. Rembrandt : his life, his work, and his time. ail that has emerged, the compositionhas gained unity and harmony, as a whole. The much-dreadedoperation, to which the authorities at last regretfully resigned them-selves, has had, in short, the happiest results. It is now evidentenough that Rembrandt painted the scene in sunlight. Thereis not the slightest indication of artificial light, and it is even THE NIGHT WATCH 221 possible to deduce the exact position of the sun at the moment,from the shadow cast by Banning Cocqs hand on his Heutenantstunic. It must have been well above the horizon to t
. Rembrandt : his life, his work, and his time. ail that has emerged, the compositionhas gained unity and harmony, as a whole. The much-dreadedoperation, to which the authorities at last regretfully resigned them-selves, has had, in short, the happiest results. It is now evidentenough that Rembrandt painted the scene in sunlight. Thereis not the slightest indication of artificial light, and it is even THE NIGHT WATCH 221 possible to deduce the exact position of the sun at the moment,from the shadow cast by Banning Cocqs hand on his Heutenantstunic. It must have been well above the horizon to the Durand-Greville, however, rather over-shoots the mark whenhe talks of the brilliant effects of sunlight, and of the picturein its original state as a very light one. Contemporary testimonyis uniformly opposed to these assertions. Setting aside the con-ditions under which Rembrandt executed the work, and hisnumerous corrections and repaints, which, as Vosmaer justly remarks,must have tended very much to darken the picture, it was un-. corv J^? night G. Lundens (Xaiional Gallery). doubtedly deep and full in tone from the first. Of this we shallfind ample proof in the strictures with which the N^ig/it JVa/c/iwas assailed on its first appearance. Vondel, contrasting thebrightness of Flincks works with the mystery of Rembrandts,to whom he covertly alludes, under the style of Prince of Dark-ness, takes exception to the artificial gloom, the shadows, andhalf-lights, which had invaded Dutch painting for some time praises of his masters work, written in 167S, arechastened by regrets that he did not put more light into the j) little later Houbraken declares that when the passing infatuation 222 REMBRANDT of the public had subsided, true connoisseurs turned away from him,and Hght painting came into favour once more. Just at this period the masters predilection for deep ambertones was becoming more and more marked. The first portr
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