Going upstream. About Rembrandt and his era

MOSCOW. The publishing house "New Literary Review" published a book by Olga Tilkes about Rembrandt.

How much is known about Rembrandt? The legacy of the great Dutchman is hundreds of paintings and many myths and secrets over which art historians and art lovers have been racking their brains for several centuries. For half a century, participants in the Rembrandt research project have struggled with the attribution of paintings attributed to Van Rijn. By 2014, researchers “weeded out” more than 400 paintings, only increasing the number of puzzles.

Who is depicted in the painting “The Jewish Bride” (Het Joodse Bruidje), about which Van Gogh said that he could give ten years of his life for the opportunity to admire her for at least two weeks? Why was the “Portrait of Jacob de Hein III” (Jacob III de Gheyn) the most coveted trophy for the captors? Danae or someone else depicted on a long-suffering canvas, and how many women gave her their features? Why did the artist need the image of a little girl with the face of an adult woman in the painting "Night Watch" (Nachtwacht) in the place of her "golden section"?

The book “Stories of the Country of Rembrandt” by Olga Tilkes creates a unique effect of presence, transferring the reader to the distant XVII century. A story about the artist, the time in which he lived, a meeting with previously unknown canvases. The reader, together with the thirteen-year-old Rembrandt, will be in the walls of Leiden University, one of the oldest in the Netherlands. He will attend public autopsy at the anatomical theater, visit the botanical garden with a collection of antiquities, attend debates, get acquainted with the living conditions and daily menu of an ordinary student. Learn more about the history of the Netherlands during the Republic of the United Provinces and the rule of Friedrich-Heinrich of Orange, about wars, elections and medicine. About politics, religion and art. About why Rembrandt was called an ugliness painter. About how the tastes of the bourgeoisie changed, and why talented artists going against the tide died in poverty. Year after year, event after event, the visible materialization of bygone days.

Olga Tilkes, a graduate of Leningrad University, after moving to Holland for many years was engaged in literary and teaching activities. “The stories of the Rembrandt country” is a fundamental, richly illustrated work dedicated to a brilliant artist, which will be a revelation to both ordinary readers and art historians.

Elena Tanakova © Gallerix.ru