In 1668 Titus, the only son of Rembrandt, died, leaving one child, and on Oct. 4, 1669, the great painter himself passed away, leaving two children, and was buried in the Wester Kerk. He had outlived his popularity, for his manner of painting was no longer in favour with a people who preferred the smooth triviali ties of Van der Werff and the younger Mieris.
We must give but a short notice of Rembrandt's achievements in etching. Here he stands out by universal confession as first excelling by his unrivalled technical skill, his mastery of expres sion and the lofty conceptions of many of his great pieces, as in the "Death of the Virgin," the "Christ Preaching," the "Christ Healing the Sick" (the "Hundred Guilder Print"), the "Presentation to the People," the "Crucifixion" and others. So great is his skill simply as an etcher that one is apt to overlook the nobleness of the etcher's ideas, and this tendency has been doubtless confirmed by the enormous difference in money value between "states" of the same plate, rarity giving in many cases a factitious worth in the eyes of collectors. The points of difference between these states. arise from the additions and changes made by Rembrandt on the plate; and the prints taken off by him have been subjected to the closest inspection by Bartsch, Gersaint, Wilson, Daulby, De Claussin, C. Blanc, Seymour Haden, Middle ton, Dutuit, Rovinski, Singer, Hind and lately by J. C. Van Dyke and Coppier, who have described them, and to whom the reader is referred. The classification of Rembrandt's etchings adopted till lately was according to the subject, as biblical, portrait, landscape, and so on ; until Vosmaer attempted the more scientific and inter esting line of chronology. This method has been developed by Sir F. Seymour Haden and Middleton.
The great period of his etching lies between 1639 and 1661, after which the old painter seems to have renounced the needle. In these 20 years were produced his greatest works in portraiture, landscape and Bible story. They bear the impress of the genius of the man. Rembrandt's drawings are done almost exclusively in pen and wash, though he used red and black chalk sometimes in his early period. His line, apparently haphazard, is extremely
suggestive, expressive and sure, and by a few strokes of the pen he suggests scenes full of life and feeling. The publication Origi nal Drawings by Rembrandt (1888-1906) was issued in three series of eight volumes. The first series, with 200 drawings edited by F. Lippmann with the help of Bode, Colvin, Seymour Haden and Heseltine, contains the best drawings. The following two series completed by Hofstede de Groot contain many doubtful pieces. Recently attempts have been made to distinguish the master's work from that of his pupils by W. R. Valentiner and by J. C. Van Dyke (the Rembrandt Drawings and Etchings, New York, 1927). But agreement has not been reached.
For bibliography and general see: C. Vosmaer, Rembrandt (2nd ed., The Hague, 1877) ; W. Bode, Studien zur Geschichte der Holctn dischen Malerei (Brunswick, 1883) ; E. Michel, Rembrandt (Paris, 1893; London, 1906) ; W. Bode and C. H. de Groot, Rembrandt complete work 8 vols. (1897-1906) ; W. Bode, Rembrandt and seine Zeitgenossen (Leipzig, 1906) ; C. H. de Groot, Die Urkunden (The Hague, 1905) ; J. Baldwin Brown, Rembrandt (19o7) W. R. Valen tiner, Rembrandt and seine Umgebung (Strasbourg, 1905).
For reproductions of Rembrandt's work see: the monumental folios compiled by Dr. Bode, in smaller form the volume on Rembrandt in the series Klassiker der Kunst (3rd ed. by Dr. Valentiner, Stuttgart, 1908) ; with a supplementary volume of recently discovered Rein brandts issued in 1921 ; and the volumes of Rembrandt's etchings compiled by H. W. Singer (1906) and of Rembrandt's drawings compiled by W. R. Valentiner (1924— ) in the same series; and the volumes of Rembrandt's etchings arranged by A. M. Hind (191; I and 1923) For appreciations of Rembrandt's work see E. Fromentin, Maitres d'autrefois ( i904) ; D. Langbehn, Rembrandt als Erzieher (Leipzig, 189o) ; P. G. Hamerton, Rembrandt's Etchings (1894) ; W. Weisbach, Rembrandt (1926). (J. F. W.)