Part 1 (1/2)
Rembrandt and His Works
by John Burnet
PREFACE
The high estimation in which I have ever held the works of Reh this examination of his various excellencies, and such will ever be the case when the eated; like the lustre of precious stones, their luminous colour shi+nes from the centre, not from the surface With such a mine of rich ore as the works of Reise for the paucity of exaed to confine myself to a certain brevity and a limited number of illustrations; still I ed any expense that would be the htened patron, or my own reputation Another circu this work for publication--the great interest that all have shown in this huenerally appreciated His genius and productions seelish taste As a colourist he will ulti, and prove the justice of Du Fresnoy's lines--
”He who colours well ain 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 charement I have mentioned in the body of the work that Sir Joshua, certainly the greatest land, frequently speaks auously of many of Rembrandt's pictures I am therefore bound to quote a remark that he makes to his praise In his Mea to savethe 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 re had constantly in ood cause, not to expect, by all his exertions, to increase the reputation of his client, but an anxiety not to daain 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 omitfriend 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 Museuha, entered heartily into the cause of ”Rembrandt and his Works”
BROMPTON, Nove an account of the life of Rembrandt Van Rhn and his works, I feel both a pleasure and a certain degree of confidence, as, froht 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 e of his principles and practice, which eous to si that his style is in the greatest degree original and peculiar to hi in nature which are to be discovered, reatand 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 reenius alone draws attention to their history, which is generally progressive; hence a retrospective view is auous
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 accu newinto the source froe, we have only to look into the great book of Nature, which existed at the ti 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 the excellence; neither a coio and titian, nor of Murillo and Velasquez, but as if all the great principles of chiaro-scuro and colour were steeped and harht; and this we perceive in nature, producing the ressions may, however, come more properly into notice when Rembrandt's principles of colour come under review
Rembrandt Van Rhn, the subject of this memoir, was born in the year 1606, between Leydendorp and Koukerk, in the neighbourhood of Leyden, on the Rhn, but certainly not in ain the one non 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 te, or view out of the , I painted on the spot, and that picture is now in the possession of the King of Holland, having taken it back withthe Spanish invasion; it was soon after converted into a corn mill, and was in the possession of Hernan Geritz Van Rhn when his son Rembrandt was born; it is situated at Koukerk, on the old Rhn, near Leyden I hope you will correct the vulgar error that Re houses attached to water-land; but in Holland, not such a structure as a water-mill, ater-power; the water- mills_, such as we have in Lincolnshi+re, Norfolk, &c Surely the noise and movement of a windmill would ill accord with the confinelorious 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 non as the one possessed by Rembrandt's father is built of stone, with an inscription, and ”_Reold letters, over the door The one etched by his e since fallen into decay As they are both interesting, fros 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 hiood education, and therefore sent hi him up to the profession of the law; but, like our own inimitable Shakspere, he picked up ”s shown an early inclination for painting, they placed hi, a painter unrapher; he afterwards entered the studio of Peter Lastman, and finally received instruction from Jacob Pinas The two last had visited Roiven little instruction to Re studied the Italian school to e of a few rules, such as they could co 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 hireatest 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 Rereeable 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 see can be s and feet, which are nearest the eye, are in shadow; the principal light, which is on the body, is by that ures are dressed in black” He further adds--”Above stairs is another Rembrandt, of the sa 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 so sublime in the character of the head, which reelo; the whole is finely painted,--the colouring much like titian”