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REMBRANDT AND HIS WORKS:
Comprising a Short Account of His Life;
with a Critical Examination into His Principles and Practice
of Design, Light, Shade, and Colour.
Illustrated by Examples from the Etchings of Rembrandt.
by
JOHN BURNET, F.R.S.
Author of "Practical Hints on Painting."
[Illustration: HEAD OF REMBRANDT]
London:
David Bogue, 86, Fleet Street.
MDCCCXLIX.
TO
THE EARL OF ELLESMERE,
THE ENLIGHTENED PATRON OF ART AND LITERATURE,
THIS WORK
IS MOST RESPECTFULLY INSCRIBED,
BY HIS OBLIGED, HUMBLE SERVANT,
JOHN BURNET.
PREFACE.
The high estimation in which I have ever held the works of Rembrandt
has been greatly increased by my going through this examination of his
various excellencies, and such will ever be the case when the emanations
of genius are investigated; like the lustre of precious stones, their
luminous colour shines from the centre, not from the surface. With such
a mine of rich ore as the works of Rembrandt contain, it is necessary
to apologise for the paucity of examples offered, for in a work of this
kind I have been obliged to confine myself to a certain brevity and
a limited number of illustrations; still I must do my publisher the
justice to say, he has not grudged any expense that would be the means
of doing credit to the great artist, the enlightened patron, or my
own reputation. Another circumstance has been elicited in preparing
this work for publication--the great interest that all have shown in
this humble attempt to make Rembrandt and his works more generally
appreciated. His genius and productions seem to be congenial to the
English taste. As a colourist he will ultimately lay the foundation of
the British School of Painting, and prove the justice of Du Fresnoy's
lines--
"He who colours well must colour bright;
Think not that praise to gain by sickly white."
Had it been possible, I would have given some examples of his colour as
well as of his chiaro-scuro; but I found his great charm consists more
in the tone of his colouring than its arrangement. I have mentioned in
the body of the work that Sir Joshua, certainly the greatest master of
colour we have yet had in England, frequently speaks ambiguously of many
of Rembrandt's pictures. I am therefore bound to quote a remark that he
makes to his praise. In his Memoranda he says--"I considered myself as
playing a great game; and instead of beginning to save money, I laid it
out faster than I got it, in purchasing the best examples of art that
could be procured, for I even borrowed money for this purpose. The
possession of pictures by Titian, Vandyke, Rembrandt, &c., I considered
as the best kind of wealth."
With these remarks I must now launch the result of my labours, having
had constantly in mind that feeling which an advocate has in a good
cause, not to expect, by all his exertions, to increase the reputation
of his client, but an anxiety not to damage it by his weakness. Before
concluding I must again revert to the interest that all my friends
have taken in the success of this publication; and though it may
appear invidious to particularise any, I cannot omit mention of that
enthusiastic admirer of Rembrandt, my young friend Mr. E. W. Cooke;
the Messrs. Smith, of Lisle-street, the connoisseurs and extensive
dealers in his Etchings; Mr. Carpenter, the keeper of the prints in
the British Museum; and, lastly, my young literary friend, Mr. Peter
Cunningham, who has, from the beginning, entered heartily into the
cause of "Rembrandt and his Works."
BROMPTON, November 4th, 1848.
ILLUSTRATIONS.
1. HEAD OF REMBRANDT _Facing Title-page._
2. INTERIOR OF THE MILL OF REMBRANDT'S FATHER _page_ 2
3. EXTERIOR OF THE SAME 2
4. REMBRANDT'S HOUSE AT AMSTERDAM 6
5. FAC-SIMILE OF A LETTER OF REMBRANDT'S 14
6. CHRIST AND HIS DISCIPLES AT EMMAUS 24
7. THE ENTOMBMENT 26
8. THE RETURN FROM JERUSALEM 26
9. THE NATIVITY 32
10. DOCTOR FAUSTUS 38
11. BURGOMASTER SIX 40
12. PORTRAIT OF VAN TOLLING 44
13. SIX'S BRIDGE 46
14. REMBRANDT'S MILL 48
15. FAC-SIMILE OF A DRAWING BY REMBRANDT IN BRITISH MUSEUM 72
16. PORTRAIT OF REMBRANDT'S MOTHER 74
17. PORTRAITS OF REMBRANDT AND HIS WIFE 74
18. VIEW OF AMSTERDAM 80
19. COTTAGE WITH WHITE PALINGS 80
REMBRANDT.
In commencing an account of the life of Rembrandt Van Rhyn and his
works, I feel both a pleasure and a certain degree of confidence, as,
from my first using a pencil, his pictures have been my delight and
gratification, which have continued to increase through a long life of
investigation. Though I cannot expect to enhance the high estimation
in which Rembrandt is held by all persons competent to appreciate his
extraordinary powers, nevertheless, the publication of the results of
my study may tend to spread a knowledge of his principles and practice,
which may be advantageous to similar branches in other schools; for,
notwithstanding that his style is in the greatest degree original and
peculiar to himself, yet it is founded upon those effects existing in
nature which are to be discovered, more or less, in the works of all the
great masters of colouring and chiaro-scuro. Of his early life little
is known; for, unless cradled in the higher circles of society, the
early lives of eminent men frequently remain shrouded in obscurity.
The development of their genius alone draws attention to their history,
which is generally progressive; hence a retrospective view is ambiguous.
Little is known either of Rembrandt's birth or the place of his death;
what is known has already been related, from Houbraken to Bryan, and
from Bryan to Nieuwenhuys, and anecdotes have accumulated, for something
new must be said. It is, however, fortunate that in searching into
the source from which this extraordinary artist drew his knowledge,
we have only to look into the great book of Nature, which existed at
the time of Apelles and Raffaelle; and, notwithstanding the diversity of
styles adopted by all succeeding painters, beauties and peculiarities
are still left sufficient to establish the highest reputation for any
one who has the genius to perceive them, and the industry to make them
apparent. This was the cause of Rembrandt's captivating excellence;
neither a combination of Coreggio and Titian, nor of Murillo and
Velasquez, but as if all the great principles of chiaro-scuro and colour
were steeped and harmonized in the softening shades of twilight; and
this we perceive in nature, producing the most soothing and bewitching
results. These digressions may, however, come more properly into notice
when Rembrandt's principles of colour come under review.
Rembrandt Van Rhyn, the subject of this memoir, was born in the year
1606, between Leydendorp and Koukerk, in the neighbourhood of Leyden, on
the Rhyn, but certainly not in a mill, as there is no habitable dwelling
in the one now known as his father's. My excellent young friend, Mr. E.
W. Cooke, whose works breathe the true spirit of the best of the Dutch
school, in a letter upon this subject, says--
"MY DEAR SIR,
"I send you another sketch of the mill; the picture, including the
doorzigte, or view out of the window, I painted on the spot, and
that picture is now in the possession of the King of Holland, having
taken it back with me to show him. The mill was a magazine for powder
during the Spanish invasion; it was soon after converted into a corn
mill, and was in the possession of Hernan Geritz Van Rhyn when his
son Rembrandt was born; it is situated at Koukerk, on the old Rhyn,
near Leyden. I hope you will correct the vulgar error that Rembrandt
was born IN a mill. There are often dwelling houses attached to
water-mills, such as we have in England; but in Holland, not such a
structure as a water-mill, with water-power; the water-mills there
are only _draining mills_, such as we have in Lincolnshire, Norfolk,
&c. Surely the noise and movement of a windmill would ill accord with
the confinement of any lady, especially the mother of so glorious a
fellow as _Rembrandt_. For the honour of such association I hope you
will not omit my name in the work, for I painted three pictures of
that precious relic.
"Yours, &c.
"E. W. COOKE."
[Illustration: INTERIOR OF THE MILL OF REMBRANDT'S FATHER]
[Illustration: EXTERIOR OF THE SAME]
The mill now known as the one possessed by Rembrandt's father is built
of stone, with an inscription, and "_Rembrandt_," in gold letters, over
the door. The one etched by his eminent son is a wooden structure, which
must have long since fallen into decay. As they are both interesting,
from association of ideas, I have given etchings of them.
The mother of Rembrandt was Neeltje Willems Van Zuitbroek, whose
portrait he has etched. As he was an only child, his parents were
anxious to give him a good education, and therefore sent him to the
Latin school at Leyden, in order to bring him up to the profession of
the law; but, like our own inimitable Shakspere, he picked up "small
Latin and less Greek." Having shown an early inclination for painting,
they placed him under the tuition of Jacob Van Zwaanenburg, a painter
unmentioned by any biographer; he afterwards entered the studio of Peter
Lastman, and finally received instruction from Jacob Pinas. The two
last had visited Rome, but, notwithstanding, could have given little
instruction to Rembrandt, as their works show no proof of their having
studied the Italian school to much purpose. After receiving a knowledge
of a few rules, such as they could communicate, he returned home, and
commenced painting from nature, when he laid the foundation of a style
in art unapproached either before his time or since. In 1627 he is said,
by Houbraken, to have visited the Hague, when, by the price he received
for one of his pictures, he discovered his value as an artist. The
neighbourhood of the Rhine was now given up for the city of Amsterdam,
where he set up his easel in the year 1628, under the patronage of the
Burgomaster Six, and other wealthy admirers of the fine arts.
Rembrandt's first works, like all the early works of eminent artists,
were carefully finished; the work that raised him to the greatest
notice, in the first instance, is Professor Tulpius giving an Anatomical
Lecture on a dead Body,[1] and is dated 1632. Reynolds, in his Tour
through Flanders, speaking of this picture, says:--"The Professor
Tulpius dissecting a corpse which lies on the table, by Rembrandt. To
avoid making it an object disagreeable to look at, the figure is just
cut at the wrist. There are seven other portraits, coloured like nature
itself; fresh, and highly finished. One of the figures behind has a
paper in his hand, on which are written the names of the rest. Rembrandt
has also added his own name, with the date 1632. The dead body is
perfectly well drawn, (a little foreshortened,) and seems to have been
just washed; nothing can be more truly the colour of dead flesh. The
legs and feet, which are nearest the eye, are in shadow; the principal
light, which is on the body, is by that means preserved of a compact
form; all these figures are dressed in black." He further adds--"Above
stairs is another Rembrandt, of the same kind of subject: Professor
Nieman, standing by a dead body, which is so much foreshortened that the
hands and feet almost touch each other; the dead man lies on his back,
with his feet towards the spectator. There is something sublime in the
character of the head, which reminds one of Michael Angelo; the whole is
finely painted,--the colouring much like Titian."
Simeon in the Temple, in the Museum of the Hague, painted in 1631, is in
his first manner; as are The Salutation, in the Gallery of the Marquis
of Westminster, painted in 1640; and The Woman taken in Adultery, in the
National Gallery, painted in 1644, all on panel, and finished with the
care and minuteness of Gerhard Dow. His most successful career may be
taken from 1630 to 1656. About the year 1645 he married Miss Saskia Van
Uylenburg, by whom he had an only son, named Titus, the inheritor of the
little wealth left after his father's embarrassments, but, though bred
to the arts, inheriting little of his father's genius. In what part of
Amsterdam he resided at this time we have no record, nor is the house
now shown as Rembrandt's, and which was the subject of a mortgage,
sufficiently authenticated to prove its identity; he may have lived in
it, but it could not at any time have been sufficiently capacious to
contain all the effects given in the catalogue extracted from the
register by Mr. Nieuwenhuys.
The late Sir David Wilkie, in a letter to his sister, says:--"At the
Hague we were delayed with rain, which continued nearly the whole of our
way through Leyden, Haarlem, and Amsterdam. Wherever we went, our great
subject of interest was seeing the native places of the great Dutch
painters, and the models and materials which they have immortalized.
At Amsterdam we sallied forth in the evening, in search of the house
of Rembrandt; it is in what is now the Jews' quarter, and is, in short,
a Jew's old china shop; it is well built, four stories high, but it
greatly disappointed me. The shop is high in the ceiling, but all the
other rooms are low and little, and, compared with the houses of Titian
at Venice, of Claude at Rome, and of Rubens at Antwerp, is quite
unworthy the house of the great master of the school of Holland. Even if
stuffed, as it is now, with every description of the pottery of Canton,
it could not have held even a sixth part of the inventory Nieuwenhuys
found, as the distrained effects of Rembrandt, and the only solution is,
that he may have once lived there; but as his will, still extant, is
dated in another street, and as several of the pictures he painted could
not be contained in the rooms we were in, we must conclude that, like
the shell which encloses the caterpillar, it was only a temporary abode
for the winged genius to whom art owes so much of its brilliancy."
As the place of his residence is veiled in obscurity, so is the place of
his demise, which is supposed to have taken place in 1664, as Mr. Smith,
in a note to his Life of Rembrandt, says--"that no picture is recorded
bearing a later date than 1664, and the balance of his property was paid
over to his son in 1665."
Mr. Woodburn, in a Catalogue of his Drawings, says:--"It is uncertain
what became of him after his bankruptcy, or where he died; a search has
been made among the burials at Amsterdam, until the year 1674, but his
name does not occur; probably Baldinucci is correct in stating that he
died at Stockholm, in 1670;" others have mentioned Hull, and some give
a credence to his having fled to Yarmouth, during his troubles, and
mention two pictures, a lawyer and his wife, said to have been painted
there; they are whole lengths, and certainly in his later manner, but
I could not gather any authentic account to build conjecture upon, as
the intercourse between Amsterdam and Yarmouth has been kept up from
olden time, and a Dutch fair held every three years on the shore. The
ancestors of the family in whose possession they still are, may have
visited Holland; but, amongst such conflicting opinions, it is useless
to attempt elucidation of the truth of this. We may rest certain that
his works will be appreciated in proportion as a knowledge of their
excellence is extended.
[Illustration: REMBRANDT'S HOUSE AT AMSTERDAM]
[Sidenote: _Extract from the Book of Sureties of Real Estates remaining
at the Secretary's Office of the City of Amsterdam, fol. 89, &c._]
LEGAL RECEIPT AND DISCHARGE, GIVEN BY TITUS VAN RYN, FOR THE BALANCE OF
THE ESTATE OF HIS FATHER, REMBRANDT VAN RYN.
Good for Gls. 6952--9.
the 29.7bre--Willem Muilm.
I the undersigned acknowledge to have
received of the said Commissaries
the undermentioned six thousand nine
hundred and fifty-two Guldens nine
Stuivers, the 5th November, 1665.
Received the contents, TITUS VAN RYN.
Before the undersigned Magistrates appeared Titus Van Ryn,
the only surviving son of Rembrandt Van Ryn and of Saskia
Van Uylenburg (having obtained his veniam aetatis), as
principal,--Abraham Fransz, merchant, living in the Angelier
Straat, and Bartholomeus Van Benningen, woollen-draper, in
the Liesdel, as guarantees. And jointly, and each of them
separately, promised to re-deliver into the hands of the
Commissaries of the Insolvent Estates, when called upon,
the said six thousand nine hundred fifty-two Guldens and
nine Stuivers, which the said Titus Van Ryn shall receive
of and from the before-mentioned Commissaries, the money
arising from the house and ground in the Anthonis bree
Straat, A. 1658, which was sold under execution, and from
the personal estate of Saskia Van Uylenburg and Rembrandt
Van Ryn aforesaid; hereby binding all their goods, moveables,
and immoveables, present and future, in order to recover the
said sum and costs. Therefore the before-mentioned principal
promised to indemnify his said sureties under a similar
obligation as above written.--Actum, the 9th September, 1665.
A. J. J. HINLOPEN AND ARNOUT HOOFT.
H. V. BRONCHORST.
2207: a 3:3 6952:1
(Stamp) 8
________
6952 9
_The following Catalogue is extracted from the Register L R. fol. 29
to 39 inclusive, of the Inventory of the Effects of_ REMBRANDT VAN RHYN,
_deposited in the Office of the Administration of Insolvent Estates at
Amsterdam, Anno 1656._
PICTURES, &c.
IN THE ENTRANCE HALL.
A Picture, representing The Gingerbread
Baker By _Brauwer_.
A ditto, The Gamblers _Ditto_.
A ditto, A Woman and Child _Rembrandt_.
A ditto, The Interior of an Artist's Painting Room _Brauwer_.
A ditto, The Interior of a Kitchen _Ditto_.
A Statue of a Woman, in plaster.
Two Children, in plaster.
A Sleeping Child, in plaster.
A Landscape By _Rembrandt_.
A ditto _Ditto_.
A Woman represented standing _Ditto_.
A Christmas Night Piece _Jean Lievensz_.
St. Jerome _Rembrandt_.
Dead Hares, a small picture _Ditto_.
A small picture of a Pig _Ditto_.
A small Landscape _Hercules Segers_.
A Landscape _Jean Lievensz_.
A ditto _Ditto_.
A ditto _Rembrandt_.
A Combat of Lions _Ditto_.
A Landscape, by moonlight _Jean Lievensz_.
A Head _Rembrandt_.
A ditto _Ditto_.
A picture of Still Life, objects retouched _Ditto_.
A Soldier, clad in armour By _Rembrandt_.
A Skull, and other objects, styled a Vanitas,
retouched _Ditto_.
A ditto, ditto, retouched _Ditto_.
A Sea Piece _Hendrick Antonisz_.
Four Spanish Chairs, covered with leather.
Two ditto, ditto in black.
A Plank of Wood.
IN THE FRONT PARLOUR.
A small picture of the Samaritan, retouched By _Rembrandt_.
The Rich Man _Palma Vecchio_.
(The half of this picture belongs to _Peter
de la Tombe_).
A View of the Back of a House By _Rembrandt_.
Two Sporting Dogs, done after nature _Ditto_.
The Descent from the Cross, a large picture,
in a gilt frame _Ditto_.
The Raising of Lazarus _Ditto_.
A Courtesan Dressing _Ditto_.
A Woody Scene _Hercules Segers_.
Tobias, &c. _Lastman_.
The Raising of Lazarus _Jean Lievensz_.
A Landscape, representing a mountainous country _Rembrandt_.
A small Landscape By _Govert Jansz_.
Two Heads _Rembrandt_.
A Picture, _en grisaille_ _Jean Lievensz_.
A ditto, _ditto_ _Parcelles_.
A Head _Rembrandt_.
A ditto _Brauwer_.
A View of the Dutch Coast _Parcelles_.
A ditto of the same, smaller _Ditto_.
A Hermit _Jean Lievensz_.
Two Small Heads _Lucas Van
Valkenburg_.
A Camp on Fire _The elder Rassan_.
A Quack Doctor _After Brauwer_.
Two Heads By _Jan Pinas_.
A perspective View _Lucas Van Leyden_.
A Priest _Jean Lievensz_.
A Model _Rembrandt_.
A Flock of Sheep _Ditto_.
A Drawing _Ditto_.
The Flagellation of our Lord _Ditto_.
A Picture, done _en grisaille_ _Parcelles_.
A ditto, ditto _Simon de Vlieger_.
A small Landscape _Rembrandt_.
A Head of a Woman, after Nature _Ditto_.
A Head _Rafaelle Urbino_.
A View of Buildings, after Nature _Rembrandt_.
A Landscape, after Nature _Ditto_.
A View of Buildings _Hercules Segers_.
The Goddess Juno _Jacob Pinas_.
A Looking Glass, in a black ebony frame.
An ebony Frame.
A Wine Cooler, in marble.
A Table of walnut tree, covered with a carpet.
Seven Spanish Chairs, with green velvet cushion.
BACK PARLOUR.
A Picture By _Pietro Testa_.
A Woman with a Child _Rembrandt_.
Christ on the Cross, a model _Ditto_.
A Naked Woman _Ditto_.
A Copy, after a picture _Annibal Caracci_.
Two Half Figures _Brauwer_.
A Copy, after a picture _Annibal Caracci_.
A Sea View _Parcelles_.
The Head of an Old Woman _Van Dyck_.
A Portrait of a deceased Person _Abraham Vink_.
The Resurrection _A. Van Leyden_.
A Sketch _Rembrandt_.
Two Heads, after Nature _Ditto_.
The Consecration of Solomon's Temple,
done _en grisaille_ _Ditto_.
The Circumcision, a copy After _Ditto_.
Two small Landscapes By _Hercules
Segers_.
A gilt Frame.
A small Oak Table.
Four Shades for engraving.
A Clothes Press.
Four old Chairs.
Four green Chair Cushions.
A Copper Kettle.
A Portmanteau.
THE SALOON.
A Woody Scene By _An Unknown
Master_.
An Old Man's Head _Rembrandt_.
A large Landscape _Hercules Segers_.
A Portrait of a Woman _Rembrandt_.
An Allegory of the Union of the Country _Ditto_.
This is probably the picture now in the Collection
of Samuel Rogers, Esq.
A View in a Village By _Govert Jansz_.
A Young Ox, after Nature _Rembrandt_.
The Samaritan Woman, a large picture, attributed
to _Giorgione_, the half of which belongs to
_Peter de la Tombe_.
Three antique Statues.
A Sketch of the Entombment By _Rembrandt_.
The Incredulity of St. Peter _Aertje Van
Leyden_.
The Resurrection of our Lord _Rembrandt_.
The Virgin Mary _Rafaelle Urbino_.
A Head of Christ _Rembrandt_.
A Winter Scene _Grimaer_.
The Crucifixion. Probably intended for _Novellari_ _Lely of
Novellaene_.
A Head of Christ _Rembrandt_.
A young Bull or Ox _Lastman_.
A Vanitas, retouched _Rembrandt_.
An Ecce Homo, _en grisaille_ _Ditto_.
Abraham Offering up his Son _Jean Lievensz_.
A Vanitas, retouched _Rembrandt_.
A Landscape, _en grisaille_ _Hercules Segers_.
An Evening Scene _Rembrandt_.
A large Looking Glass.
Six Chairs, with blue cushions.
An oak Table.
A Table Cloth.
A Napkin Press.
A Wardrobe, or Armoir.
A Bed and a Bolster.
Two Pillows.
Two Coverlids.
Blue Hangings of a Bed.
A Chair.
A Stove.
IN THE CABINET OF ARTS.
A pair of Globes.
A Box, containing minerals.
A small Architectural Column.
A Tin Pot.
The Figure of an Infant.
Two pieces of Indian Jadd.
A Japan or Chinese Cup.
A Bust of an Empress.
An Indian Powder Box.
A Bust of the Emperor Augustus.
An Indian Cup.
A Bust of the Emperor Tiberius.
An Indian Work-Box, for a lady.
A Bust of Caius.
A pair of Roman Leggins.
Two Porcelain Figures.
A Bust of Heraclitus.
Two Porcelain Figures.
A Bust of Nero.
Two Iron Helmets.
An Indian Helmet.
An ancient Helmet.
A Bust of a Roman Emperor.
A Negro, cast from Nature.
A Bust of Socrates.
A Bust of Homer.
A ditto of Aristotle.
An antique Head, done in brown.
A Faustina.
A Coat of Armour, and a Helmet.
A Bust of the Emperor Galba.
A ditto of the Emperor Otho.
A ditto of the Emperor Vitellius.
A ditto of the Emperor Vespasian.
A ditto of the Emperor Titus Vespasian.
A ditto of the Emperor Domitian.
A ditto of Silius Brutus.
Forty-seven specimens of Botany.
Twenty-three ditto of Land and Marine Animals.
A Hammock, and two Calabashes.
Eight various objects, in plaster, done from Nature.
ON THE LAST SHELF.
A quantity of Shells, Marine Plants, and sundry curious objects, in
plaster, done from Nature.
An antique Statue of Cupid.
A small Fuzil, and a Pistol.
A steel Shield, richly embossed with Figures, by Quintin Matsys, very
curious and rare.
An antique Powder-horn.
A ditto; Turkish.
A Box, containing Medals.
A Shield of curious workmanship.
Two Naked Figures.
A Cast from the face of Prince Maurice, taken after his death.
A Lion and a Bull, in plaster, after Nature.
A number of Walking Sticks.
A long Bow.
BOOKS ON ART.
A Book, containing Sketches by _Rembrandt_.
A ditto, containing Prints engraved in wood by _Lucas Van Leyden_.
A ditto ditto, by _Wael and others_.
A ditto, containing Etchings by _Baroccio and Vanni_.
A ditto, containing Prints after _Rafaelle Urbino_.
A gilt Model of a French Bed, by _Verhulst_.
A Book full of Engravings, many of which are double impressions, by
_Lucas Van Leyden_.
A ditto, containing a great number of Drawings by the best masters.
A ditto, containing a number of fine Drawings by _Andrea Mantegna_.
A ditto, containing Drawings by various masters, and some Prints.
A ditto, larger, full of Drawings and Prints.
A ditto, containing a number of Miniatures, Wood-cuts, and Copper-plate
Prints, of the various costumes of countries.
A Book, full of Prints by _Old Breughel_.
A ditto, containing Prints after _Rafaelle Urbino_.
A ditto, containing valuable Prints, after the same.
A ditto, full of Prints by _Tempesta_.
A ditto, containing Wood-cuts and Engravings by _Lucas Cranach_.
A ditto, containing Prints after the _Caracci_ and _Guido_, and
_Spagnoletti_.
A ditto, containing Engravings and Etchings by _Tempesta_.
A large Folio of ditto ditto, by _Ditto_.
A ditto ditto, various.
A Book, containing Prints by _Goltius_ and _Mueller_.
A ditto, containing Prints after _Rafaelle Urbino_, very fine
impressions.
A Book, containing Drawings by _Brauwer_.
A Folio, containing a great number of Prints after _Titian_.
A number of curious Jars and Venetian Glasses.
An old Book, containing a number of Sketches by _Rembrandt_.
A ditto ditto.
A large Folio of Sketches by _Rembrandt_.
An empty Folio.
A Backgammon Board.
An antique Chair.
A Book, containing Chinese Drawings in miniature.
A large Cluster of White Coral.
A Book full of Prints of Statues.
A ditto full of Prints, a complete work by _Heemskirk_.
A ditto, full of Sketches by _Rubens_, _Van Dyck_, and other masters.
A ditto, containing the Works of _Michael Angelo Buonarotti_.
Two small Baskets.
A Book, containing Prints of free Subjects, after _Rafaelle_, _Roest_,
_Annibal Caracci_, and _Giulio Romano_.
A ditto, full of Landscapes by the most distinguished masters.
A Book, containing Views of Buildings in Turkey, by _Melchoir Lowick_,
_Hendrick Van Helst_, and others; and also the Costumes of that Country.
An Indian Basket, containing various Engravings by _Rembrandt_,
_Hollar_, _Cocq_, and others.
A Book, bound in black leather, containing a selection of Etchings by
_Rembrandt_.
A paper Box, full of Prints by _Hupe Martin_, _Holbein_, _Hans Broemer_,
and _Israel Mentz_.
A Book, containing a complete set of Etchings by _Rembrandt_.
A Folio, containing Academical Drawings of Men and Women, by
_Rembrandt_.
A Book, containing Drawings of celebrated Buildings in Rome, and other
Views, by the best masters.
A Chinese Basket, full of various Ornaments.
A Folio.
A ditto.
A ditto, containing Landscapes after Nature by _Rembrandt_.
A Book, containing a selection of Proof Prints after _Rubens_ and
_Jacques Jordaens_.
A ditto, full of Drawings by _Miervelt_, _Titian_, and others.
A Chinese Basket.
A ditto ditto, containing Prints of Architectural Subjects.
A ditto, containing Drawings of various Animals from Nature by
_Rembrandt_.
A ditto, full of Prints after _Frans Floris_, _Bruitwael_, _Goltius_,
and _Abraham Bloemart_.
A quantity of Drawings from the Antique, by _Rembrandt_.
Five Books, in quarto, containing Drawings by _Rembrandt_.
A Book full of Prints of Architectural Views.
The Medea, a Tragedy, by _Jan Six_.
A quantity of Prints, by _Jacques Callot_.
A Book, bound in parchment, containing Drawings of Landscapes, after
Nature, by _Rembrandt_.
A ditto, full of Sketches of Figures by _Rembrandt_.
A ditto, various.
A small Box, with wood divisions.
A Book, containing Views drawn by _Rembrandt_.
A ditto, containing fine Sketches.
A ditto, containing Statues after Nature by _Rembrandt_.
A ditto, various.
A ditto, containing pen Sketches by _Peter Lastman_.
A ditto, containing Drawings in red chalk by _Ditto_.
A ditto, containing Sketches drawn with the pen by _Rembrandt_.
A ditto, various.
A ditto, ditto.
A Book, various.
A ditto, ditto.
A ditto, ditto.
A Folio of large Drawings of Views in the Tyrol, by _Roeland Savery_.
A ditto, full of Drawings by celebrated masters.
A Book, in quarto, containing Sketches by _Rembrandt_.
A Book of Wood-cuts of the proportions of the Human Figure, by _Albert
Durer_.
A Book, containing Engravings by _Jean Lievensz_ and _Ferdinand Bol_.
Several parcels of Sketches by _Rembrandt_ and others.
A quantity of Paper, of a large size.
A Box, containing Prints by _Van Vliet_, after Pictures by _Rembrandt_.
A Screen, covered with cloth.
A steel Gorget.
A Drawer, containing a Bird of Paradise, and six Forms of divers
patterns.
A German Book, containing Prints of Warriors.
A ditto, with Wood-cuts.
Flavius Josephus, in German, illustrated with Engravings by _Tobias
Kinderman_.
An ancient Bible.
A marble Inkstand.
A Cast, in Plaster, of Prince Maurice.
IN AN ANTI-CHAMBER OF THE ROOM OF ARTS.
St. Joseph By _Aertje Van
Leyden_.
Three Prints, in frames.
The Salutation.
A Landscape after Nature _Rembrandt_.
A Landscape _Hercules Segers._
The Descent from the Cross _Rembrandt_.
A Head after Nature.
A Skull Retouched by
_Rembrandt_.
A Model, in plaster, of the Bath of Diana By _Adam Van
Vianen_.
A Model from Nature _Rembrandt_.
A Picture of Three Puppies, after Nature _Titus Van Ryn_.
A ditto of a Book _Ditto_.
A Head of the Virgin _Ditto_.
The Flagellation A Copy after
_Rembrandt_.
A Landscape by Moonlight Retouched by
_Ditto_.
A Naked Woman, a Model from Nature By _Ditto_.
An unfinished Landscape from Nature _Ditto_.
A Horse painted from Nature By _Rembrandt_.
A small Picture _Young Hals_.
A Fish, after Nature.
A Model, in plaster, of a Bason, adorned with Figures, by _Adam Van
Vianen_.
An old Chest.
Four Chairs, with black leather seats.
A Table.
IN THE SMALL PAINTING ROOM.
Thirty-three pieces of Armour and Musical Instruments.
Sixty pieces of Indian Armour, and several Bows, Arrows, and Darts.
Thirteen bamboo Pipes, and several Flutes.
Thirteen objects, consisting of Bows, Arrows, Shields, &c.
A number of Heads and Hands, moulded from Nature, together with a Harp,
and a Turkish Bow.
Seventeen Hands and Arms, moulded from Nature.
Some Stag Horns.
Five ancient Casques.
Four long Bows, and cross Bows.
Nine Gourds and Bottles.
Two modelled Busts of Bartholt Been and his Wife.
A plaster Cast from a Grecian Antique.
A Bust of the Emperor Agrippa.
A ditto of the Emperor Aurelius.
A Head of Christ, of the size of Life.
A Head of a Satyr.
A Sibil--Antique.
The Laocoon--Ditto.
A large Marine Vegetable.
A Vitellius.
A Seneca.
Three or four antique Heads of Women.
A metal Cannon.
A quantity of Fragments of antique Dresses, of divers colours.
Seven Musical stringed Instruments.
Two small Pictures by _Rembrandt_.
[Illustration: FAC-SIMILE OF A LETTER OF REMBRANDT'S]
IN THE LARGE PAINTING ROOM.
Twenty Objects, consisting of Halberds and Swords of various kinds.
Dresses of an Indian Man and Woman.
Five Cuirasses.
A wooden Trumpet.
A Picture of Two Negroes by _Rembrandt_.
A Child by _Michael Angelo Buonarotti_.
IN THE SHED.
The Skins of a Lion and a Lioness, and two Birds.
A large Piece, representing Diana.
A Bittern, done from Nature, by _Rembrandt_.
IN A SMALL ROOM.
Ten Paintings, of various sizes, by _Rembrandt_.
A Bed.
IN THE KITCHEN.
A pewter Pot.
Several Pots and Pans.
A small Table.
A Cupboard.
Several old Chairs.
Two Chair Cushions.
IN THE PASSAGE.
Nine Plates.
Two earthen Dishes.
THE LINEN (THEN AT THE WASHER-WOMAN'S).
Three Shirts.
Six Pocket Handkerchiefs.
Twelve Napkins.
Three Table Cloths.
Some Collars and Wristbands.
The preceding Inventory was made on the 25th and 26th of July, 1656.
* * * * *
_Free Translation of the Autograph Letter on the opposite page._
SIR,
It is, your Honour, with reluctance, that I am about to trouble
you with a letter, and that, because on applying to the receiver
Utenbogaert, (to whom I have entrusted the management of my money
matters,) as to how the treasurer Volberger acquits himself of the
yearly 4 per cent. interest, the said Utenbogaert, on Wednesday
last, replied,--that Volberger has every half year received the
interest on this annuity, and has done so up to the present time;
so that now, at the annuity office, more than 4000 florins being
owing, and this being the exact and true statement, I beg of you,
my kind-natured Sir, that the exact sum of money at my disposal may
be at once made clear, in order that I may at last receive the sum
of 1244 florins, long since due; as I shall always strive to
recompense such by reciprocal services, and with lasting friendship;
so that with my most cordial greetings, and the prayer that God may
long keep you in good health, and grant you bliss hereafter,
I remain,
Your Honour's
Obedient and devoted Servant,
REMBRANDT.
I am living on the Binnen Aemstel, at the Confectioner's.
10th Oct.
VAN SUYLYKEN, Esq.
Counsellor and Secretary to his Highness in the Hague.
_Per post._
We cannot reflect upon the foregoing Catalogue without regretting that
Rembrandt, in his old age, should have, like our own Milton,
"Fall'n on evil days,
On evil days though fall'n and evil tongues."
The troubles existing at that time pervaded the whole of Europe, and
works, both of poetry and painting, produced little emolument to the
possessors; consequently the whole of this rich assemblage of works of
art, the accumulation of years, fell a sacrifice to the hammer of the
auctioneer, producing little more than four thousand nine hundred
guilders. By its list, however, we are enabled to refute the assertion
of many of his biographers, that he neglected the antique, and the works
of the great masters of the Italian school, the catalogue including
casts from ancient sculpture, and drawings and prints after Michael
Angelo, Raffaelle, and Titian, which at that time were rare and of great
value. We find by a memorandum on the back of one of Rembrandt's proofs,
on India paper, of his etching of "Christ Healing the Sick," which now
goes by the name of "The Hundred Guilder Print," that, "wishing to
possess a print of the Plague, by Mark Antonio, after Raffaelle, valued
by the dealer Van Zomers at a hundred florins, he gave the proof in
exchange;" and further, "that such proofs were never sold, but given as
presents to his friends." We may perceive by this the anxiety he had to
collect works that were excellent. As we do not discover amongst the
various articles enumerated, either palette or brushes, we may infer
that on quitting Amsterdam he carried off all his working apparatus.
With this short notice of his life, and these few remarks, I must now
enter into what is more properly the subject of this work, a critical
examination into his principles and practice.
[Footnote 1: Mr. Nieuwenhuys, in a note in his Life of Rembrandt,
mentions that the Directors of the Anatomical Theatre resolved to sell
this picture by auction, for the purpose of augmenting the funds for
supporting the widows of members, and in consequence the sale was
announced for Monday the 4th of August, 1828. Since the year 1632, until
this period, it had always remained in that establishment, as a gift
from Professor N. Tulp, who presented it as a remembrance of himself and
colleagues. Mr. N. had no sooner heard that the piece in question was to
be sold, than he went to Amsterdam, with the intention of purchasing
it; but, upon arriving, was informed that his Majesty, the King of the
Netherlands, had opposed the sale, and given orders to the Minister for
the Home Department to obtain it for the sum of 32,000 guldens, and
caused it to be placed in the Museum at the Hague, where it remains.
The picture is on canvas: height 64-1/2 inches, width 83-1/2 inches.]
REMBRANDT AND HIS WORKS.
The early pictures, in all ages, either merely indicate the character
of bas-reliefs or single statues,--a cold continuity of outline, and
an absence of foreshortening. The first move in advance, and that
which constitutes their pictorial character, in contradistinction to
sculpture, is an assemblage of figures, repeating the various forms
contained in the principal ones, and thus rendering them less harsh by
extension and doubling of the various shapes, as we often perceive in a
first sketch of a work, where the eye of the spectator chooses, out of
the multiplicity of outlines, those forms most agreeable to his taste.
The next step to improvement, and giving the work a more natural
appearance, is the influence of shadow, so as to make the outlines of
the prominent more distinct, and those in the background less harsh
and cutting, and consequently more retiring. The application of shadow,
however, not only renders works of art more natural, by giving the
appearance of advancing and retiring to objects represented upon a flat
surface--thus keeping them in their several situations, according to the
laws of aerial perspective--but enables the artist to draw attention to
the principal points of the story, and likewise to preserve the whole in
agreeable form, by losing and pronouncing individual parts. Coreggio was
the first who carried out this principle to any great extent; but it was
reserved for Rembrandt, by his boldness and genius, to put a limit to
its further application. Breadth, the constituent character of this mode
of treatment, cannot be extended; indeed, it is said that Rembrandt
himself extended it too far; for, absorbing seven-eighths in obscurity
and softness, though it renders the remaining portion more brilliant,
yet costs too much. This principle, however, contains the greatest
poetry of the art, in contradistinction to the severe outline and harsh
colouring of the great historical style.
COMPOSITION.
To arrive at a true knowledge of the inventions and compositions of
Rembrandt, it is necessary, in the first instance, to examine those
of Albert Durer, the Leonardo da Vinci of Germany. The inventions of
this extraordinary man are replete with the finest feelings of art,
notwithstanding the Gothic dryness and fantastic forms of his figures.
The folds of his draperies are more like creased pieces of paper than
cloth, and his representation of the naked is either bloated and
coarse, or dry and meagre. His backgrounds have all the extravagant
characteristics of a German romance, and are totally destitute of aerial
perspective; yet, with the exception of the character of the people and
scenery of Nuremburg, he is not more extravagant in his forms than the
founder of the Florentine school, and had he been educated in Italy, he
in all probability would have rivalled Raffaelle in the purity of his
design. In his journal, which he kept when he travelled into the
Netherlands, he mentions some prints he sent to Rome, in exchange for
those he expected in return, and it is mentioned that Raffaelle admired
his works highly. The multitude of his engravings, both on copper and
wood, which were spread over Germany, influenced, in a great degree,
the style of composition of those artists who came after him, and
accordingly we see many points of coincidence in the compositions of
Rembrandt. A century, however, had opened up a greater insight into the
mysteries of painting than either Leonardo da Vinci or Albert Durer ever
thought of; one alone,--viz. aerial perspective, seems to mark the line
between the ancient and modern school; for though Durer invented several
instruments for perfecting lineal perspective, his works exhibit no
attempt at giving the indistinctness of distant objects. To Rubens,
Germany and Holland were indebted for this essential part of the art, so
necessary to a true representation of Nature. This great genius, in his
contemplation of the works of Titian and others, both at Venice and in
Madrid, soon emancipated the art of his country from the Gothic hardness
of Lucas Cranach, Van Eyck, and Albert Durer; but notwithstanding his
taste and knowledge of what constituted the higher qualities of the
Italian school, the irregular combinations and multitudinous assemblage
of figures found in the early German compositions remained with him to
the last. His works are like a melodrama, filled with actors who have
no settled action or expression allotted them, while in the works of
Raffaelle, and other great composers, the persons introduced are limited
to the smallest number necessary to explain the story. This condensing
of the interest, if I may use the expression, was borrowed originally
from the Greeks, of whose sculptures the Romans availed themselves to a
great degree. On the other hand, this looseness of arrangement, and what
may be termed ornamental, not only spread through Germany, but infected
the schools of Venice; witness the works of Tintoret and Paul Veronese,
in which the expression of the countenance absolutely goes for nothing,
and the whole arrangement is drawn out in a picturesque point of view,
merely to amuse and gratify the eye of the spectator.
Now, with all these infectious examples before him, Rembrandt has done
much to concentrate the action, and reduce the number drawn out on the
canvas to the mere personages who figure in the history. Witness his
"Salutation of the Virgin," in the Marquis of Westminster's collection,
which is evidently engendered from the idea contained in the design of
Albert Durer. His strict application to nature, while it enabled him
to destroy the unmeaning combinations of his predecessors, led him
into many errors, by the simple fact of drawing from the people in his
presence. But are not others chargeable with some incongruities? Are the
Madonnas of Murillo anything but a transcript of the women of Andalusia?
The women of Venice figure in the historical compositions of Titian and
Paul Veronese, and the Fornarina of Raffaelle is present in his most
sacred subjects; those, therefore, who accuse Rembrandt of vulgarity
of form, might with equal justice draw an invidious comparison between
classic Italian and high Dutch. In many of his compositions he has
embodied the highest feeling and sentiment, and in his study of natural
simplicity approaches Raffaelle nearer than any of the Flemish or Dutch
painters. Of course, as a colourist and master of light and shade, he
is all powerful; but I allude, at present, to the mere conception and
embodying of his subjects on this head.
Fuseli says,--"Rembrandt was, in my opinion, a genius of the first
class in whatever relates not to form. In spite of the most portentous
deformity, and without considering the spell of his _chiaro-scuro_, such
were his powers of nature, such the grandeur, pathos, or simplicity of
his composition, from the most elevated or extensive arrangement to
the meanest and most homely, that the best cultivated eye, the purest
sensibility, and the most refined taste, dwell on them equally
enthralled. Shakspere alone excepted, no one combined with so much
transcendent excellence so many, in all other men unpardonable,
faults,--and reconciled us to them. He possessed the full empire of
light and shade, and of all the tints that float between them; he tinged
his pencil with equal success in the cool of dawn, in the noon-day ray,
in the livid flash, in evanescent twilight, and rendered darkness
visible. Though made to bend a steadfast eye on the bolder phenomena of
nature, yet he knew how to follow her into her calmest abodes, gave
interest to insipidity and baldness, and plucked a flower in every
desert. None ever, like Rembrandt, knew how to improve an accident into
a beauty, or give importance to a trifle. If ever he had a master, he
had no followers; Holland was not made to comprehend his power."
And in another lecture, speaking of the advantage of a low horizon, he
says:--"What gives sublimity to Rembrandt's Ecce Homo more than this
principle? a composition which, though complete, hides in its grandeur
the limits of its scenery. Its form is a pyramid, whose top is lost in
the sky, as its base in tumultuous murky waves. From the fluctuating
crowds who inundate the base of the tribunal, we rise to Pilate,
surrounded and perplexed by the varied ferocity of the sanguinary
synod to whose remorseless gripe he surrenders his wand, and from
him we ascend to the sublime resignation of innocence in Christ, and,
regardless of the roar, securely repose on his countenance. Such is the
grandeur of a conception, which in its blaze absorbs the abominable
detail of materials too vulgar to be mentioned. Had the materials been
equal to the conception and composition, the Ecce Homo of Rembrandt,
even unsupported by the magic of its light and shade, or his spell of
colours, would have been an assemblage of superhuman powers."
Reynolds, in his Eighth Discourse, speaking of the annoyance the mind
feels at the display of too much variety and contrast, proceeds to
say:--"To apply these general observations, which belong equally to all
arts, to ours in particular. In a composition, where the objects are
scattered and divided into many equal parts, the eye is perplexed and
fatigued, from not knowing where to find the principal action, or which
is the principal figure; for where all are making equal pretensions to
notice, all are in equal danger of neglect. The expression which is used
very often on these occasions is, the piece wants repose--a word which
perfectly expresses a relief of the mind from that state of hurry and
anxiety which it suffers when looking at a work of this character. On
the other hand, absolute unity, that is, a large work consisting of one
group or mass of light only, would be as defective as an heroic poem
without episode, or any collateral incidents to recreate the mind with
that variety which it requires. An instance occurs to me of two painters
(Rembrandt and Poussin) of characters totally opposite to each other in
every respect, but in nothing more than in their mode of composition and
management of light and shadow. Rembrandt's manner is absolute unity; he
often has but one group, and exhibits little more than one spot of light
in the midst of a large quantity of shadow: if he has a second mass that
second bears no proportion to the principal. Poussin, on the contrary,
has scarcely any principle mass of light at all, and his figures are
often too much dispersed, without sufficient attention to place them in
groups. The conduct of these two painters is entirely the reverse of
what might be expected from their general style and character, the works
of Poussin being as much distinguished for simplicity as those of
Rembrandt for combination. Even this conduct of Poussin might proceed
from too great affection to simplicity of another kind, too great a
desire to avoid the ostentation of art with regard to light and shadow,
on which Rembrandt so much wished to draw the attention; however, each
of them ran into contrary extremes, and it is difficult to determine
which is the most reprehensible, both being equally distant from the
demands of nature and the purposes of art."