FIGURE 16
Detail of Rembrandt's finished print, Landscape with a hay barn and a flock of sheep, showing shepherd in drypoint, erased figures behind flock, signature, and date. Enlarged 5 times.
(Smithsonian photo 59389.)
Houbraken, writing in 1718, talked of Rembrandt's technical secrets, "which he would not let his pupils see."[35] In truth, there are no secrets to this artist's technique in the etching medium. But his mastery of the art goes far beyond communicable secrets.
FOOTNOTES
[1] Hind 241 (A. M. Hind, A Catalogue of Rembrandt's Etchings, 2 vol., rev. ed., London, 1923), Bartsch 224 (Adam Bartsch, Catalogue raisonne de toutes les estampes ... de Rembrandt ..., Vienna, 1797). The particular example studied here is an impression of the second state (of two) in the collection of the United States National Museum, Smithsonian Institution.
The author wishes to express his deepest gratitude to Jacob ainen, curator of graphic arts at the Smithsonian Institution, for his acute knowledge, unfailing helpfulness, and encouragement in the preparation of this paper.
[2] P. G. Hamerton, for one, calls special attention to the technical importance of this print: "I recommend the student to familiarize himself with the workmanship of this plate...." (The Etchings of Rembrandt, London, 1894, p. 71.)