originals but can scarcely ever see them, and in that of the novice, who
hardly knows the emotions familiar to those who have made a study of the
great masters, but is desirous of learning.

At the Hermitage in St. Petersburg I was specially privileged--I was
allowed to study these priceless works with the glass off and in moments of
bright sunlight--to see those sweeps of rich colour, so full, so clear, so
transparent, and broken in places, allowing the undertones to show through.

I myself have made copies of a hundred Rembrandts in order to understand
more completely his method of work. And in copying these pictures certain
qualities have been revealed to me which no one could possibly have learnt
except by this means. Rembrandt worked more or less in two stages: first,
by a carefully-painted monochrome, handled in such a way as to give texture
as well as drawing, and in which the masses of light and shade are defined
in a masterly manner; second, by putting on the rich, golden colour--mostly
in the form of glazes, but with a full brush. This method of handling
glazes over monochrome has given a gem-like quality to Rembrandt's work, so
much so that you might cut out any square inch from any portion of his
pictures and wear it as a jewel. And in all his paintings there is the same
decorative quality that I have before alluded to: any picture by Rembrandt
arrests you as a decorative patch--the grouping and design, and, above all,
the balance of light and shade, are perfect.

MORTIMER MENPES.

_July 1905._