Rembrandt, his life, his work and his time . anwhile, hisstudies of the proletariat were not neglected. He loved to contemplatethose scenes of popular life, the actors in which show themselves asthey are, and ingenuously display their feelings, with no thoughtof reserves or affectations. He set himself to reflect this absolutesincerity in his renderings of the street life of Amsterdam. Heshows us Travelling Musicians (B. 119), performers on bag-pipes andhurdy-gurdy, regaling an astonished audience with their discordantnotes; or a Ratkiller (B. 121), triumphantly displaying the slain; ora Mount
Rembrandt, his life, his work and his time . anwhile, hisstudies of the proletariat were not neglected. He loved to contemplatethose scenes of popular life, the actors in which show themselves asthey are, and ingenuously display their feelings, with no thoughtof reserves or affectations. He set himself to reflect this absolutesincerity in his renderings of the street life of Amsterdam. Heshows us Travelling Musicians (B. 119), performers on bag-pipes andhurdy-gurdy, regaling an astonished audience with their discordantnotes; or a Ratkiller (B. 121), triumphantly displaying the slain; ora Mountebank (B. 129), sword on thigh, vaunting the efficacy of hisdrugs; or a Woman making Pancakes (B. 124) in the open air, andturning her savoury compound in the boiling fat, to the delight ofthe street-boys round her. These were followed by A travellingPeasant and his Wife (B. 144) tramping in vagabond destitutionthrough the country; another Peasant in Rags (B. 172) whines for Portrait of a Man. Red and Black Chalk. (LATE HOLFORD COLLECTION.). Printed by Draeger & Lesieur, Paris PAINTINGS INSPIRED BY THE BIBLE . 191 an alms, ready at any moment to enforce his demand with the cudgelconcealed behind his back. All these subjects were drawn lightly on the copper, either veryfrankly sketched from nature, or recorded when the impression ofsome out-door scene was fresh in the masters memory. The happyfacility of the touch shows that he sought distraction in theseairy trifles from the more serious works that occupied his dayswithout wholly absorbing his activity. On the other hand,there is manifest effort in the drawings he was commissioned tomake for some of the illustrated books Dutch publishers were pro-ducing in large numbers at this period. Rembrandt had noaptitude for such tasks. His illustration of Herckmans text inthe plate he engraved for that writers poem, The Praise of Navigation{Der Zeevaerilof), should have ensured his exemption from work solittle suited to his genius. His i
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1890, bookpublisherlondo, bookyear1894
