Rembrandt, his life, his work and his time . e assurance that distin-guishes those of the Dutch master. The naive impudence displayedby Rembrandt gives a measure of the gulf that divides Dutch fromItalian, or even from Flemish art. Even when he attempted to followtradition in subjects that make the utmost demands on knowledge andrespect, the master only succeeded in proclaiming his irreverent fashionof conception and interpretation. He seems himself to have felt his limitations. His essays in thisgenre become more and more infrequent, and there is little cause forregret on this score in view o
Rembrandt, his life, his work and his time . e assurance that distin-guishes those of the Dutch master. The naive impudence displayedby Rembrandt gives a measure of the gulf that divides Dutch fromItalian, or even from Flemish art. Even when he attempted to followtradition in subjects that make the utmost demands on knowledge andrespect, the master only succeeded in proclaiming his irreverent fashionof conception and interpretation. He seems himself to have felt his limitations. His essays in thisgenre become more and more infrequent, and there is little cause forregret on this score in view of such examples as the Diana discoveringthe pregnancy of Callisto, a company of nymphs bathing in a fantasticlandscape, with Actaeon in the background. The picture is signed and 1 A composition by Correggio, known to us from a drawing in the Weimar collection,bears a strong resemblance to Rembrandts picture, save for the grace and elegance ofthe Italian masters Ganymede. ( opy of the Ganymede1 Ry an imitatoi oi Rembrandt. (PRBSDEN ). Printed by Draeger & Lesieur MYTHOLOGICAL SUBJECTS 223 dated 1635, and is in the Prince of Salms collection at Anhalt. On theother hand, the so-called Dande in the Hermitage, dated 1636,1 showsthat Rembrandt was now and then happily inspired by a mythologicaltheme. Dr. Bode, however, believes the picture to represent anepisode in the Book of Tobit, in which the master was greatlyinterested at this period. The subject remains obscure ; but Danaeor Sara, the central figure is pre-eminently a study of the nude ; andthough the type of the face differs in some points from that of Saskia,it is almost certain that she was the model. We have alreadyexplained the difficulties experienced by Dutch painters in procuringfemale models, and it must be confessed that those hitherto obtainableby Rembrandt had been far from seductive. It is not surprising,therefore, that with a beautiful young woman close at hand, willingto satisfy his every wish, he should
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1890, bookpublisherlondo, bookyear1894
