Christ.
It appears, therefore, that some parts are to be darkened, as well as
other parts made lighter. This, consequently, is a science which an
engraver ought well to understand before he can presume to venture on any
alteration from the picture he means to represent. The same thing may be
remarked in many other prints by those engravers who were employed by
Rubens and Vandyke; they always gave more light than they were warranted
by the picture--a circumstance which may merit the attention of
engravers."

As most of these engravings were made from studies in black and white,
perhaps reduced from the picture by the engraver, but certainly touched
on afterwards by the painters themselves, they form a school for the
study of light and shade when deprived of colour. In the etchings of
Rembrandt, therefore, we ought to bear in mind that splendour of effect
was what he aimed at, and the means adopted by Rubens and Vandyke were
carried still further by the fearless master of chiaro-scuro. Now
that the eye has been accustomed to engravings where the local colour
is rendered, when we look over a folio of the works of Bolswert,
Soutman, Pontius, and others of the Flemish engravers, they appear,
notwithstanding their overpowering depth and brilliancy, unfinished,
from the lights of the several coloured draperies and the flesh tones
being left white. They also occasionally look spotty in effect, from the
extreme strength of the shadows and black draperies. In Rembrandt's
works these defects are avoided, by finishing his darks with the
greatest care and softness, while the figures in the light masses are
often left in mere outline: the lights are also reduced in size as they
enter the shade; while the darks in the light portions of his prints are
circumscribed to a mere point, for the purpose of giving a balance and
solidity. The shadows of the several objects likewise assume a greater
delicacy as they enter into the masses of light. In these respects, the
Hundred Guilder print is a striking example.

As we are now considering light and shade when unaccompanied by colour,
I may notice that those portions where the dark and light masses come in
contact are the places where both the rounding of the objects by making
out the forms, and also the patching down the half-tint with visible
lines, may be followed out with the greatest success, as it prevents the
work being heavy in effect, and also assists the passage of the light
into t