt’s various paper choices and how to identify them. Carroll led a focused reflection on the iconographic variations between the third and the fourth states. The session gave participants a chance to investigate the various printing techniques and speculate about other aspects of the Dutch artist’s process. Barry Moser, Smith’s Irwin and Pauline Alper Glass Professor of Art, said he was pleased that the session raised as many questions as answers about Rembrandt’s work. “I liked that there were times when the scholars simply said, ‘We don’t know,’” he noted. “It’s good to retain some mystery.” ABOVE: The April 2018 Study Day made it possible to compare three states of a print by Rembrandt. OPPOSITE: Rembrandt Harmensz. van Rijn. Dutch, 1606–1669. The Three Crosses, Christ Crucified Between the Two Thieves, ca. 1653. Drypoint and burin printed in black, third state of five. Gift of Mary Gordon Roberts, class of 1960, in honor of the 55th Reunion of her class.