he shadow. The quality of the lights and darks is flatness. The
Flemish engravers seem to have been very particular in the method of
producing their shadow, both with regard to the direction of the lines,
and also their repetition; their object seems to have been intenseness
of dark with transparency of execution. In a conversation with Sir
Thomas Lawrence upon the subject of shadows, his ideas were that they
ought to be as still as possible, and that all the little sparkling
produced by the crossing of the lines ought to be extinguished, or
softened down. In painting, his notions were that they ought to be kept
cool. Without presuming to differ with so excellent an artist, it is but
proper to mention that all the best engravers, from the time of Bolswert
to our own, are of a contrary opinion; and our best colourists, from
Coreggio to Rembrandt, and from Rembrandt to Wilkie, were diametrically
opposite in their practice. As far as engraving is concerned, it is but
fair to notice that Lawrence had Rembrandt on his side, of whose works
he was a great admirer.

[Illustration: DOCTOR FAUSTUS]

I may appear to have dwelt too long upon this subject of engraving,
but as the etchings of Rembrandt form so large a portion of his
popularity, we cannot enter too minutely into the various sources of
their excellence. I shall now proceed to describe the etching of "Doctor
Faustus," a copy of which I have given. Some think that it represents
Fust, the partner of Guttenburg, who, by his publication of Bibles in
Paris, was looked upon by the people as a dealer in the black art. The
papers hung up by the side of the window look like the sheets of his
letter-press, and the diagram that attracts his attention, and rouses
him from his desk, indicates by words and symbols a connexion with Holy
Writ. But the general opinion is, that it is Dr. John Faustus, a German
physician, in his study. This Dr. Faustus was supposed to have dealings
with familiar spirits, one of which has raised this cabalistic vision,
that enters the window with overwhelming splendour, like the bursting
of a shell, communicating its radiance to the head and breast of the
figure, and, descending by his variegated garment, is extended in a
spread of light over the whole lower part of the composition. The light
of the window being surrounded by a mass of dark, receives intense
importance, and is carried as far as the art can go. It is also, I may
observe, rendered less hars