Rape of Proserpina

Catalogue number: Bredius 463.

The Rape of Proserpina is one of Rembrandt's most exquisite earlier works. Although on wood, it looks as if it had been painted on copper, qualifying it for the highly prized category of "cabinet painting" - picture that fulfills the requisite innate preciousness demanded by the most conservative collectors. But this panel of mythological subject goes far beyond technical virtuosity and commercial value: it conveys a special sense of experience in intensely capsulated, intimate fashion.