Author: Emile Michel

Publisher: Forgotten Books

Published: 2018-03-22

Total Pages: 424

ISBN-13: 9780365259879

Excerpt from Rembrandt, Vol. 2 of 2: His Life, His Work, and His Time Rembrandt's versatility, and of the ease with which he now approached the most diverse subjects, preserving the essential character of each. The episode was one which specially attracted him, by the oppor tunity it afforded for the treatment of the nude. His technical equipment was now so complete, that he might, like so many others, have relied in future on the resources at his command, taking counsel with nature only when projecting or executing a picture. But we shall find him not only consulting realities at times of special need, but devoting himself unweariedly to studies, the one object of which was his further instruction and improvement. The numerous aca demies executed at this period witness to the delight he took in these disinterested studies. Several of these drawings from male and female models belong to the Louvre and the Bibliotheque Nationale, others to Mr. Heseltine and M. Le'on Bonnat. A model of frequent occur rence among them is a slender youth, whose long thin limbs have not attained their full development. Such a type was valuable as enabling the painter to observe the play of bones and muscles, and their exact positions in action. In the matter of feminine models, he had perforce to content himself with the few among that decorous nation who could be induced to pose in a studio. The types and forms available were therefore far from elegant, yet the master reproduced them with the most scrupulous exactitude, abating nothing of their ugliness. The sincerity of these studies is only to be equalled by their facility of execution. The figure is sketched in with a few strokes of the pen; a slight wash of sepia or Indian ink is then employed for the modelling, which is carried out with the utmost delicacy and precision, every inflection being carefully followed with extraordinary perception of values. Rembrandt had gradually acquired an absolute mastery of such effects the two etchings dated 1646, of which we give facsimiles (b. 193 and may be examined as typical examples of that close and nervous draughtsmanship, which enabled the master to indicate, not only the silhouette, but the structure and effects of 'a subject, with a few strokes of the point, and this with faultless accuracy and precision. Such Studies were not invariably sketched directly on the plate. One of the two etchings reproduced was preceded by a drawing from nature. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.