genius, of course; but only his own genius filled his ideal. As a
consequence all of Lastman's pictures are alike--they are all equally
bad. They represent neither the Italian school nor the Dutch, being
hybrids: Italian skies and Holland backgrounds; Dutchmen dressed as
dagoes.

Lastman was putting money in his purse. He closely studied public tastes,
and conformed thereto. He was popular, and there is in America today a
countryman of his, of like temperament, who is making much moneys out of
literature by similar methods.

Into Lastman's keeping came the young man, Rembrandt Harmens. Lastman
received him cordially, and set him to work.

But the boy proved hard to manage: he had his own ideas about how
portraits should be painted.

Lastman tried to unlearn him. The master was patient, and endeavored hard
to make the young man paint as he should--that is, as Lastman did; but
the result was not a success. The Lastman intellect felt sure that
Rembrandt had no talent worth encouraging.

Lastman produced a great number of pictures, and his name can be found in
the catalogs of the galleries of Amsterdam, Munich, Berlin and Antwerp;
and his canvases are in many of the old castles and palaces of Germany.
In recent years they have been enjoying a vogue, simply because it was
possible that Rembrandt had worked on them. All the "Lastmans" have been
gotten out and thoroughly dusted by the connoisseurs, in a frantic search
for earmarks.