St Francis Kneeling in Prayer beneath a Tree

In depicting Francis, Rembrandt did not choose the traditional moment when the saint receives the ‘stigmata’, the wounds of Christ, but rather represented the saint praying right before this extraordinary event.This is an unfinished proof impression executed in drypoint. Only five impressions of this state are known, all on unusual oriental types of paper or costly vellum. This impression is printed on warm yellow Japanese paper.