babe she left, Titus by name, was only eight months old when she passed
away.

For six months we find that Rembrandt did very little. He was stunned,
and his brain and hand refused to co-operate.

The first commission he undertook was the portrait of the wife of one of
the rich merchants of the city. When the work was done, the picture
resembled the dead Saskia so much more than it did the sitter that the
patron refused to accept it. The artist saw only Saskia and continued to
portray her.

But work gave him rest, and he began a series of Biblical
studies--serious, sober scenes fitted to his mood. His hand had not lost
its cunning, for there is a sureness and individuality shown in his work
during the next few years that stamps him as the Master.

But his rivals raised a great clamor against his style. They declared
that he trampled on all precedent and scorned the laws on which true art
is built. However, he had friends, and they, to help him, went forth and
secured the commission--the famous "Night-Watch," now in the Ryks Museum
at Amsterdam.

The production of this fine picture resulted in a comedy of errors, that
shaded off into a tragedy for poor Rembrandt. The original commission for
this picture came from thirty-seven prominent citizens, who were to
share the expense equally among them. The order was for the portraits of
the eminent men to appear on one canvas, the subjects to be grouped in an
artistic way according to the artist's own conceit.