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Artistic Splendor: Significant Works from the Thrivent Art Collection,

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Sculpture by late renowned artist Richard Hunt featured outside Thrivent's downtown Minneapolis office.
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Original copper plate worked with etching, burin, and drypoint, inked and lacquered
Etching, engraving and drypoint

Rembrandt van Rijn
Dutch, 1606-1669
The Angel Appearing to the Shepherds, 1634
Original copper plate worked with etching, burin, and drypoint, inked and lacquered (left)
Etching, engraving, and drypoint (right)

Unafraid to experiment and innovate, Rembrandt van Rijn advanced the etching medium like no artist before or since. His complex combination of etching, engraving, and drypoint in this work creates extraordinary variations in light and tone: the radiantly lit angel, cherubs, and shepherds are divided by the dark ravine, separating heaven and earth. His remarkable gift for capturing human emotion is on full display. Terrified shepherds and animals scatter at the shocking spectacle, displaying relatable humanity.

Rembrandt is widely considered the greatest etcher in the history of the medium. His prints set new standards of technical capacity, aesthetics, and expressiveness. The Angel Appearing to the Shepherds is ambitious in size and technique. The original copper plate is one of 81 surviving Rembrandt plates. Holding both a copper plate and an impression from it within the Thrivent Art Collection is educationally and historically noteworthy.

Original copper plate worked with etching, burin, and drypoint, inked and lacquered
Etching, engraving and drypoint

Rembrandt van Rijn

Dutch, 1606-1669

The Angel Appearing to the Shepherds, 1634

Original copper plate worked with etching, burin, and drypoint, inked and lacquered (left)

Etching, engraving, and drypoint (right)

Unafraid to experiment and innovate, Rembrandt van Rijn advanced the etching medium like no artist before or since. His complex combination of etching, engraving, and drypoint in this work creates extraordinary variations in light and tone: the radiantly lit angel, cherubs, and shepherds are divided by the dark ravine, separating heaven and earth. His remarkable gift for capturing human emotion is on full display. Terrified shepherds and animals scatter at the shocking spectacle, displaying relatable humanity.

Rembrandt is widely considered the greatest etcher in the history of the medium. His prints set new standards of technical capacity, aesthetics, and expressiveness. The Angel Appearing to the Shepherds is ambitious in size and technique. The original copper plate is one of 81 surviving Rembrandt plates. Holding both a copper plate and an impression from it within the Thrivent Art Collection is educationally and historically noteworthy.