Rembrandt S First Masterpiece

Catalog of an exhibition held at the Morgan Library & Museum, June 3-September 18, 2016.

This volume examines how and why many early modern pictures operate in an ekphrastic mode.

"Rembrandt was the most famous painter of the Dutch Golden Age, and the opportunity to work in his studio attracted young artists for nearly four decades, until the artist's death in 1669. This catalogue explores the workings of Rembrandt's studio in the form of drawings made by the master himself and fifteen of his pupils. Rembrandt and his students would often depict the same subject matter as an exercise and make drawings of the same nude models. In his later years, Rembrandt also made sketching trips outside Amsterdam to create his innovative landscapes of the Dutch countryside. His students followed this example, sometimes depicting the same sites." "Organized chronologically, Drawings by Rembrandt and His Pupils: Telling the Difference is a groundbreaking study that presents more than forty works by Rembrandt and related works by his pupils. It explores the scholarship of recent decades that has brought new and more systematic criteria to bear on determining the authenticity of Rembrandt drawings, and defines the styles of his pupils and followers with ever-greater precision. In so doing, this volume demystifies the sometimes-baffling exercise known as connoisseurship and seeks to re-enact the daily practices that Rembrandt used to teach his students and bring them to artistic maturity." "This is an essential book for anyone interested in the Dutch Golden Age or the lives and careers of Rembrandt and the artists in his immediate circle. A major exhibition of these drawings will be on view at the J. Paul Getty Museum from December 8, 2009, to February 28, 2010." --Book Jacket.

Since the second half of the last century art historians, realizing that the image of Rembrandt’s work had become blurred with time, have attempted to redefine the artist’s significance both as a source of inspiration to other artists and as a great artist in his own right. In order to carry on the work started by previous generations, a group of leading Dutch art historians from the university and museum world joined forces in the late 1960s in order to study afresh the paintings usually ascribed to the artist. The researchers came together in the Rembrandt Research Project which was established to provide the art world with a new standard reference work which would serve the community of art historians for the nearby and long future. They examined the originals of all works attributed to Rembrandt taking full advantage of today’s sophisticated techniques including radiography, neutron activation autoradiography, dendrochronology and paint sample analysis — thereby gaining valuable insight into the genesis and condition of the paintings. The result of this meticulous research is laid down chronologically in the following Volumes: THIS VOLUME: A Corpus of Rembrandt Paintings, Volume I, which deals with works from Rembrandt’s early years in Leiden(1629-1631), published in 1982. A Corpus of Rembrandt Paintings, Volume II, covering his first years in Amsterdam (1631-1634), published in 1986. A Corpus of Rembrandt Paintings, Volume III, goes into his later years of reputation (1635-1642), published in 1990. Each Volume consists of a number of Introductory Chapters as well as the full Catalogue of all paintings from the given time period attributed to Rembrandt. In this catalogue each painting is discussed and examined in a detailed way, comprising a descriptive, an interpretative and a documentary section. For the authenticity evaluation of the paintings three different categories are used to divide the works in: A. Paintings by Rembrandt, B. Paintings of which Rembrandt’s authorship cannot be positively either accepted or rejected, and C. Paintings of which Rembrandt’s authorship cannot be accepted. This volume (Volume I) contains 730 pages, starting of with four introductory chapters and discussing 93 paintings. In clear and accessible explanatory text all different paintings are discussed, larded with immaculate images of each painting. Details are shown where possible, as well as the results of modern day technical imaging. In this volume the first ever works by Rembrandt are discussed, also using his etchings as comparison.

Art Expressions visits some of the world's greatest artists and their paintings. The book includes a brief two-page biographical review of the artist and one or more of their famous art. Each painting is accompanied by a one-page explanation and devotional. Over 450 pages.

Jesus had lots of followers, sometimes he had thousands of people listening to him teach and watching the miracles being performed. The disciples abandoned everything to follow Christ—careers, families, and their former life—and by doing so they spread the Gospel of the Kingdom to much of the known world at that time. Included in this pictorial study are paintings from some of the most famous portraitists in the world who captured the vision, mood, and determination of "the Twelve" including Judas Iscariot, Matthias, and of course, the Apostle Paul. Each profile has a two-page biography of known ministry and travel. Today, Christ is still calling disciples and apostles and empowering them with the same Spirit as the Twelve. In our words and our deeds, may we continue to tell the story of Jesus.