ve borrowed each other's ideas "without let or hindrance."
Indeed, it is hard to comprehend the extent to which exchange of ideas was
carried at that time. Here is a good illustration of the way things went
without protest of any sort being raised. Hercules Seghers etched a large
landscape with small figures, after a painting by Adam Elzheimer and an
engraving by Count de Goudt, entitled "Tobias and the Angel." This copper
plate came into Rembrandt's possession; he burnished out Tobias and his
companion, and replaced them by Joseph, Mary and the Holy Child (No. 266).
To cover the erasure he added foliage, but the wing of the angel, the
outlines of a leg and various other unused portions of Tobias can still
be seen. Rembrandt's reason for bothering with this plate is
incomprehensible. He improved it, undoubtedly, but the composite result
is exceedingly commonplace and reflects no credit upon any one. John
Burnet, the etcher-author, has drawn attention to the fact that the figure
of Christ in "Christ at Emmaus" (No. 282) is taken from one by Raphael,
who is known to have borrowed it from da Vinci, and it is thought da
Vinci, in his turn, got it from a former master. Rembrandt borrowed also
from Rubens, Titian, Mantegna, his pupil Gerard Dou, Van de Velde and
others. Many of his contemporaries and successors extended toward him
the same sort of flattery.

More than half the subjects of Rembrandt's etchings are portraits and
studies of the human figure; about one-quarter are scriptural or
religious. There are two dozen landscapes, and the remainder are
allegorical and fancy compositions. We find then the two most productive
sources of his inspiration were the men of his day and the men of the
Bible. This book appears to have been the only one he knew at all well,
but of it he made excellent use. Despite the incongruities of his
Biblical compositions, despite the broad Dutch features, the modern,
gorgeous apparel and side-whiskers of the patriarchs, the pugilistic
proportions of his angels, his etchings have a truth and vital force that
there is no withstanding. Perhaps the very fact that he clothed his
people in a fashion that he knew well made his pictures the more
successful in reaching the hearts of men. In the all too realistic
"Abraham's Sacrifice" (No. 283), in "Joseph's Coat Brought to Jacob" (No.
104), in the naive "Rest on the Flight" (No. 216), and many, many others,
the story-telling quality