Even during the artist's lifetime, contemporary art lovers considered
Rembrandt van Rijn to be an exceptional artist. In this revelatory
sequel to the acclaimed Rembrandt: The Painter at Work, renowned
Rembrandt authority Ernst van de Wetering investigates precisely why the
artist, from a very early age, was praised by prominent connoisseurs. He
argues that Rembrandt, from his very first endeavors in painting,
embarked on a journey past all the foundations of the art of painting
that, according to (up until now misinterpreted) contemporary written
sources, were considered essential in the seventeenth century. Rembrandt
never stopped searching for solutions to the pictorial problems that
confronted him; this led over time to radical changes in course that
can't simply be attributed to stylistic evolution or natural
development. In a quest as rigorous and novel as the artist's, van de
Wetering reveals how Rembrandt became the best painter the world had
ever seen. Gorgeously illustrated throughout, this groundbreaking
exploration reconstructs Rembrandt's closely guarded theories and
methods, shedding new light both on the artist's exceptional
accomplishments and on the practice of painting in the Dutch Golden Age.
Published in association with Amsterdam University Press
