Rembrandt -- Studies in His Varied Approaches to Italian Art

Rembrandt: Studies in his Varied Approaches to Italian Art explores his engagement with imagery by Italian masters. His references fall into three categories: pragmatic adaptations, critical commentary, and conceptual rivalry. These are not mutually exclusive but provide a strategy for discussion.

This study also discusses Dutch artists’ attitudes toward traveling south, surveys contemporary literature praising and/or criticizing Rembrandt, and examines his art collection and how he used it. It includes an examination of the vocabulary used by Italians to describe Rembrandt’s art, with a focus on the patron Don Antonio Ruffo, and closes by considering the reception of his works by Italian artists.

Amy Golahny is Richmond Professor Emerita at Lycoming College and Past President of the Historians of Netherlandish Art. She has published extensively on Pieter Lastman, Rembrandt, and other topics.