LOW COUNTRIES, ENGRAVERS OF THE. 



confulcred as a beautiful fpecimcn of the abilities of an ar- 

 tift, thrown afide for no other fault than that of being too 

 ealily obtained ; vvhil|l another, which perhaps is rather a 

 difgrace than an honour to him, is purchafed at an extra- 

 vagant price, and anxiouOy prefcrved becaufe it is unique. 

 It is merely owing to this caprice, that fo many trifling 

 alterations in the prints of Rembrandt, rather than a proper 

 examination of their real merit, iiicreafe or diminifh the 

 worth ot the fame print. I myfelf, commiflioned by an 

 eminent colleftor, gave fix-and-forty guineas for the great 

 Coppenol, with the white back-ground, that is, before it 

 was tiiiirnv'd ; when, the fame evening, at the fame fale, I 

 bought a moll beautiful impreffion of the fame print finifhed, 

 dillinguifhed by having a black back-ground, &c. which 

 had an addrefs to Rembrandt at the bottom, written by 

 Coppenol himfelf (for he was a writing-mafter of Amftcr- 

 dam, and this print is his portrait,) for fourteen guineas 

 and a half. In the fccond inftance, I exceeded my com- 

 miffion by the half guinea ; in the firft, I did not reach it 

 by nearly twice ten guineas. It cannot be realonably fup- 

 pofed, that fuch a difference could exitl between two good 

 impreflions of the fame plate ; and, fpeaking as an artift, 

 I ihouid certainly have taken the laft in preference to the 

 firil." 



The " flngular"' manner of which Strutt fpeaks, appears 

 to have been (hrewdly gueffed at by Watelet and Bartfch, 

 who fay, that " it would be difficult to difcover the way 

 in which Rembrandt worked : he certainly made great ufe 

 of the dry point, which he fometimes fcraped but ffightly, 

 and the burr partially ftopping up, or blending with the 

 lines, refembled a wafh," yet poffeffed more warmth and 

 richnefs. The dry point which Rembrandt ufed was either, 

 as Strutt has fuppoled, the pent of a graver, or it was 

 fuch a dry point, as has fince, in our own country, been 

 much ufed by Worlidge.. namely, cylindrical fleel wire, 

 whetted to a triangular point. 



But the great wonder of his art, as an engraver, is his 

 chiarofcuro. He feems to have been born to ihew us how 

 much intereft could be excited in a print without drawing, 

 or any attempt at rendering local colour in the abllrafi, by 

 mere dint of compoiition and chiarofcuro, and chiefly of the 

 latter. Or, more ftriftly fpeaking, to fhew us with how 

 little drawing, and how entirely without the refinement of 

 feleftion, in regard to forms, a powerful chiarofcuro may 

 be kept together, and brought to operate on our imagina- 

 tion and judgment. 



In the dilpsfition of his lines, he feems to have been 

 guided by no principle, but the fpontaneous feeling of the 

 moment ; yet a certain tatl of mind always attended him, 

 and imparted ftyle to his works. 



It was probably from this fpontaneoufnefs of feeling, 

 which in his prints llands inftead of ftudy, that we fee fo 

 many variations in fome of his plates ; which appear to have 

 been fuddenly thought of, and promptly executed from 

 time to time, juil as his mufe infpired. At leaft, this is a 

 more artill-like, as well as natural fuppofition, than that his 

 own avarice, or that of hh wife, prompted theft- alterations 

 (which have become fo great objefts of connoiffeurfliip) 

 with the folc view of obtaining the money which the addi- 

 tional fale produced. What man who maintains the con- 

 trary opinion, has proved that Rembrandt altered his plates 

 for the worfe ? Yet this is abfolutely neceffary to the fup- 

 port of the mercenary fide of the argument. 



The genius of Rembrandt was univcrfa!, and whatever 

 the iubject of his engravings, whether hillory, landfcape, 

 or portrait, all are marked by the fame energetic 

 truth ; the fame wild graces ; the fame forcefuj phiaro- 



.'curo. He painted and engraved what he faw, and did not 

 attempt to generalife his objefls by any procefs of abftrac. 

 tion, or accommodate or quahfy them, by what he might 

 fuppofe others had imagined. The learned precepts of his 

 prcdeceflors, fuch as that art fhould render men as they 

 ought to be, not as they are, were difregarded or defpifed 

 by Rembrandt, and fo ftrong is the internal evidence of 

 his works, or fo perfuafive his powers, that no fpeftator 

 can entertain a doubt that his portraits, whether of perfons 

 or places, are tranfcripts of Nature, executed under a firm 

 conviftion that where (he was pidlurefque, according to his 

 view of the capabilities of art, flie was as (he ought to be. 



The prints of this mailer are dated from the year 1628 

 to 1659 : their number, when added to that of his piftures, 

 is furprifing, and atteds at once his profefliopal diligence, 

 and the rapidity of his powers. Mariette polfeffed three 

 hundred and feventy-five fubjefls : Yever, of Amfterdam, 

 and Gerfaint of Paris, in a defcriptive catalogue which he 

 formed, have enumerated more, and Mr. Daulby, of Liver. 

 pool, as the prefent writer has been informed, more ftill : 

 fo that their precife number is probably not known. It is 

 fcarcely neceflaiy to add that no engravings, in their rare 

 ftages, or fine imprelTions, have been fought after with more 

 avidity. 



Of himfel.^, Rembrandt has engraved no fewer than 

 twcnty-feven portraits, to diflingui(h which from each other, 

 by means of words alone, might not be eafy. One holds 

 a pencil, and is more carefully finiffied than the red : another 

 is in a fort of Perfian habit, with an oval border ; in another, 

 his wife alio is introduced, and moil of them are of quarto 

 dimenfioiis. 



From the reft of his works, the following may be felefted 

 with advantage. 



Suljeas from the Old Tfjlarner.i .—" Adam and Eve in 

 the terrefti-ial Paradife," rare ; " Abraham fending away 

 Hagar and Ilhmael ;" « Abraham and Ifaac," arched at 

 the top, all in quarto ; " Jofeph recounting his Dreams to 

 his Father, in the Prefence of his Brethren ;" " Jacob 

 mourning for the Lofs of Jofeph ;'' « Jofeph folicited by 

 the Wife of Potiphar," in oftavo ; «' Mordccai conduftei 

 in Triumph by Haman ;" and «' The Angel Raphael dif- 

 appearing before Tobit and his Family," both in large 

 qua-to. 



Suhjeds from the Netu Tijlament. — "The Annunciation 

 of the Shepherds," with a very myfterious fentiment and 

 povN-erful chiarofcuro, in folio ; " The Adoration of the 

 Shepherds," in large quarto ; " The Circumcifion of 

 Chrift," with an extraordinary good effedl ; " The Prc- 

 fentation in the Temple ;" •' The Flight into Egypt," 

 both in i2mo. ; another " Flight into Egypt," executed iu 

 his more fcratchy (lyle, in quarto; another "Flight into 

 Egypt," in the (lyle of EKluemer, in folio, a very much 

 elleemed print ; " The Holy Family," where the Virgin is 

 reprefentcd feated in an eafy chair, and flic and the Infant 

 appear affeep ; " Jefus preaching to the Multitude," all in 

 quarto; " Ctefar's Tribute Money," in i2mo.; " Chrill 

 turning the Money-Chans/ers out of the Temple;" 

 " Chrill and the Woman of Samaria," a circular print ; 

 another of " Chriit and the Woman of Samaria," iii 

 quarto, a very fine brilliant-toned engraving ; " The Rc- 

 iurreclion of Lazarus," a circular print, with a powerful 

 eff'edl, in large folio ; " The Refurrcftion of Lazams," a 

 fmaller print than the- former ; " Chrift healing the Sick," 

 a famous print, known by the name of " The hundred 

 Florins ;" an " Ecce Homo," a very grand compoiition. 

 and a very capital engraving ; " Chrift taten from the 

 Croff," attended by the Magdalen and the Holy Virgin, (a 

 3 R - companion 



