Voorstudie in gips voor Rembrandt-penning 1906

This plaster study for a Rembrandt medal was made by Johan Melchior Faddegon sometime between the late 19th and early 20th century. It’s all in the making, right? The incised letters and figures, cut into the smooth, white plaster, seem to emerge from the material itself, like a drawing coming out of nothing. The surface has a tactile quality, like you could run your fingers over the raised letters and feel the cool plaster dust on your skin. The figure has a flowing, almost ethereal quality. The drapery is rendered with subtle gradations of light and shadow, giving it a sense of movement and depth. Her hand holding the lamp seems to hover in space, fragile and weightless. The plaster itself seems so soft, like it could be molded and shaped with the slightest touch. You might think of Rodin and his studies in plaster. He understood that sometimes the sketch, the study, could hold more energy than the final version. It’s this process of trying things out, making mistakes, and finding new ways of seeing that really makes art so alive.