Christopher White explains why he chose this title for his new book: ‘The often intimate, reflective and personal side to Rembrandt’s work in treating subjects from history or the Bible reveals an increasingly more introspective interpretation than his contemporaries.’ Rembrandt’s sharp eye draws inspiration from the domestic scene, the local street and wherever he went. His subjects include: children, beggars, musicians, dogs, pigs, horses; even elephants and lions. White studies Rembrandt’s technique from an aesthetic rather than a scientific point of view; his willingness to experiment whether drawing, painting or etching is a notable feature of his work, and by discussing examples of the three different media side by side, the author demonstrates their interdependence.

Christopher White has been Assistant Keeper of Prints and Drawings at the British Museum, Curator of Graphic Arts at the National Gallery of Art, Washington, and Director of the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford. He is a leading authority on Dutch and Flemish Art of the seventeenth century and among his numerous publications are: Rembrandt as an Etcher: A Study of the Artist at work (2nd ed. 1999); The Later Flemish Pictures in the Collection of Her Majesty The Queen (2007); Dutch Pictures in The Collection of Her Majesty The Queen (2nd ed. 2015); Anthony van Dyck and the Art of Portraiture (2021).