Press Release

Rembrandt Comes to Oglethorpe University

ATLANTA – The Oglethorpe University Museum of Art is proud to present Sordid and Sacred: The Beggars in Rembrandt’s Etchings, selections from the John Villarino collection Tuesday, February 13 through May 13. This exhibition celebrates the end of the anniversary year of Rembrandt's 400th birthday. The opening reception will be held Sunday, February 11 from 4:00 until 6:00 p.m. in the Skylight Gallery. The reception is free and open to the public.

The exhibition features 35 rare etchings by Rembrandt executed between 1629 and 1654. Widely recognized as the greatest practitioner of the etching technique in the history of art, Rembrandt repeatedly chose beggars as the subject for his etchings. He also included biblical figures portrayed as beggars. These images “… show how essential Rembrandt's etchings of beggars were in his formative years as an artist. The way he imagined the beggar is inextricable from the way he imagined himself, the way he imagined Christ, the way he conceived of imagery itself, ” said Gary Schwartz, Dutch author, art historian and editor of “The Complete Etchings of Rembrandt” (Dover Publications, NY, 1994).

The museum will be open Tuesday through Sunday from noon to 5:00 p.m. Guided tours are offered Sundays at 2:00 p.m. Free and ample parking is available. Admission: $5 per person; museum members, children under 12 and the Oglethorpe community are free. For more information please visit www.oglethorpe.edu (keyword: museum) or call 404.364.8555.