mythological incident and not the legitimate joys of Sarah. On the other
hand, there is lacking here the indispensable golden shower by which the
Danaë pictures are really characterized. Besides, the profile of the
joyously surprised naked dame is not all antique. I take the liberty
humbly to suggest that the young woman with the rather mature body is,
to judge by the ornaments on her arms and in her hair, as well as by the
attributes of her luxurious bed and the unceremoniousness with which she
allows the light to play on her naked body through the open portières
without making use of the cover lying near by, to be considered a
professional beauty, who is receiving with more than open arms some very
welcome and generous guest. When once freed from the not exactly
pleasing impression which the fidgety impatience produces on the none
too pretty face, we cannot but admire the play of light on the nude
body. Nothing is flattered in this painting, and that makes more
striking the indelible impression of the shimmering light in all the
depressions and curves of the not especially attractive figure.
It would be much beyond the limits of the present sketch to mention even
by name the works of the first rank in the Rembrandt gallery. Suffice it
to state that there are among them a so-called Sobieski, the portrait of
the calligrapher Coppenol, almost breathing before one's eyes, the
"Parable of the Workmen in the Vineyard," "Abraham's Entertainment of
the Angels," a "Holy Family" of such loveliness as can scarcely be
accredited to the forceful realist, the "Workshop of Joseph," the
"Incredulity of St. Thomas," full of restless movement, a splendid
heroic "Pallas," portraits of men and women, all of them works of the
first rank, gems in the art of all time. To say anything of the master
himself is, thank Heaven, unnecessary. He has thus far escaped untouched
from the constant revolution of values, the propelling force of which is
usually unknown to its satellites. Of him alone can it be said, that
even an approximate conception of the range of his mastery is
impossible without familiarity with his paintings in the Hermitage.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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