. Rembrandt : his life, his work, and his time. at further libations would be like some heathen idol, loaded with necklaces and jew^els,a diadem on her head, her hands folded sanctimoniously across herbreast, the daughter of the Philistines, who has Saskias features, sitsalmost in the centre of the composition, a stolid spectator of the reclines by her side, but turns away as if no longer greatlyinterested in her. A garland of leaves rests on his shaggy hair, andhis loose robe of green, embroidered with gold and precious stones, isopen across his brawny chest. Il
. Rembrandt : his life, his work, and his time. at further libations would be like some heathen idol, loaded with necklaces and jew^els,a diadem on her head, her hands folded sanctimoniously across herbreast, the daughter of the Philistines, who has Saskias features, sitsalmost in the centre of the composition, a stolid spectator of the reclines by her side, but turns away as if no longer greatlyinterested in her. A garland of leaves rests on his shaggy hair, andhis loose robe of green, embroidered with gold and precious stones, isopen across his brawny chest. Illustrating his words by a somewhatvulgar gesture, he propounds one of his riddles to a group of musiciansin fanciful Turkish dresses behind him. He looks like some herculeanacrobat, chatting familiarly with his orchestra. It is difficult to under-stand what was the masters attraction in this uninteresting , by which I mean the harmony between methods of expressionand the subject expressed, was clearly out of the question here. But. -o THE BITTERN 175 if, setting aside the peculiarities of the composition, we examineits technical qualities, we shall find that the execution has becomebroader and freer. The play of light is more accurately defined ;it is concentrated on the principal group, and the objects in shadow,though less obtrusive, are more distinct, owing to the greatertransparency of the low tones. Finally, though there is a want ofdignity in the figures, the harmonious splendours of the East areskilfully suggested in their rich costumes, and in the picturesquedisplay of costly stuffs—blues interwoven with silver, and reds em-broidered with gold—by which the predominant green tones arehappily balanced. The chief interest of the work lies in the variety of its colourscheme. The tints, though subdued, are gayer than heretofore,and are no longer confined to the monotonous, and somewhat perfunc-tory russets of the masters early works. In many passages somedom
Size: 1298px × 1925px
Photo credit: © The Reading Room / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1900, bookpublishernewyo, bookyear1903
