About the Work
The light breaks into the scene from the right through three trees and seems to be pushing the gloomy thunderstorm back. A wide Dutch landscape bathes in the sunshine, inspired by observations and studies of nature but wholly an invention by the artist. Upon closer inspection it proves to be richly enlivened with animals and people pursuing a wide range of activities, for example the small draughtsman on the knoll at the right or the amorous couple hiding in the bushes beneath him. In this carefully and thoroughly worked etching, the magnum opus among the printed landscapes of the 1640s, Rembrandt composed an image of Creation that is at once grandiose and natural, festive and simple.