(Posted September 20, 2004)

HUNTINGDON, Pa. -- The incredible draftsmanship of Rembrandt van Rijn will be on display at the Juniata College Museum of Art in the new exhibit "Rembrandt: The Consummate Etcher and Other 17th Century Printmakers" which opens Friday, Sept. 24 and runs through Oct. 30.

There will be an opening reception at 5 p.m., Friday, Sept. 24 at the museum. The exhibit and reception is free and open to the public.

The exhibit is part of a traveling exhibit from the Syracuse University Art Collection.

The exhibit displays about 40 works, which includes etchings and engravings, by Rembrandt van Rijn and more than a dozen other artists. The exhibit includes landscapes, portraits and devotional subjects, mostly executed by artists depicting scenes and the people of northern Europe.

Etching and engraving were the most common forms of printmaking in the 17th century and served as a way to popularize the work of painters. Many artists hired etchers to reproduce their work, but Rembrandt produced etched works that stand alone as works of art. Art historians credit Rembrandt with popularizing etching as an artistic medium.

Rembrandt produced about 290 etchings during his lifetime.

Some of the other artists in the exhibit include Jan Lutma II, whose portrait of his father is compared to a Rembrandt portrait of the senior Lutma, and Claude Mellan, a French engraver. Mellan's work "The Napkin of St. Veronica," depicts the face of Jesus drawn in an unbroken spiral.

The Juniata College Museum of Art is located in historic Carnegie Hall at 17th and Moore streets in Huntingdon. Museum hours are Monday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., and Saturday, noon to 4 p.m. For more information, please call the museum at (814) 641-3505, or visit the Juniata College Web site at http://www.juniata.edu/museum.

Contact April Feagley at feaglea@juniata.edu or (814) 641-3131 for more information.