ings and prints after Michael
Angelo, Raffaelle, and Titian, which at that time were rare and of great
value. We find by a memorandum on the back of one of Rembrandt's proofs,
on India paper, of his etching of "Christ Healing the Sick," which now
goes by the name of "The Hundred Guilder Print," that, "wishing to
possess a print of the Plague, by Mark Antonio, after Raffaelle, valued
by the dealer Van Zomers at a hundred florins, he gave the proof in
exchange;" and further, "that such proofs were never sold, but given as
presents to his friends." We may perceive by this the anxiety he had to
collect works that were excellent. As we do not discover amongst the
various articles enumerated, either palette or brushes, we may infer
that on quitting Amsterdam he carried off all his working apparatus.

With this short notice of his life, and these few remarks, I must now
enter into what is more properly the subject of this work, a critical
examination into his principles and practice.

[Footnote 1: Mr. Nieuwenhuys, in a note in his Life of Rembrandt,
mentions that the Directors of the Anatomical Theatre resolved to sell
this picture by auction, for the purpose of augmenting the funds for
supporting the widows of members, and in consequence the sale was
announced for Monday the 4th of August, 1828. Since the year 1632, until
this period, it had always remained in that establishment, as a gift
from Professor N. Tulp, who presented it as a remembrance of himself and
colleagues. Mr. N. had no sooner heard that the piece in question was to
be sold, than he went to Amsterdam, with the intention of purchasing
it; but, upon arriving, was informed that his Majesty, the King of the
Netherlands, had opposed the sale, and given orders to the Minister for
the Home Department to obtain it for the sum of 32,000 guldens, and
caused it to be placed in the Museum at the Hague, where it remains.
The picture is on canvas: height 64-1/2 inches, width 83-1/2 inches.]

REMBRANDT AND HIS WORKS.

The early pictures, in all ages, either merely indicate the character
of bas-reliefs or single statues,--a cold continuity of outline, and
an absence of foreshortening. The first move in advance, and that
which constitutes their pictorial character, in contradistinction to
sculpture, is an assemblage of figures, repeating the various forms
contained in the principal ones, and thus rendering them less harsh by
extension and doubling of the various sh