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"Glorious stone or statue of Nebuchadnesar"
Four illustrations for a Spanish book
Signed and dated from the 2nd state: Rembrandt f. 1655
Etching, burin and drypoint
Signed and dated from the 2nd state: Rembrandt f. 1655
Etching, burin and drypoint
Test of the complete sheet on Japan paper with an inking effect.
243 x 162 mm in the sheet
BNF, Estampes, Rés. Cb-13a
BNF, Estampes, Rés. Cb-13a
The statue of Nebuchadnezzar
3 er state
legs of the statue, which were broken on both sides of the knees, broken only appear straight and ankles. Jacob's stone and globe are engraved on the right. A cintrated arch has been added above the head of Nebuchadnezzar.
legs of the statue, which were broken on both sides of the knees, broken only appear straight and ankles. Jacob's stone and globe are engraved on the right. A cintrated arch has been added above the head of Nebuchadnezzar.
Jacob's scale
2nd state
The stringers of the ladder have been enhanced with the burnisher.
The stringers of the ladder have been enhanced with the burnisher.
David and Goliat
2nd state
The contour of the hill on the right is now continuous.
The contour of the hill on the right is now continuous.
The vision of Daniel
2nd state
The two oblique lines of the upper left corner reach the square line.
The two oblique lines of the upper left corner reach the square line.
The Glorious Stone is the only book illustrated by Rembrandt. The artist made four prints for this work by Samuel Manasés ben Israel, whose full title is Glorious Stone or the statue of Nebuchadnesar, with many different authorities of the Sacred Scripture and ancient sages . They were recorded on the same plate, which was divided into four pieces almost immediately after its conclusion. The author stamped some isolated tests of the complete sheet, which were mostly cut afterwards. Rabbi Manasse ben Israel (1604-1657) was a writer and friend of Rembrandt, who portrayed him in 1636. In his book he evokes the interpretation of the dream of Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon from 625 to 602 BC, by the prophet Daniel, exiled in his domains and admitted in court. The reign of this monarch marked the apogee of the Neo-Babylonian empire.
The representation of the statue of Nebuchadnezzar alludes to the colossus with the feet of clay. Daniel comments:
" You, O king, were looking, and here is a large statue ... The head of such a statue was of fine gold, his chest and arms were silver, his belly and His loins were of bronze, his thighs were of iron, and his feet were part of iron and part of clay, He was watching, until a stone was broken off without any hand intervening, and he wounded the statue on its feet of iron and clay. and pulverized them, and then they pulverized iron, clay, bronze, silver, and gold ... You are the head of gold, after you will rise another empire inferior to yours, and then a third a bronze empire that will rule the whole earth, then a fourth empire, strong as iron, that will pulverize and destroy all things, and what you saw, that their feet and fingers were partly of potter's clay and in part of iron, it indicates that the kingdom will be divided [...], a portion of the empire will be strong and part of it will be brittle. [...] And in the days of these kings will raise the God of heaven a kingdom that will never be destroyed [...]. As you saw that from the mountain a stone was broken without intervening any hand and pulverized iron, bronze, clay, silver and gold, the great God has made known to the monarch what will happen in the future. "
( Daniel 2, 31-46)
Manasseh analyzes the prophecies of Daniel in favor of the Jewish people and the coming advent of the Messiah:" It is incontrovertible that the statue of Nebuchadnezzar is the symbol of the four greatest monarchies [...]: Babylonians, Persians, Greeks and Romans [ie, a kingdom of gold, silver, bronze and iron]. The stone is the Messiah, and it will come out of a great mountain without being thrown by the hand of man [...]. And in the same way, the Messiah will also destroy all the other monarchies with his temporal and earthly empire. [...] This is how the Messiah and the people of Israel, gathered in this last monarchy, will be the temporal, earthly and eternal lords of the universe, according to the infallible interpretation of Daniel. "The Book of Daniel has been the subject of considerable interpretation by theologians, and
two other illustrations have biblical sources: Jacob's scale exemplifies the degrees of virtue that must be overcome and appears in Jacob's story. This one, fleeing from the anger of his brother, travels to Mesopotamia.On the way, "he took one of the stones of the place, placed it by head and lay down in that place. Then he had a dream: it was a ladder that rested on the earth and whose top reached heaven, and behold, the angels of God ascended and descended through it. Yahweh was standing on top [of the scale] . "( Genesis 28, 10-13) The episode of David and Goliath is well known, David is victorious in the fight against the Philistine, a giant, throwing a stone with a simple sling David has been interpreted as a prefiguration of the Messiah, and his triumph as that of Jesus over Satan (I Samuel 17, 31-52)
Finally, the last image illustrates Daniel's vision, the prophet sees emerge from the sea " four huge beasts ", a lion, a bear, a griffin and a hydra with ten horns, incarnations of the four empires that will precede the establishment of the kingdom of the saints Daniel is also considered a prefiguration of the Messiah The three stones evoked successively they might be one and the same rock that symbolizes Jesus Christ.
The representation of the statue of Nebuchadnezzar alludes to the colossus with the feet of clay. Daniel comments:
" You, O king, were looking, and here is a large statue ... The head of such a statue was of fine gold, his chest and arms were silver, his belly and His loins were of bronze, his thighs were of iron, and his feet were part of iron and part of clay, He was watching, until a stone was broken off without any hand intervening, and he wounded the statue on its feet of iron and clay. and pulverized them, and then they pulverized iron, clay, bronze, silver, and gold ... You are the head of gold, after you will rise another empire inferior to yours, and then a third a bronze empire that will rule the whole earth, then a fourth empire, strong as iron, that will pulverize and destroy all things, and what you saw, that their feet and fingers were partly of potter's clay and in part of iron, it indicates that the kingdom will be divided [...], a portion of the empire will be strong and part of it will be brittle. [...] And in the days of these kings will raise the God of heaven a kingdom that will never be destroyed [...]. As you saw that from the mountain a stone was broken without intervening any hand and pulverized iron, bronze, clay, silver and gold, the great God has made known to the monarch what will happen in the future. "
( Daniel 2, 31-46)
Manasseh analyzes the prophecies of Daniel in favor of the Jewish people and the coming advent of the Messiah:" It is incontrovertible that the statue of Nebuchadnezzar is the symbol of the four greatest monarchies [...]: Babylonians, Persians, Greeks and Romans [ie, a kingdom of gold, silver, bronze and iron]. The stone is the Messiah, and it will come out of a great mountain without being thrown by the hand of man [...]. And in the same way, the Messiah will also destroy all the other monarchies with his temporal and earthly empire. [...] This is how the Messiah and the people of Israel, gathered in this last monarchy, will be the temporal, earthly and eternal lords of the universe, according to the infallible interpretation of Daniel. "The Book of Daniel has been the subject of considerable interpretation by theologians, and
two other illustrations have biblical sources: Jacob's scale exemplifies the degrees of virtue that must be overcome and appears in Jacob's story. This one, fleeing from the anger of his brother, travels to Mesopotamia.On the way, "he took one of the stones of the place, placed it by head and lay down in that place. Then he had a dream: it was a ladder that rested on the earth and whose top reached heaven, and behold, the angels of God ascended and descended through it. Yahweh was standing on top [of the scale] . "( Genesis 28, 10-13) The episode of David and Goliath is well known, David is victorious in the fight against the Philistine, a giant, throwing a stone with a simple sling David has been interpreted as a prefiguration of the Messiah, and his triumph as that of Jesus over Satan (I Samuel 17, 31-52)
Finally, the last image illustrates Daniel's vision, the prophet sees emerge from the sea " four huge beasts ", a lion, a bear, a griffin and a hydra with ten horns, incarnations of the four empires that will precede the establishment of the kingdom of the saints Daniel is also considered a prefiguration of the Messiah The three stones evoked successively they might be one and the same rock that symbolizes Jesus Christ.
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