This print is called Hundred Gilder Print because of the unusually large sum of one hundred gilders paid at the time for one copy on sale. The subject matter combines various stories narrated in Chapter 19 of the Gospel of Matthew. Jesus as the central figure is placed left of the centre, with the poor and sick healed by Jesus portrayed in the right foreground (Matthew 19:2). In the sheet’s upper left, Pharisees wearing their typical caps are seen attempting to prove Jesus’s breach of Sabbath (Matthew 12:3−12), while women with children shown in the foreground refer to Jesus’s blessing of the children (Matthew 12:13–15). Allusions to Christ’s words on the purity of poverty are seen in small details, including the virtually indistinct figure of a camel standing to the very right in the dark arcade (“Verily I say unto you, that a rich man shall hardly enter into the kingdom of heaven. And again I say unto you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God.” (Matthew 19: 23–24). Rembrandt probably re−worked the plate over a number of years, completing it most likely in 1649. The work itself tends to be regarded as a manifesto of the artist’s graphic style and the techniques he used – engraving and etching, combined with drypoint. He also experimented here with the use of different kinds of paper in order to enhance the qualities of the printing techniques and to individualize the various impressions.
