flat
country, have a right to all the praise showered upon them. They, too,
are masterpieces.

While Rembrandt's genius made itself manifest in his landscapes, it surely
is absent from most of his animal drawings. We must remember that if he
ever went outside of Holland it was for a few months to the east coast of
England, and that the opportunity for studying any great variety of
animals in either place was not great. His horses, asses, hogs, etc.,
improve as the years advance. The little dog with the collar of bells is
well drawn. He, undoubtedly, was a member of the family.

It is an interesting fact, at a time when the illustrating of books and
magazines is such an important art, to know that Rembrandt was offered and
accepted some commissions to make illustrations for books. These attempts
to give form to another's ideas were not successful--in one case it was
such a failure as to leave it still uncertain what he intended to
illustrate. Vosmaer, his great biographer, says that this print "The Ship
of Fortune" (No. 106), pictures incidents in the life of St. Paul, while
Michel, another biographer, thinks that it illustrates events which gather
about Mark Anthony and the battle of Actium!

A score of men--Bartsch, Wilson, Blanc, Middleton, Rovinski, to mention a
few--have at sundry times and in divers places compiled annotated
catalogues of Rembrandt's etchings. They, and other students like
Vosmaer, Haden, Hamerton and Michel, have given years to study and travel
in connection with their books on Rembrandt. All lovers of etching
appreciate this and are grateful. Nevertheless, it is amusing sometimes
to compare their expert testimony. About 1633 somebody etched a "Good
Samaritan." Several of these experts regretfully, but frankly, admit that
Rembrandt is the guilty one. Others are sure that a pupil did the worst
of the work; Haden says it is entirely the work of another hand; while yet
another declares that of all Rembrandt's etchings this particular "Good
Samaritan" (No. 101) is his favorite. Middleton, to give another
instance, thinks that the thick lines from top to bottom, in the fourth
state of the "Christ Crucified between Two Thieves," ("The Three Crosses")
(No. 270) are not Rembrandt's work, for they serve "to obliterate, conceal
and mar every excellence it had possessed." Haden, however, considers
that the time of darkness is represented, and that this particular state
is far the finest in