Rembrandt van Rijn

Malcolm Bell approaches Rembrandt through three connected subjects: his life, his paintings and his etchings. This illustrated handbook follows the artist from his birth and early training through periods of prosperity and decline. Its chronological table places events in his life beside dated works and historical events, while portraits of family members, self portraits and scenes from religious stories give readers a range of subjects to explore.

Bell also examines the practical problems of studying an artist's output. In the discussion of paintings from the late 1640s and early 1650s, he weighs dates, signatures, uncertain identifications and disputed attributions, naming the collections where works were held. Published in 1901 as a compressed version of his earlier volume, the book combines biography with a catalogue and bibliography. Readers interested in art history can use it to follow both a painter's career and the evidence behind the arrangement of his works.