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The Shell (Conus Marmoreus)
1650
Artwork Viewer
Not on view
In March 1637 Rembrandt spent a lavish sum of eleven guilders to acquire at auction a single conch for his cabinet of curiosities. Similarly, his bankruptcy inventory includes references to a large number of shells and coral branches. Visual evidence of this collection within his artistic output is limited to this depiction of a marbled cone from the Indo-Pacific region. A rarity among rarities, it is his only etched still life, and survives in relatively few impressions.
- Artist
- Rembrandt van Rijn
- Title
- The Shell (Conus Marmoreus)
- Date
- 1650
- Object Type
- Medium
- Etching, drypoint and engraving
- Dimensions
- 4 7/16 x 5 3/4 in. (11.3 x 14.6 cm) Plate Mark: 3 13/16 x 5 3/16 in. (9.7 x 13.2 cm)
- Credit Line
- Museum purchase, gift of Dr. T. Edward and Tullah Hanley by exchange, Achenbach Foundation for Graphic Arts Endowment Fund and Anonymous Bequest
- Accession Number
- 1997.42
