men, too, fall down in their hurried flight, whilst others are still endeavouring
in haste to secure their wares ; men and animals are running away — for
Rembrandt has imagined cattle-dealers, and not merely sellers of doves,
to form part of the traffickers who defile the sanctuary — while an ugly
cur yelps round the skirts of Christ's garment without venturing to approach
him. The longer we look at the print, the more astonishing are the details
which we find in it , especially in the faces and gestures of the various
Jewish dealers disturbed in their occupations (Fig. 57).
Among other biblical subjects we should, perhaps, also assign to this
date the small print of the Crucifixion , which is so extremely simple and
unpretending in its composition and yet produces a most impressive effect
by the speaking contrast of the mother, who has sunk swooning to the
ground, and the son stretched out helpless on the Cross (Fig. 58). Besides
these creations of deep and serious thought , there is no lack of slighter
pictures from life ; what an abundance of spirit and humour there is in
the delightful picture of street-life, the "Pancake-woman" (Fig. 60). There
are some splendid portrait-etchings of the year 1635. ^^ have a bust
of an old gentleman of lively temperament, with bright, clever eyes under
his wrinkled brow, with carefully brushed moustache and a black silk
skull-cap on his bald head, his shoulders covered by a fur cape on which
there glitters the golden chain of an order. This is said to be Jacob Cats,
poet and statesman, the worthy tutor of the Prince of Orange, and still
a popular author in Holland, where he is known as "Father Cats" (Fig. 61).
Worthy to rank with this masterpiece of spirit and life is the portrait
of Jan Uytenbogaert , preacher of the sect of Arminian Remonstrants; a
portrait picturesquely posed and so carefully carried out that it has all
the effect of a picture. This clergyman, who had now reached the age
of seventy-eight, had been from 1599 to 16 14 first chaplain of the forces,
then court-preacher to Maurice, Prince of Orange, but had then fallen into
disgrace on account of his friendship with Barneveldt and Grotius, and had
taken refuge in France; since the accession of Prince Frederick Henry (1625)
he was once more tolerated in his native country and was now a resident
at the Hague. With attractive features from which the traces of sorrow
and anxiety have not been able to efface an expression of paternal bene-
volence, he looks up from his perusal of the theological writings which
cover his table, and fixes his tired eyes on the spectator (Fig. 62). Under the
etching are Latin verses composed by Hugo Grotius, to the following intent :
By godly folk and warlike hosts admired,
He moved the court its vices to deplore ;
Tossed to and fro by fate, by years untired,
The Hague calls Uytenbogaert hers once more.
REMBRANDT. c c
We see from such portraits that Rembrandt associated with the best
and most cultivated men of his nation. With the statesman, who was
jurist and poet as well, and with the ecclesiastic of earnest convictions.
Fig. 56. Portrait of Rembrandt by himself, painted about 1635, in the National Gallery, London.
(From a photograph by Braun, Clement & Co , Dornach and Paris.)
we may name the famous physician and professor at the University of
Leyden , Jan Antonsz (or, in the form which he adopted as a man of
learning, Johannes Antonides) van der Linden, of whom — perhaps on the
56
REMBRANDT,
Fig- 57- Thf Purification of thf Temple. Etching of 1635. (First state.)
'fi'.x-'f^ i"-
Fig. 58. The Crucifixion. Etching.
occasion of a visit to his
native town , for the date is
not mentioned — Rembrandt
etched a portrait, in which
both pose and expression
are deUghtful (Fig. 63). In
spite of the great dexterity
which Rembrandt had now
attained, he never paused in
making studies for practice.
As Diirer had not disdained
to make the wing of a bird
or the coat of a hare the ob-
ject of most conscientious
study, so Rembrandt painted
with minute accuracy com-
binations of hfeless objects,
birds of various plumage and
the Hke, in order to let him-
self be instructed by nature
in the secret of a harmonious
scheme of colour. But before
REMBRANDT.
57
all else the human countenance continued to be the object of his uninter-
mitting attention. Besides etchings from models of various kinds (Fig. 64
and 65), numerous drawings, carried out with more or less care, but for
the most part instantaneous sketches quite lightly thrown off, bear witness
Fig. 59. Samson menacing his father-in-law. Painting of 1635, in the Berlin Museum.
(From a photograph by Franz Hanfstangl, Munich.)
to his zeal (Fig. 66, 67 and 68). We also occasionally meet with a caricature
among the drawings, such as the master, perhaps, would draw as he was
engaged in merry conversation with his friends, in order to bring some
person of whom they were just talking, before the eyes of all in recognisable
58
REMBRANDT.
shape (Fig. 69). Jews continue to occur most frequently among Rembrandt's
studies of heads , whether they are drawn with the pen, the pencil or the
etching-point. By degrees there came to be included among the master's
Jewish acquaintances people whose relations with him were not those of the
hired model or the secondhand dealer; they began to give him commissions.
In an etching of 1636 we are presented with the portrait of a Jew
of great note, Menasseh Ben Israel (Fig. 70). He scarcely looks Jewish at
Q/i^fmSfj^^
Fig. 60. The pancake-woman. Etching of 1635.
first sight , especially as the cut of his beard and the style of his dress
have none of the peculiarities which distinguished the Jews at that time,
but agree with the general fashion. Behind his insignificant-looking features
with the heavy eyelids, it takes some looking to detect a quick intelligence
and the many-sided talent and trained mind of a great scholar. Born at
Lisbon in 1604, Menasseh Ben Israel came as a child with his father to
Amsterdam, where so many Portuguese Jews at that time took refuge and
enjoyed religious liberty; the learning which he acquired as a lad was so
great that at the age of eighteen he was appointed chief rabbi of one
REMBRANDT.
59
of the three synagogues at Amsterdam. But his greatest title to fame was
a quite extraordinary knowledge of languages ; besides this he was a doctor
of medicine; he has left numerous writings, chiefly on theological topics.
We also read the date 1636 on several remarkable etchings of biblical
subjects. One small print represents the death of St. Stephen. Neither
the form of the young witness to the faith nor the lines of the composition
have in themselves much beauty. But this rough crowd showing its deUght
(jrani/r-'r-^'^^^^'
Fig. 61. Jacob Cats (?), Jurist, Poet and Statesman (afterwards Pensioner of the Council in Holland
and Keeper of the Great Seal). Etching of 1635.
in stoning the innocent and defenceless man , makes a picture which will
for all time hold true of a mob with its worst passions excited. We see
even in the drawing, how deeply Rembrandt has entered into his subject;
we might almost say that these harsh and hasty lines, falling abruptly
one on the other and crossing, are instinct with passion and at the same
time with indignation at the violent act (Fig. 71). How completely different
is the treatment in the wonderful etching which has for its subject the
Return of the Prodigal Son! How clearly we see here that the artist's
6o
REMBRANDT.
hand has been guided by devout and deeply feh emotion ! This theme,
so often treated, giving such an opportunity as it does to the artist, has
never been handled in such an affecting and impressive way as here. The
son is an abject creature, only covered with the barest rags, pressing to
his father's breast a face disfigured by the traces of crime and misery,
but now beautified from within by the expression of penitence and of
\ y^^^^^^;^u^ . 'Ut iaytUuym y^fftQii 'a.ka^ii
Fig. 62. Jan Uytenbogaert, Preacher of the Sect of Arminian Remonstrants.
Etching of 1635.
joy found once more in forgiveness. The father himself, shocked at the
appearance which his son presents , but giving way to no other feeUng
but joy, forgiving and forgetting all now that the lost is found, has hastened
in long strides to the spot, and bends over him full of affection. As a
masterly portrayal of soul, the design has hardly an equal. The emotions
of the subordinate figures appeal to us no less strongly. The mother, who
hastily thrusts open the shutter, has not yet mastered the torrent of feeling
which overcomes her; the servant, who brings up shoes and fair raiment
for the new-comer, does not know where to look or what to say, and behind
REMBRANDT.
6 1
him appears the brother, incapable of concealing in his countenance the resent-
ment which he feels at the kind reception of the Prodigal. Through the arch
of the gateway to the court we look into the open country, where a hill with
a few buildings bounds the view; there are only a few strokes to suggest
the landscape, but they suffice to call up in our minds the idea that the
penitent has returned from long wanderings over hill and dale (Fig. 72).
Fig. 63. Johannes Antonides van der Linden,
Famous physician and professor at the University of Leyden. Etching.
We have evidence of the industry with which the master studied in
a print with six studies of heads , which are so crowded together, in his
determination to use up all the space afforded by the plate which lay ready
to his hand, that one competes with another for a place upon it. The
middle one of these heads is the most highly finished, and here we re-
cognise without difficulty the features of Saskia, very agreeably presented,
with loose, curly hair about her head (Fig. 73). On another print of the
same year, 1636, we find Saskia in the company of her husband. This
etching , which has always been highly prized , presents , in a measure, a
62
re:mbrandt.
Fig. 64. Man with long hair. Etching.
contrast to the Dresden picture. Whereas in the latter deHght in enjoyment
is the subject, in the former we see loving companionship which is no
interruption to serious work. It is evening, for we can only suppose the
light to proceed from a lamp hanging over the table, but too high to be
seen in the picture. Saskia has sat down to rest after the day's work;
but the indefatigable Rembrandt, in exchanging the studio for the living-
room , merely varies the method of his industry ; shading his eyes from
the lamplight by a hat with a wide brim , he has taken a sheet of paper
or a copper plate, to follow up the artistic inspirations which the moment
suggests (Fig. 75).
Two large pictures bear the date 1636. One of these is a "Danae",
or, according to another title recently proposed for it, "The Bride of
Tobias". The name here is of no consequence; we have simply a young
woman undraped, reclining on a soft couch. The picture is in the Hermitage
at St. Petersburg, which possesses altogether a greater number of pictures
by Rembrandt than are united in any other collection. "As a work of
nature, frightful; incomparable as a work of art" — that is how one writer
characterises it, whereas others name it with the Venuses of Titian, and
REMBRANDT.
63
^
^'m(;Cii!)6'(:
Fig. 65. The old man asleep, with a large cap. Etching.
reckon it simply as one of the choicest masterpieces of this collection,
which is as rich in works of art of the first class, as it is, unluckily, remote.
The other large picture of this year, which is in the collection of Count
Schonborn at Vienna (there is a good old copy in the Cassel Gallery), is
also difficult for even the most enthusiastic devotee of Rembrandt to
admire. It represents Samson being overpowered by the Philistines. The
defenceless hero, thrown to the ground , lets out with hands and feet all
about him, whilst his foes, in iron mail, fall upon him and one gouges out
his eye with the steel, while Delilah runs away in triumph with the severed
locks in her hand. The representation of the scene is as gruesome as it
is ugly, and the worst thing about it is , that the gruesome ugliness of it
verges on the ludicrous.
He painted , probably, in the same year, the splendid figure of the
"Civic Standard-bearer", as he is called, clad entirely in brown, who stands
in a proud posture, pressing his right hand on his lip, and holding in his
left hand a standard which droops over his shoulder, from the whiteish,
silky tone of which the dark head stands out wonderfully; in the face we
may, perhaps, recognise the features of the painter under a mask of soldier-
like roughness (Fig. 74). The picture is in the possession of Baroness
James de Rothschild at Paris (an old copy in the Cassel Gallery). Among
portraits of persons unknown, the bust, treated with unsurpassable distinction,
of a young man evidently of the highest rank, with a wide lace collar, in
64
REMBRANDT.
the National Gallery, London,
may be placed about this time
(Fig. n).
The year 1637 brings us
again a splendid portrait of
the master by himself, now
in the Louvre (Fig. 78). An
etching of this year shows us
the remarkably eloquent por-
trait of an unknown man , a
young and seemingly delicate
scholar, who sits by his books,
with his neck carefully protect-
ed from the cold , whilst the
paleness of his complexion is
apparent in his thoughtful face
(Fig. ']6). Another print com-
bines three studies of female
-, - /X/f heads, charming in execution,
^l/j<// " . ./c's'Vii^^t^i'v «i from models of very different
kinds (Fig. 79).
This year is further remark-
able for several excellent com-
positions of biblical character.
An etching shows us Abraham repudiating Hagar. Clad in rich oriental
costume, the patriarch stands on the threshold of his house; he has already
set foot on the lowest of the steps at the entrance, in order to turn
back into the house. He has just uttered his last word to Hagar, who
departs , weeping bitterly , laden with a few goods and chattels , while the
little Ishmael follows her, with a pouch at his side and a little bundle
in his hand. Abraham's gesture seems to say, We have done with one
another, youi- weeping touches me no longer. But Sarah looks out from the
window, which is framed in leaves , and an unlovely smile flits across her
aged features; it is an exultant smile, and it is not meant for the cast-off
concubine, but for her husband. We see near her in the shadow of the
house-door the chubby face of her little son, a thorough Hebrew (Fig. 80).
A dehghtful pen-drawing in the Albertina is so like this etching as regards
the costume and the relation of the figures to the landscape that it must,
surely, have been done at the same period ; it represents Judah giving his
ring and staff as a pledge to Tamar, who sits by the wayside in a green,
sunny spot (Fig. 81). The Old Testament, once more, has furnished the
subject of a splendid painting of 1637, in the Louvre. The Angel Raphael
leaving the family of Tobit is the subject of the magnificent and impressive
picture. The angel has just made himself known, and Tobias and his father
who had just been speaking to him as to a good friend, while he stood
Fig. 66. Old wo.man. Drawing in the Albertina, Vienna.
(From a photograph by Braun , Clement & Co.,
Dornach and Paris.)
REMBRANDT.
65
before the door of the house, have fallen on their knees , whilst a cloud
descends to receive the messenger of heaven as his pinions bear him from
their sight. The young Tobias , from whose gaze the angel is already
passing into the shadow of the cloud , recognises with infinite amazement
the supernatural character of his companion. The aged father, however,
more readily comprehends the miracle of God; he has thrown himself in
deep humility to the ground with his hands folded. He is strongly lit up
by the heavenly radiance, as is the young woman who appears with the
mother at the house-door under the foliage of the vine, and who folds her
hands and prays while her countenance still reflects extreme astonishment ;
the mother, quite overpowered and dazzled by the apparition, turns away,
and the crutch falls from her trembling hands (Fig. 82).
The story of Tobias was a favourite subject with Rembrandt. The
collection of drawings in the Albertina contains a whole series of pen-
drawings by Rembrandt of different periods which treat of this story. Here
we have a glimpse of the poor, but comfortable, home of Tobias' parents.
The mother is spinning, the blind father sits in the chimney-corner and
speaks , in his anxiety about his son , to the messenger who is to be the
latter's escort ; the angel — recognisable as such to the spectator by his
radiant form and by his wings — stands leaning on his staff, confronting
the old man, and seems to
give an attentive hearing to
his words ; the young Tobias
stands by the fire-place, girt
for the journey, and his Httle
dog springs up at him in
joyful impatience (Fig. 83).
Then we see Tobias, carrying
his bundle on a stick over
his back, travelling through
a wooded landscape by the
angel's side, and listening to
his conversation ; the little
dog, running along with them,
is not forgotten (Fig. 84).
Once more, a specially
charming and delicate draw-
ing transports us to the banks
of the Tigris, which rise gra-
dually through meadows and
bushes to heights which lie
more remote. Tobias has
drawn back his feet out of
the water in childish terror ^'^' ^''" ^"^^ °^ ^^ °^° ^'^^' ^■■**'"s '" ^^^ Aibertjna, Vienna.
(From a photograph by Braun, Clement & Co.,
on seemg the fish, and presses Domach and Paris.)
Knackfuss, Rembrandt. 5
66
REMBRANDT.
for protection up to the angel, who with stately and quiet bearing bids him
grasp the fish (Fig. 85). Still finer is the sketch, washed to produce more
of the effect of a painting, which shows Tobias cutting open the wriggling
fish under the supervision of the angel , and taking out the gall which is
to effect the cure. Nothing more poetical can be imagined than this sunny
landscape by the banks of the river; we feel the heat of the day, which
urges the little dog to quench its thirst with eager draughts, and we seem
to breathe the fresh air off the water in the shade of the luxuriant trees
(Fig. 86).
Another picture of the year 1637, "Susanna Bathing", in the Gallery
at the Hague, makes the biblical subject merely a pretext for representing
undraped feminine beauty — beauty, that is to say, as Rembrandt understood
it, in which the charm is derived from colour, not from form. The sub-
ordinate figures of the two elders are only suggested by the head of one
of them , which is visible among the bushes. Susanna is represented
standing, in the act of stepping down into the water; she is seen from
the side; as she looks round carefully, as if to make quite sure once more
that she is alone, her face is turned towards the spectator. The un-
surpassable fidelity to nature, with which the youthful form is represented,
would not be sufficient reason for lavishing on the picture the high praise
for beauty which it deserves ; but there is the truest poetry in the manner in
which the delicate, fair
skin shines out against
the rich gloom of the
bushes which form the
background.
A third picture of
the same year, now in
the Hermitage at St.
Petersburg , has drawn
its material from the New
Testament. It treats of
the parable of the la-
bourers in the vineyard.
In the last rays of the
evening sun the lord of
the vineyard sits and
listens to one of the
labourers, who murmurs
and says: "These last
have wrought but one
hour, and thou hast
made them equal unto
Old man reading. Drawing in the Albertina, Vienna. US." The pOWCr of
(From a photograph by Braun, Clement & Co., ^^Ynr^QQinn hv whirh
Dornach and Paris.) CXpreSSlOn Dy WniCn
Fig.
REMBRANDT.
67
iig. 69. Old man. Drawing in the Albertina, Vienna.
(From a photograph by Braun, Clement & Co.,
Dornach and Paris.)
Rembrandt managed to give a
visible shape even to matters
v^/hich one might have thought it
impossible to represent, endowed
him with a unique gift for inter-
preting the parables of the gospel,
and finding possibilities Of pictorial
treatment in matters which might
have seemed to anyone else in-
capable of yielding them. Thus
he has treated the parable of
the unmerciful servant , from the
eighteenth chapter of St. Matthew's
Gospel, in two drawings which
are now far apart, one being in
the collection left by the late Due
d'Aumale at Chantilly, the other
in the Albertina at Vienna. In
one of these drawings we see the
servant fallen on his knees in
humble entreaty, in the attitude
almost of worship , before his
master , who sits over his books
engaged in calculation, and we almost seem to hear the master's voice
as with a slight turn of the head and a gentle motion of the hand he
releases the suppliant from his debt. The second drawing (Fig. 87)
shows us the same two figures ; again the servant kneels on^the floor, but
now he can no longer expect forgiveness ; for his lord has risen from his
seat in anger, and the same hand which formerly granted forgiveness is
now raised to declare a merciless sentence on the unmerciful servant, who
cowers under the weight of the reproof.
The date at which the drawings were produced can , for the most
part, be only approximately assumed, since in the majority of them the
lines are so lightly and rapidly thrown off that they afford no sufficient
indications of date ; while Rembrandt has seldom marked the year on these
sketches. He thought it worth while, however, to do so when he had an
opportunity, in 1637, of drawing an elephant from life. In the towns of
Holland, which at that time had the monopoly of trade across the ocean,
and especially at Amsterdam, animals from foreign parts were exhibited
perhaps more frequently than anywhere else, and Rembrandt, who loved
study for its own sake, visited such exhibitions sketch-book in hand.
His drawing of the elephant is quite masterly ; he has not only given its
general appearance, but has also rendered the peculiar character of the
hide with matchless truth (Fig. 89). More hasty, but no less true, is a
drawing of a lion which Rembrandt took one day from life (Fig. 88).
5*
68 REMBRANDT.
The charming drawing with the meeting of Eleazar and Rebecca at the
well proves that he had studied the camel also from nature, and this is a
beast in dealing with which painters of Old Testament subjects have often
been far from successful. This dehghtful drawing, which, with the studies
already mentioned, belongs to the Albertina, the richest of all collections
in drawings by Rembrandt , is carefully worked out in certain parts , such
as the figure of the man sitting tired out , whereas in others , for instance
the animals which crowd round the drinking-place under the shady trees,
it is only lightly sketched, and as the drawing is very delicate it does not
reveal to us its whole beauty at first sight; but when we have well looked
into it, it has the charm of a delicious idyll (Fig. 90).
Domestic animals were studied by Rembrandt more frequently with
all the diUgence which was peculiar to him, and he occasionally carried out
such studies on the copper-plate instead of his sketch-book. An example
of this is the sleeping dog (Fig. 91), w-hich is reproduced with photographic
accuracy, as we should say nowadays.
Among the bibHcal narratives which had a special attraction for Rem-
brandt, in addition to the story of Tobias, were those of Samson and
of Joseph in Egypt. He was occupied with both of these in 1638. He
followed up the two previous Ufe-size paintings of the story of Samson
with a picture of many figures, the subject of which was the hero's marriage-
feast. The picture belongs to the Dresden Gallery and is marvellous for
the charm of its colouring, which ranges from the most delicate, lustrous
tones , like mother-of-pearl , to depths of ardent gold and purple. The
colouring itself at once conveys an impression of festal state and splendour,
in which we forget the curious manner in which the persons are re-
presented. The daughter of the Timnite, arrayed in the richest bridal
attire, is in full light in the centre of the picture ; the proud tranquillity in
which she sits under the splendid canopy forewarns us of the cold-blooded