grateful to Mr. Rowlands and his staff for their trouble and 

 kindness. 



26 An excellent example of this type of line is seen in the 

 horizon lines on the left, which in this case were added only after 

 several proofs had been pulled from the plate. The addition 

 of these lines constitutes the difference between the recorded 

 first and second states of this print. 



-' The documents on this story were first published by 

 Brcdius in 1909 ("Rembrandt als Plaatsnijder," Oud-Holland, 

 V. 27, pp. 112 f.) and have been frequently cited since then. 

 The print is the portrait of Jan Antonidcs van der Linden 

 (Hind 268). 



2* Confusion has arisen over a note, clearly in Rembrandt's 

 hand, on one of his drawings (Benesch 1351, Hofstede de Groot 

 763, dated about 1654-55). The Dutch text is given in 

 Benesch, op. cit., vol. 6, p. 374. It reads, "In order to etch 



. . ," and gives a recipe consisting of turpentine and turpentine 

 oil. This, of course, could not possibly be a mordant. Miinz 

 discusses it (op. cit., vol. 2, p. 14) and concludes that with the 

 addition of mastic, this could be a kind of stop-out varnish. 



We are not likely to come closer to an answer for this cryptic 

 inscription. 



29 CoPPIER, op. cit. 



M Ibid., p. 117. Detail of plate for Hind 277, dated 1654. 



'' BossE, op. cit., pp. 5 and 11. Vitriol is copper or iron 

 sulfate, saltpeter is potassium nitrate, and alum is an aluminum 

 sulfate salt. Bosses other two acids are distilled pure vinegar 

 (acetic acid) and a boiled mixture of vinegar and chloride 

 salts. Both are relatively weak. My thanks to Dr. Robert P. 

 Multhauf for his advice on 17th-century chemistry. 



^- Felix Brunner {A Handbook of Graphic Reproduction Processes, 

 New York: Hastings House, 1962, p. 124), suggests that 

 Rembrandt may have used ferric chloride, a weaker mordant, 

 around 1640. 



3' Rosenberg, Rembrandt: Lije and Work (London: Phaidon 

 Press, rev. ed., 1964), p. 330. 



3' My gratitude to Jacob Kainen for first pointing out the 

 existence of these disembodied spirits. 



35 Arnold Houbraken, quoted in Hofstede de Groot, 

 Die Urkunden .... op. cit.. no 407, p. 471. 



PAPER 61 : REMBRANDT S ETCHING TECHNIQUE 



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