"About the year 1625 the master had advanced to a style of impression and way of handling that in general remained stationary for about ten years. A gay, delightful humor laughs out at us from all these pictures: from the rich, full local colors, the clear blonde tones, playful easy handling, which quickly, in a few minutes with a few scattered strokes and sweeps of the brush and palette knife blade, brings the personality of the subject upon the canvas, and soon the conception is rendered to the smallest detail in lovely, delicate completeness."
Characteristics of Thomas de Keijser's Work.—Of all important painters who flourished in Amsterdam when Rembrandt settled there at the end of 1631, Thomas de Keijser (1596-1667) was by far the greatest. His portraits, particularly those of small dimensions, take high rank among those which the Dutch school in its glory produced. His work is distinguished by a masterly technique, a splendid characterization in portraiture, a powerful but brilliant selection of color, and a broad, heavy brush.
Description of a Portrait painted by him.—These qualities are found in the Portrait of a Man of Distinction, signed and dated 1631. The man, nearly life size, is seated before a table covered with a reddish Oriental carpet, and with his left hand is turning over the leaves of a book that rests upon a desk. He is not looking at the book, however, but at the spectator. His hair is gray and quite short, he wears a moustache, his eyes are full of fire, and his face is expressive. He has on a large black hat, and a white collar spreads out over his black silk doublet; his stockings are black silk, and his shoes are ornamented with rosettes. The right hand, which is superb, rests on his hip. The floor is paved with black and gray tiles and in the sober background, which serves to bring out the face, a library is indicated on the left.
Group of Four Burgomasters.—The portrait is painted on oak, as is also that of the Amsterdam Burgomasters Deliberating with Regard to the Visit of Marie de Médici to that city. This very small picture, in which the figures are only eight and a half inches high, was painted by De Keijser in 1638, when the widow of the French King Henri IV. visited Amsterdam.
"It is no small glory," says Blanc, "for De Keijser to have painted a picture which in value of execution may be placed between the Peace of Münster and the Syndics by Rembrandt."
Description of the Figures.—Here we find four burgomasters sitting around a table covered with a green cloth in an austere hall, whose gray walls are broken by niches containing statues. These four old men—Abraham Boom, Petrus Hasselaer, Albert Coenraet Burgh, and Antonie Oetgens van Waveren—are dressed in black and wear black felt hats unadorned with plumes. Their grave deliberations regarding the entertainment of the royal guest are interrupted by the entrance of the lawyer, Cornelis van Davelaer, who, hat in hand, salutes them with the greatest respect, as he announces the arrival of Marie de Médici.
Blanc's Opinion of the Picture.—Blanc, who greatly admires this picture, calls attention to the fact that no useless piece of furniture or accessory of any kind disturbs the solemnity of this little scene, which, on account of the simple manner in which it is conceived, is great, notwithstanding its size. He says:
"With the exception of Rembrandt, I do not know of a single Dutch painter, not even Van der Helst (who painted such great canvases), who would not have belittled his picture, either by elegance of touch and finish, or by the richness of the costumes and arms, or by the effect of a carpet variegated with a thousand shades. I imagine that Gerard Ter Borch, in spite of his habitual dignity, would have found some pretext for introducing into his composition a beautiful sword with a baudrick, a crossbow, or a chandelier; that Metsu would certainly have found some excuse for placing a richly chiselled silver aiguière or a golden goblet on the table; and I am sure that through the door by which the lawyer, Davelaer, enters, Pieter de Hooch would have let you see the antechamber of the Council, with its high chairs covered with Utrecht velvet, or a winding stairway, or a distant door opening into a garden or street. The attention would then have been somewhat distracted by the very striking accessories, or by the optical charm of the chiaroscuro. Here we find nothing of the kind; not a single concession to conventional treatment. By the gravity of their attitude, we see that these four citizens, chosen by a free people who sit here with covered heads, express in themselves the majesty of the United Provinces, and they consider themselves of equal rank with the Queen of France, whose arrival is being announced; you feel at once that they bring a plebeian pride to their magnificent reception of that princess who was, like them, originally from a republic of merchants. All the costumes being black,—that beautiful, warm, transparent, silky black peculiar to Velasquez and Anthonis Moro,—you only notice in this picture the hands and the heads. The heads have an expression that will remain engraven in the mind forever, for the painter has accented them so deeply, and brought into contrast both physical and moral features. Notwithstanding their individuality, they all have a certain grandeur. The peculiar trait of this master, however, is the neutral background, the exquisite sobriety of the tone of the wall, recalling the beautiful gray of the great Spanish painter; and from this stand out the black of the doublets and the white collars."
Blanc also calls attention to the splendid painting of the faces: the eyes sunken by age, the wrinkles of the skin, and the withered cheeks. Bredius writes:
"What character has the artist put into these heads! We feel at once that it must have been this kind of men who conducted Amsterdam to greatness and fame. What worth and dignity in the way they hold themselves! What self-confidence in the proud glance!"