Rembrandt

In Short

Mortimer Menpes presents an appreciative, visually grounded study of Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn, arguing that the Dutch master's true genius lies in his unmatched emotional honesty and command of light and shadow. Moving through the painter's major biographical epochs, celebrated canvases, and intimate etchings, the book contrasts the living experience of art with the dry exhaustiveness of academic critics. Menpes explains how new techniques in modern color printing can finally bring the rich undertones and true atmosphere of Rembrandt's masterpieces directly to everyday readers, making a passionate case for experiencing art through immediate, personal feeling.

The Story

The book opens with artist Mortimer Menpes reflecting on the sudden, shocking impact of seeing Rembrandt's original paintings in person, particularly during his visits to the Hermitage in St. Petersburg. Disappointed by the dull black-and-white photographs and inaccurate reproductions of his era, Menpes explains his personal mission to develop advanced color printing processes that preserve the painter's true values of light, shadow, and undertone. To illustrate how most people encounter great art, Menpes introduces a fictional London citizen and golfer who stumbles into the world of Rembrandt through a casual etching. This golfer dives headfirst into massive biographical volumes, catalogues, and scholarly debates. While turning over a heavy boulder on a golf course, the citizen realizes that academic critics resemble a swarm of hyperactive insects working tirelessly beneath a grey surface, unearthing endless facts, dates, and dubious legends about Rembrandt's life.

Menpes deliberately drops this scholarly golfer in favor of the man's imaginative young son, who grows up approaching Rembrandt not through dry archives, but through direct, emotional encounters with the artwork itself. As a child confused by the complex term "chiaroscuro," the boy learns to see how Rembrandt sacrifices standard lighting to gain a deeper, more dramatic truth. Growing into adulthood, he discovers Rembrandt's humanity through his self-portraits—ranging from the fashionable, confident young man of thirty-two to the bankrupt, time-marked old painter five years before his death, still joyful so long as he has a roof under which to paint.

The narrative shifts from oil paintings to the vast realm of Rembrandt's etchings. Menpes tracks how an enthusiast discovers affordable print reproductions in a small shop, leading him to the Print Room of the British Museum. There, surrounded by quiet portfolios, he experiences masterpieces like The Hundred Guilder Print, The Three Crosses, and delicate drawings, realizing that Rembrandt's graphic needle captured profound spiritual intensity in mere scratches of steel.

Menpes then outlines the four great structural epochs of Rembrandt's life, each defined by a landmark work: the early triumph of The Anatomy Lesson in 1632; the misunderstood genius of The Night Watch in 1642, which alienated patrons because Rembrandt prioritized artistic light and composition over standard group portraiture; the majestic mastery of The Syndics of the Cloth Hall in 1662; and the final, defiant self-portrait of 1667, showing an aged, toothless painter laughing beside his easel. Ultimately, Menpes places Rembrandt alongside Titian and Velasquez in art history's great triumvirate, celebrating an isolated genius whose inexhaustible imagination was fed not by vanity or grand theories, but by a profound love for the human life around him.

How It Unfolds

The quest for true colour Menpes describes his frustration with black-and-white art reproductions and details his efforts to adapt modern color printing to capture Rembrandt's deep, transparent glazes.

The golfer in the library A casual golfer discovers Rembrandt through books and art critics, coming to view the dense hive of academic scholars as busy insects working beneath a heavy stone.

Learning to see light A young, imaginative boy learns the meaning of chiaroscuro and begins to explore Rembrandt's paintings with his eyes and heart rather than through academic formulas.

The face in the mirror The narrative examines Rembrandt's self-portraits across his life, tracing his transformation from a proud, fur-trimmed dandy into an impoverished, serene old man who only asks for the liberty to paint.

Discoveries in the print room An art lover buys modest print reproductions in a small shop before visiting the British Museum, where turning through original portfolios of etchings reveals Rembrandt's supreme mastery of line and drama.

Four milestones of a career Menpes walks through four distinct eras of Rembrandt's life, showing how works like The Anatomy Lesson and The Night Watch marked the peaks, controversies, and shifts in his public popularity.

Alone on Parnassus The book concludes by placing Rembrandt alongside Titian and Velasquez, celebrating an unpretentious, self-taught genius who wiped his brushes on his clothes and painted human nature with boundless sympathy.

The People

• Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn: The central subject of the book; a fiercely independent Dutch painter and etcher who seeks to capture the deep truths of human emotion and light. Unswayed by academic theories or fickle public taste, he remains dedicated to his canvas through early renown, middle-aged controversy, and late-life bankruptcy, changing from a stylish youth into a joyful, compromised old master.
• Mortimer Menpes: The author and narrator; a practicing artist who wants to bring true visual reproductions of Rembrandt's work to the general public. He opposes mechanical black-and-white prints, valuing direct visual joy over dry historical criticism.
• The Citizen and Golfer: A fictional, prosperous Londoner who approaches art entirely through books, catalogues, and scholarly commentary. He represents the intellectual, fact-seeking reader who enjoys art history as a scientific document rather than an emotional experience.
• The Golfer's Son: An imaginative, sensitive child who grows into a passionate art enthusiast. He represents the ideal viewer, bypassing dry biography to connect directly with the spiritual depth, warmth, and humanity of Rembrandt's canvases and etchings.
• John Ruskin: A prominent art critic cited in the text whose harsh, moralizing critique of Rembrandt's dark palette serves as a foil to Menpes's appreciation of Rembrandt's dramatic chiaroscuro.

In Its Own Voice

"The reproductions I have seen of this picture, and, in fact, of all Rembrandt's works, are so poor and so unsatisfactory that I was determined, after my visit to St. Petersburg, to devise a means by which facsimile reproductions in colour of Rembrandt's pictures could be set before the public."

Menpes explains the driving motivation behind his book and his technical experiments in modern color printing.

"He had passed that boulder a hundred times, his eyes had rested cursorily upon it as often as the name of Rembrandt in book or newspaper had met his indifferent gaze."

The author uses the metaphor of an upturned rock to describe how a reader suddenly discovers the vast world of art criticism.

"Look at me! That is what I am like now, an old, much bothered man, bankrupt, without a home, but happy enough so long as I have some sort of a roof above me under which I can paint."

Menpes interprets the unpretentious, honest expression staring out from Rembrandt's late self-portrait at the National Gallery.

What It's Really About

At its core, the book argues that art should be experienced directly through emotional intuition and visual joy rather than mediated through dry academic scholarship. Menpes contrasts the mechanical collector who reads heavy catalogues with the sensitive viewer who sits before a canvas and feels its spiritual weight. The book explores how Rembrandt used extreme darkness not out of a morbid mind, but to illuminate essential human truths, showing that true genius requires total fidelity to one's personal vision regardless of changing fashions or financial ruin.

Why Read It Today

Readers who appreciate art appreciation without pretense will find this book a refreshing, accessible companion. Menpes writes with the clear, practical eye of a working painter, cutting through dusty academic jargon to focus on what actually makes a picture work: light, shadow, texture, and genuine feeling. The prose feels remarkably modern in its warmth, capturing the quiet excitement of sitting in a museum print room or stumbling upon an inspiring print in a dusty shop.

While modern readers will easily navigate the text, the book reflects its period in a few quiet ways. Menpes occasionally relies on gentle Victorian-era tropes—such as the hypothetical golfer and his family—to structure his arguments, and he assumes a basic familiarity with classical artistic terms like chiaroscuro or historical references to figures like Ruskin. Modern art historians might also note that some of the 19th-century biographical legends Menpes cites have since been revised. Yet these period touches only add to its charm, leaving behind an honest, deeply felt celebration of an artist who cared far more for his craft than for worldly status.