Jacob's Ladder

Jacob’s Ladder is a profound print created by Rembrandt van Rijn in 1655, capturing the climactic moment of Jacob’s dream from the Book of Genesis. Executed primarily in etching, burin, and drypoint, the work exemplifies Rijn’s technical virtuosity in handling intaglio media during the Dutch Golden Age.

This particular technique required the artist to manipulate multiple tools to achieve a complex range of textures and shadows. The precise lines of the etching needle establish the foundational forms, while the burin provides stronger, deliberate contours for the figures. Most critically, Rijn employed drypoint, scratching directly into the copper plate, resulting in a rich, velvety burr that holds extra ink. This effect is used here to create the deep, atmospheric shadows surrounding the sleeping patriarch and to emphasize the blinding light emanating from the celestial vision above him.

Created between 1651 to 1700, this piece reflects the high value placed on biblical subjects in 17th-century Dutch art. Rijn focused on the intimate, spiritual experience of Jacob, presenting the encounter not as a grand historical spectacle but as a deeply personal epiphany. The composition is structured by the diagonal thrust of the ladder, suggesting a connection between the terrestrial and the divine, while the angels ascending and descending provide a sense of dynamic movement within the darkness.

As one of the significant prints of Rijn’s late career, the work resides in the collection of the National Gallery of Art, Washington D.C., where it serves as a cornerstone example of the artist's expressive use of chiaroscuro in graphic arts. Today, high-resolution files of this masterwork are frequently available through museum repositories, entering the public domain due to the age of the original plates, allowing students and enthusiasts worldwide to study these seminal prints.