hundreds in all, who diligently worked to catch the trick, but Rembrandt
stands alone. "He is the only artist who could ever paint a wrinkle,"
says Ruskin. All his portraits have the warts on. And the thought has
often come to me that only a Rembrandt--the only Rembrandt--could have
portrayed the face of Lincoln. Plain, homely, awkward, eyes not mates,
sunken cheeks, leathery skin, moles, uncombed hair, neckcloth askew; but
over and above and beyond all a look of power--and the soul! that look of
haunting sorrow and the great, gentle, compassionate soul within!

And so there is a picture of Rembrandt's mother which this son painted
that must ever stand out as one of the world's masterpieces. Let who
will, declare that the portrait by Richter in the Gallery at Cologne, of
Queen Louise, is the handsomest portrait ever painted; yet the depth of
feeling, the dignity and love in the homely old mother's face, pale not
in comparison, but are things to which the proud and beautiful Queen
herself paid homage.

Rembrandt painted nearly a hundred pictures of his mother that we can
trace. In most of them she holds in her hands a little Bible, and thus
did the son pay tribute to her devoted piety. She was a model of which he
never tired. He painted her in court dress, and various other fantastic
garbs, that she surely never wore. He painted her as a nun, as a queen, a
court beauty, a plain peasant, a musician; and in various large pictures
her face and form are introduced. And most of these pictures of his
mother are plainly signed with his monogram. He also painted his sister
as the Madonna, and this is signed; but although he doubtless painted his
father's face, yet he did not sign such pictures, so their authenticity
is a hazard. This fact gives a clue to his affections which each can work
out for himself.