Đang tải... (xem toàn văn)
Though Rembrandt's study of the Bible has long been recognized, his interest in secular literature has been relatively neglected. In this volume, Amy Golahny uses a 1656 inventory to reconstruct Rembrandt's library, discovering anew how his reading of history contributed to his creative process. In the end, Golahny places Rembrandt in the learned vernacular culture of seventeenth-century Holland, painting a picture of a pragmatic reader whose attention to historical texts strengthened his rivalry with Rubens for visual drama and narrative erudition.
a msterdam university press amy golahny rembrandt’s reading The Artist’s Bookshelf of Ancient Poetry and History a msterdam university press Rembrandt’s reading Amy golahny lthough rembrandt’s study of the Bible has long been recognized as intense, his interest in secular literature has been relatively neglected. Yet Philips Angel (1641) praised Rembrandt for “diligently seeking out the knowledge of histo- ries from old musty books.” Amy Golahny elaborates on this observation, reconstructing Rembrandt's library on the evi- dence of the 1656 inventory and discerning anew how Rem- brandt’s reading of histories contributed to his creative pro- cess. Golahny places Rembrandt in the learned vernacular cul- ture of seventeenth-century Holland and shows the painter to have been a pragmatic reader whose attention to historical texts strengthened his early rivalry with Rubens for visual drama and narrative erudition. Amy Golahny has written numerous articles on and around Rem- brandt, and edited a book on the reciprocity of poetry and painting, The Eye of the Poet (1996). She earned her doctorate at Columbia University, and is professor of art history at Lycoming College, Williamsport, Pennsylvania. www.aup.nl A isbn 90 5356 609 0 9 789053 566091 rembrandt’s reading amy golahny rembrandt’s reading The Artist’s Bookshelf of Ancient Poetry and History amsterdam university press The publication of this book is made possible by a grant from the Prins Bernhard Cultuurfonds and the Historians of Netherlandish Art. Cover design and lay out Kok Korpershoek, Amsterdam Cover illustration Rembrandt, Artemisia,1634. isbn 90 5356 609 0 nur 640 © Amsterdam University Press, Amsterdam, 2003 All rights reserved. Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part of this book may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise) without the written permission of both the copyright owner and the author of the book. 9 Acknowledgments 13 preface The Scope of the Study chapter 1 17 Book Culture 19 The Image of the Reader in Rembrandt’s Art 24 Rembrandt as Rag-picker and Book-hunter? 25 The Ubiquitous Book 29 The Humanist Library and its Organization 34 The Process of Reading 36 Reading to Illustrate: Rembrandt’s Ship of Fortune and Medea 42 Observations on Literary Theory and Painting 46 Rembrandt’s Judas chapter 2 49 Rembrandt’s Training 51 Academic Studies 59 Rembrandt’s Apprenticeship to Jacob van Swanenburgh 64 Pieter Lastman: Pedantic Literacy 72 Rembrandt’s Scholarly Acquaintances 5 table of contents chapter 3 75 Rembrandt‘s Bookshelf Part i 77 The 1656 Inventory and its 22 Books in the Breestraat House 81 Callot’s Gants Jerusalem 88 Dürer’s proportie boeck chapter 4 97 Rembrandt’s Bookshelf Part iI “15 books in various sizes” 99 Rembrandt’s Proserpina: Visual Rhetoric from Claudian and Scaliger 105 Amorous Myths from Ovid 114 Reading Homer: Vulcan’s Net 122 The Historical Homer: Poet and Teacher 129 Artemisia: Devotion in Body and Soul chapter 5 135 Rembrandt’s Bookshelf Part iII German Folios 138 A Confrontation: Popilius Laenas and Antiochus 147 Livy as a Studio Resource: Lucretia, Scipio, Dido 164 Stimmer’s Josephus chapter 6 181 Rembrandt’s Later Imagery After the 1656 Inventory 184 The Amsterdam Town Hall 187 The Oath of Civilis 191 A Case of Kindness: Pyrrhus 199 Defying Mortality: Zeuxis Laughing 6 rembrandt ’ s reading chapter 7 207 Artists’ libraries Practicality and Universality 218 Avoiding Error: Advice to the Artist 230 An Essential Reading List 237 Rembrandt’s Library Concluded 243 notes 262 bibliography 275 Illustration Acknowledgments 278 index table of contents 7 My interest in Rembrandt’s reading was prompted by Arnold Hou- braken’s seemingly contradictory statements that artists ought not to “bury their noses in books,” yet ought to know histories well. After all, the craft of painting demanded expertise in the practice of art, not in the study of texts. I wondered how little Rembrandt needed to read in order to draw, paint, and etch his subjects from ancient poetry and his- tory. In May 1996, I began to develop a limited reading list for Rem- brandt. I have been fortunate to conduct research at the Houghton Library of Harvard University, the Butler and Avery Libraries of Columbia University, the New York Public Library, The Special Collections of The Pennsylvania State University Library, Biblioteca Nazionale Firenze, Universiteitsbibliotheek Amsterdam, Koninklijke Bibliotheek, Plantin-Moretus Museum, Rijksbureau voor Kunst- historische Documentatie, Rijksprentenkabinet, The British Library, University of Michigan, The Warburg Institute, Bibliothèque Natio- nale, Fondation Custodia, Louvre, Musée des Beaux-Arts de Rennes, Herzog August Bibliothek, Herzog Anton Ulrich Museum, Berlin Kupferstichkabinett, and the Staatliche Graphischesammlung, Munich. The staffs of these libraries and museums generously and patiently filled my requests. At Lycoming College, Tasha Cooper, Rose Di- Rocco, Cathleen Hurwitz, Georgia Laudenslager, Marlene Neece, and Gail Spencer provided invaluable support with interlibrary loans and many other queries. This project was greatly aided by funding from several sources. In 1996, the National Endowment for the Humanities facilitated my 9 acknowledgments [...]... composition reflects the literary and artistic interests Even the light, as paper tone untouched by ink, is a refined participant; it is the “open” space of the window, and the agent by which Six reads This light illuminates the head and hand of Six, the sword hilt upon the table, and the pile of books, the top one opened, on a bench in the left corner Here, as in many other works by Rembrandt, the books are... rummaged though the second-hand goods, he would have also browsed among books, in the market and shops The Ubiquitous Book A brief survey of the role of the book in the Netherlands helps to explain how books were intrinsic to the material culture surrounding Rembrandt The history of publishing is inseparable from the culture and international commercial development of the United Provinces The claim that... his work was on the Old and New Testaments, and often on those themes that concerned miracles and tests of faith Significantly, Rembrandt adopts the creative and active message of Paul as author of the epistle, thereby underscoring the parallel between apostolic writer and creative artist Books are otherwise conspicuous by their absence in Rembrandt’s self-portraits The absence of books is an extraordinary... half-hour in the great hall of books His entry for August 1, 1624, “hot, with a light wind,” recounts how he sat upon a bench on the Voorhout and read a newspaper, then walked along the Denneweg and passed the house of Frederick V and Elizabeth of Bohemia As he watched, the queen and her entourage climbed into their carriages for a ride toward the Voorhout; Beck then turned toward the Binnenhof and to the Groot... knowledge 14 rembrandt ’ s reading similar to Rembrandt’s narratives The puzzling 1626 History Painting, too, is a work I leave for another project Chapter 1 reviews the status of reading and literary theory in the Netherlands during the seventeenth century The Dutch had the highest literacy rate in Europe during this time; their production of books was a major industry The educational process at the highest... was standard practice for cross-referencing, in theology, history, law, and literature The act of reading involves a process of absorption, cogitation, and expression; the act then affects the beholder – himself the listener r book culture 19 fig 2 – Rembrandt, The Mennonite Preacher Cornelis Claes Anslo and his Wife Aeltje Gerritsdr Schouten, 1641 Rembrandt’s grand double portrait of Anslo and his... that city, and also its peculiar double standard of regulations The Guild of St Luke regulated the book trade in the municipality, but the Court of Holland controlled the Binnenhof, an area of free-market trade open to merchants from other cities without local supervision The Binnenhof included a large gallery of shops, situated in the Grote Zaal, in which booksellers had permanent booths and held auctions... but also in the public library of Amsterdam and the personal libraries of his acquaintances Since the foundation of the Dutch Republic and Leiden University, book collecting on a grand scale was an on-going process, as is evidenced by the holdings of the Orange-Nassau family and the university.30 Amsterdam was one of the first cities with a public library In 1578, the Municipal Library of Amsterdam... By examining Rembrandt’s reading in ancient poetry and history, we gain one measure of the intellectual context of his time and his works, and we step closer to an understanding of how he visualized stories of human activity, emotional response, and moral associations 13 Publications serve as known and often identifiable quantities in the measuring of knowledge available to Rembrandt His acquaintances... also of 1641, makes an even stronger connection between the divine word and the active roles of interpreter and listener [fig 2] A large Bible, opened to show the source of Anslo’s wisdom and authority, carries as much pictorial weight as either of the sitters The Bible rests upon a wooden lectern, and another smaller volume lies nearby; a bookshelf, half-curtained, holds volumes of various sizes The . 566091 rembrandt’s reading amy golahny rembrandt’s reading The Artist’s Bookshelf of Ancient Poetry and History amsterdam university press The publication of. press amy golahny rembrandt’s reading The Artist’s Bookshelf of Ancient Poetry and History a msterdam university press Rembrandt’s reading Amy golahny lthough