REMBRANDT

by Gladys Schmitt ‧ RELEASE DATE: June 24, 1961

The famous name conjures up certain familiar paintings-usually seen in reproductions (The Lesson in Anatomy, The Descent from the Cross, Night Watch- to give it the popular title-Pilgrims of Emmaus, The Burgomaster and His Wife, etc.). We know him as the Dutch painter and etcher, of the 17th century -- but little of his life, or the struggle to gain- and keep- the recognition subsequent centuries have accorded him. And that is about the sum and substance. Gladys Schmitt has brought the period and the man, with his inner torments into focus, has made one share almost unbearably the controversies that raged around the man and his work. Extensive research, over a long period, has gone into the author's saturating herself with all that is known-or surmised- about Rembrandt, and against this immense absorption she has drawn a fictional creation with considerable conviction. The book has a sweep of period and a penetration of the mores of the people that brings his contradictions into relief. The book is overlong, repetitive in mood and some readers will quarrel with the author's drawing on her own imagination for dialogue, inner thoughts, and so on. But in the main it sustains a kind of objectivity.

Pub Date: June 24, 1961

ISBN: 1163813737

Page Count: -

Publisher: Random House

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 1961

Categories: FICTION