followed, and consequently like him imitated the style of Backhuysen. He also made copies of several of Backhuy sen's pictures with great exactness. His pictures of tempests, with lightning and shipwrecks, are both truthful and poetical, and are much admired.

PETER COOPSE painted small pictures in the manner of Backhuysen and Van de Velde, but nearest to that of the former. His works would be better known if interested parties did not obliterate his name, and substitute that of one of higher repute. In the gallery at Munich there is, or was, a picture by him which bears his name, but in the catalogue is called Backhuysen. We have no account of his birth or death, but from his imitating the above-named masters it may be conjectured that he lived towards the end of the seventeenth century, or early part of the eighteenth. See Marine Painters.

MICHAEL MADDERSTEG, born at Amsterdam in 1659, was a scholar of Backhuysen. He adopted the style of his master, and depicted storms and rolling seas with a truth and vigour little inferior to him. Some of his pictures have become dark by time, while others retain their original freshness, and prove him to be one of the best of the school. A capital picture of a storm by him is in the Museum of Berlin, and many others are to be met with in Germany. He died in 1709. See Marine Painters, in the Classifications. JAN CHRISTIAN SCHOTEL. See Marine Painters, in the Classifications.

REMBRANDT VAN RYN.

THIS artist stands distinguished from all that preceded him for the bold style he adopted in treating his subject, whether history, landscape, or portraiture, and for the daring manner of his colouring, and use of chiaroscuro. He had no precursor, few rivals, but many followers, who, in whole or in part, have profited by studying his principles, imitating his peculiarities, and imbibing a portion of his genius and spirit. If properly viewed, there can be no doubt of his masterly excellence in every department that he undertook; and though the historical figures may be deficient in dignity, the truth of nature subsists in the characters; they are men

and women acting according to the impulses that all feel, whether they be heroes, or of the common multitude. Having chosen a story, he took as many figures as were necessary for the relation, and arranged them in the order conducive to the event, regardless of beauty of person in the chief object, or elegance of deportment, but careful of position, and the varied expressions of passion or sentiment in every individual of the group. This, however, would appear to be the substratum on which to pour the magic of his colours and the illusion of his chiaroscuro, to create the image of reality in the mind of the observer by the very mystification in which the composition was enveloped. Colour in all its combinations and gradations producing its own light and shade, or strengthened or subdued by arbitrary contrasts, was with him the paramount consideration; he manages it at will, compels the observer to wonder and admire, and, if not a professional critic, to approve he knows not why and cares not wherefore. The more advanced that an amateur is in the knowledge of the art, the greater degree of pleasure he will derive from contemplating the works of Rembrandt. His landscapes are invested with a solemn gloom; none of the gaieties of nature appear in the scene, they are obscured by impenetrable darkness; a dusky twilight prevails, and if forms are apparent they are made so by a partial gleam that seems to struggle with difficulty through the sullen mass, creating merely a refracted light: but these scenes are precious in the estimation of connoisseurs. Such is their general character; when he deviates it is to show a wide expanse of country, by what is called a bird'seye view, which necessitates a greater degree of light to mark the gradations; dark and humid clouds impend, such as appear in the autumnal season, casting broad shadows, and confining the rays of the sun to some particular object, as a corn-field, a river, a bridge, or a mill, and illumining the rest by reflection. The amateur should embrace every opportunity of making himself acquainted with these landscapes, for they are very few, and confined chiefly to the rich collections of opulent proprietors, and for other reasons that will be mentioned in speaking of Rembrandt's scholars and imitators.

The portraits by Rembrandt will most frequently claim

the attention of the amateur, as they are, of his works, the most frequent in public sales, and indeed to be found in almost every collection of good pictures. In this department he stands pre-eminent among the Dutch painters, and need not "vail his bonnet" to any master of any other school for simplicity, truth, and force of expression, splendour of colouring, and magical effect.

In the manipulation of his portraits there is much difference of manner; in some, particularly of ladies, he seems to have exercised the most scrupulous care and attention, even to minuteness, yet preserving ease in the deportment, freshness and purity in the colouring; in others, and these are generally of the male sex, he uses the utmost freedom of handling, almost to coarseness, but produces such beautiful results that they are deemed enchanting. Some of his most highly esteemed portraits, of persons that it was his interest to please, are painted in this manner, in which the spatula seems to have been employed in conjunction with the pencil. Many of his earlier pictures are executed in the first manner, and numerous others partake of the latter; in all there is the truth of nature and characteristic expression which warrant the faithfulness of the likeness. Of his skill as an engraver and etcher it is not necessary to say anything, though he is equally renowned in that department as in painting. It has been generally stated that Rembrandt was born in 1606 at his father's mill, situate between Leyerdorp and Koukergen, not far distant from Leyden, and in the vicinity of the Rhine; this is now controverted, and seemingly on good authority, for in the register of his marriage at Amsterdam, June the 10th, 1634, he declares himself to be twenty-six years of age, which would place his birth in 1608. The date of his death has been variously reported, but it would seem erroneously, from the discovery of the registers of deaths and burials in the Westerkerk at Amsterdam, in the latter of which the entry is " Tuesday, the 8th of October, 1669, REMBRANDT VAN RYN, painter, on the Roosegraft, opposite the Maze, leaving two children." Those who wish to be acquainted with the history of the man, as well as the painter, will do well in dismissing from their mind the scandalous anecdotes to be found in most of his biographers relating to his habits and morals; a recent publica

tion, at Amsterdam, has vindicated his character in these respects, and thrown a light on many parts of his history that have hitherto been obscure and unsatisfactory, and occasioned false conclusions. The work alluded to is " A Lecture on the Life and Merits of Rembrandt van Ryn, by P. Scheltema," published at Amsterdam in 1853, in Dutch, of which a translation may be expected.

Smith's Catalogue Raisonné, vol. vii., contains a very ample account of his works, both paintings and etchings, and particulars that may be interesting and instructive to the

amateur.

SCHOLARS AND IMITATORS OF REMBRANDT.

GERARD DOU was a scholar of Rembrandt, and when under his tuition made copies from his designs of a smaller size, which, when touched by the master, were disposed of as original pictures. He also painted portraits in a highly laboured manner, many of which are in existence, so it may be inferred that such was the style of his master at that period. See the article GERARD ĎOU.

FERDINAND BOL, born at Dort in 1611, died in 1681, studied under Rembrandt, and imbibed many of the peculiarities of his earlier style; he copied his master's pictures with great exactness, and is another instance of the pains-taking manner of the school, which he never entirely abandoned. His portraits and historical compositions are neatly penciled, but want harmony in the colouring; they have a certain gaiety that renders them pleasing, and are not to be rejected because they do not aim at Rembrandt's later and more learned productions. Some of his pictures are remarkable for impasto and brilliancy.

GOVAERT FLINK, born in 1614, died in 1660, was a distinguished scholar of Rembrandt, as far as regards portraiture; he was a good colourist, free in his execution, and careful in his finishing. His works bear evidence of the school in which he completed his artistic education, and are a credit to it.

GERBRANT VANDER EECKHOUT was a scholar and an excellent imitator of Rembrandt, but there is a vast distance between their original works. He exhibits all the peculiar

ities of the school in colouring, distribution of light and shade, and freedom of drawing, but falls short of the force and vigour of his master; he had much of his manner, but little of his genius. His pictures, however, by the effect of imitation, are sometimes mistaken by amateurs for the work of Rembrandt, and an ignorant or unscrupulous dealer does not hesitate to pronounce them as such. He was born at Amsterdam in 1621, and died in 1674. See Imitators of Terburg.

SALOMON KONINCH was not a pupil of Rembrandt, but he copied his smaller pictures, and composed historical subjects, which he coloured admirably in his manner; they are distinguished by a rich and clear tone, and by a true gradation of light from the windows of a room to its recesses, which is observable in his fancy compositions. He was born in 1609, and, it is supposed, died about 1674, but it is uncertain.

PHILIP DE KONINGH. This very excellent portrait painter is supposed to have been a scholar of Rembrandt, but there is no further evidence of it than what appears in his works; if he was not a scholar he was the ablest of his imitators. His colouring is rich and harmonious, and clearer than Rembrandt's, and partakes of the tinting of Van Dyck; there is much truth and nature in the heads, and a tasteful arrangement in the draperies, and it may be suspected that some which are attributed to Rembrandt belong more properly to Philip de Koningh.

DE KONINGH. Whether this admirable landscape painter be the same as the preceding is not yet ascertained, but he is generally called Philip, though there are two other De Koninghs, David and Jacob, who occasionally have the honour conferred on them; whichever it be, he was a worthy rival of Rembrandt. His landscapes exhibit a wide extent of flat lands, diversified with hamlets, corn-fields and pasture, wood and water, over which the broad shadows of floating clouds, and rays of sunshine, sweep alternately; in the management of the whole there is the mastery of Rembrandt and Ruisdael combined. His handling is bold and decisive, his colouring deep, clear, and unctuous, the effect magical. The objects are more defined than in the same class of landscapes by Rembrandt, and the perspective