Rembrandt

Rembrandt van Rijn (1606-69) transcends any period or social milieu: he is one of the world's great masters and though his works reflect the confidence of newly independent Holland, his vision extends far beyond these narrow confines. A deeply perceptive artist (his thirty self-portraits show his continued interest in the study ofhuman nature), he sought to go beyond superficialities, to endow his biblical paintings, historical narratives, genre scenes and portraits with psychological depths hitherto unknown in Dutch painting. The chiaroscuro of Caravaggio is here used for enigmatic effect, to suggest rather than describe, and his numerous sketches and etchings show a similar search for truth expressed by a mastery of line. Impatient with conventional stiffly posed group portraits, he produced such masterpieces as The Night Watch, The Anatomy Lesson of Doctor Tulp and The Staal Meesters, while his studies of Saskia, his wife, and his mistress Hendrickje Stoffels reveal his deeply sensuous, compassionate nature. Rembrandt the man and Rembrandt the artist are rarely separated and the integrity this gives to his work has ensured its continued success. For this new, expanded edition Michael Kitson, Deputy Director of the Courtauld Institute of Art, London, has revised his highly successful essay, first published in 1969, and has added black-and-white comparative illustrations and extensive notes to the plates