This extraordinary artist was born at Leyden, in 1613. He was the son of
a glazier, and early exhibited a passion for the fine arts, which his
father encouraged. He received his first instruction in drawing from
Dolendo, the engraver. He was afterwards placed with Peter Kowenhoorn,
to learn the trade of a glass-stainer or painter; but disliking this
business, he became the pupil of Rembrandt when only fifteen years of
age, in whose school be continued three years. From Rembrandt he learned
the true principles of coloring, to which he added a delicacy of
pencilling, and a patience in working up his pictures to the highest
degree of neatness and finish, superior to any other master. He was more
pleased with the earlier and more finished works of Rembrandt, than with
his later productions, executed with more boldness and freedom of
pencilling; he therefore conceived the project of combining the rich and
glowing colors of that master with the polish and suavity of extreme
finishing, and he adopted the method of uniting the powerful tunes and
the magical light and shadow of his instructor with a minuteness and
precision of pencilling that so nearly approached nature as to become
perfect illusion. But though his manner appears so totally different
from that of Rembrandt, yet it was to him he owed that excellence of
coloring which enabled him to triumph over all the artists of his time.
His pictures are usually of small size, with figures so exquisitely
touched, and with a coloring so harmonious, transparent, and delicate,
as to excite the astonishment and admiration of the beholder. Although
his pictures are wrought up beyond the works of any other artist, there
is still discoverable a spirited and characteristic touch that evinces
the hand of a consummate master, and a breadth of light and shadow which
is only to be found in the works of the greatest masters of the art of
chiaro-scuro. The fame acquired by Douw is a crowning proof that
excellence is not confined to any particular style or manner, and had
he attempted to arrive at distinction by a bolder and less finished
pencil, it is highly probable that his fame would not have been so
great. It has been truly said that there are no positive rules by which
genius must be bounded to arrive at excellence. Every intermediate
style, from the grand and daring handling of Michael Angelo to the
laborious and patient finishing of Douw, may conduct the painter to
distinction, provided he adapts his manner to the character of the
subjects he treats.