The Artist's Bookshelf of Ancient Poetry and History

Am amy golahny y golahny r Rembrandt’s lthough rembrandt’s study of eading the Bible has long been recognized as intense, his A interest in secular literature has been relatively neglected. Yet Philips Angel (1641) praised Rembrandt for “diligently seeking out the knowledge of histories from old musty books.” Amy Golahny elaborates on this observation, reconstructing Rembrandt's library on the evi- dence of the 1656 inventory and discerning anew how Rem- brandt’s reading of histories contributed to his creative process. Golahny places Rembrandt in the learned vernacular culture of seventeenth-century Holland and shows the painter to have been a pragmatic reader whose attention to historical texts strengthened his early rivalry with Rubens for visual drama and narrative erudition. rembrandt’s Amy Golahny has written numerous articles on and around Rem- brandt, and edited a book on the reciprocity of poetry and painting, The Eye of the Poet (1996). She earned her doctorate at Columbia isbn 90 5356 609 0 reading University, and is professor of art history at Lycoming College, Williamsport, Pennsylvania. The Artist’s Bookshelf of www.aup.nl 9 789053 566091 Ancient Poetry and History a msterdam university press a msterdam university press rembrandt’s reading amy golahny rembrandt’s reading The Artist’s Bookshelf of Ancient Poetry and History amsterdam university press The publication of this book is made possible by a grant from the Prins Bernhard Cultuurfonds and the Historians of Netherlandish Art. Cover design and lay out Kok Korpershoek, Amsterdam Cover illustration Rembrandt, Artemisia,1634. isbn 90 5356 609 0 nur 640 © Amsterdam University Press, Amsterdam, 2003 All rights reserved. Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part of this book may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise) without the written permission of both the copyright owner and the author of the book. table of contents 9 Acknowledgments 13 preface The Scope of the Study chapter 1 17 Book Culture 19 The Image of the Reader in Rembrandt’s Art 24 Rembrandt as Rag-picker and Book-hunter? 25 The Ubiquitous Book 29 The Humanist Library and its Organization 34 The Process of Reading 36 Reading to Illustrate: Rembrandt’s Ship of Fortune and Medea 42 Observations on Literary Theory and Painting 46 Rembrandt’s Judas chapter 2 49 Rembrandt’s Training 51 Academic Studies 59 Rembrandt’s Apprenticeship to Jacob van Swanenburgh 64 Pieter Lastman: Pedantic Literacy 72 Rembrandt’s Scholarly Acquaintances 5 chapter 3 75 Rembrandt‘s Bookshelf Part i 77 The 1656 Inventory and its 22 Books in the Breestraat House 81 Callot’s Gants Jerusalem 88 Dürer’s proportie boeck chapter 4 97 Rembrandt’s Bookshelf Part iI “15 books in various sizes” 99 Rembrandt’s Proserpina: Visual Rhetoric from Claudian and Scaliger 105 Amorous Myths from Ovid 114 Reading Homer: Vulcan’s Net 122 The Historical Homer: Poet and Teacher 129 Artemisia: Devotion in Body and Soul chapter 5 135 Rembrandt’s Bookshelf Part iII German Folios 138 A Confrontation: Popilius Laenas and Antiochus 147 Livy as a Studio Resource: Lucretia, Scipio, Dido 164 Stimmer’s Josephus chapter 6 181 Rembrandt’s Later Imagery After the 1656 Inventory 184 The Amsterdam Town Hall 187 The Oath of Civilis 191 A Case of Kindness: Pyrrhus 199 Defying Mortality: Zeuxis Laughing 6 rembrandt’s reading chapter 7 207 Artists’ libraries Practicality and Universality 218 Avoiding Error: Advice to the Artist 230 An Essential Reading List 237 Rembrandt’s Library Concluded 243 notes 262 bibliography 275 Illustration Acknowledgments 278 index table of contents 7 acknowledgments My interest in Rembrandt’s reading was prompted by Arnold Hou- braken’s seemingly contradictory statements that artists ought not to “bury their noses in books,” yet ought to know histories well. After all, the craft of painting demanded expertise in the practice of art, not in the study of texts. I wondered how little Rembrandt needed to read in order to draw, paint, and etch his subjects from ancient poetry and history. In May 1996, I began to develop a limited reading list for Rem- brandt. I have been fortunate to conduct research at the Houghton Library of Harvard University, the Butler and Avery Libraries of Columbia University, the New York Public Library, The Special Collections of The Pennsylvania State University Library, Biblioteca Nazionale Firenze, Universiteitsbibliotheek Amsterdam, Koninklijke Bibliotheek, Plantin-Moretus Museum, Rijksbureau voor Kunst- historische Documentatie, Rijksprentenkabinet, The British Library, University of Michigan, The Warburg Institute, Bibliothèque Natio- nale, Fondation Custodia, Louvre, Musée des Beaux-Arts de Rennes, Herzog August Bibliothek, Herzog Anton Ulrich Museum, Berlin Kupferstichkabinett, and the Staatliche Graphischesammlung, Munich. The staffs of these libraries and museums generously and patiently filled my requests. At Lycoming College, Tasha Cooper, Rose Di- Rocco, Cathleen Hurwitz, Georgia Laudenslager, Marlene Neece, and Gail Spencer provided invaluable support with interlibrary loans and many other queries. This project was greatly aided by funding from several sources. In 1996, the National Endowment for the Humanities facilitated my 9 research in a summer seminar at Harvard University; in 1999, the Deutscher Akademischer Austauschdienst funded research in Ger- many; and Lycoming College provided generous and sustained support in five summer grants and a sabbatical year. The Prins Bernhard Cul- tuurfonds made the publication possible by a grant. The Historians of Netherlandish Art supported publication costs with its award of 2002. In the course of researching and completing this study, I re- ceived the good will and assistance of many who shared expertise and answered inquiries, in correspondence and in conversation: Michiel Roscam Abbing, Jeremy Bangs and Thomasine Flynn, Kit Basquin, Kristin L. Belkin, Jill Bepler, Melanie Blake, Alan Chong, Nina Cich- ocki, Paul Crenshaw, Anthony Cutler, Patrick Daum, Stephanie Dickey, Juana Djelal, Thomas Döring, Wayne Franits, Luba Freed- man, Anne Halpern, Susan K. Harris, Ed de Heer, J. R. Judson, Jan Kelch, George Keyes, Jill Kraye, Charlotte Loeb and the late Arthur Loeb, Anne-Marie Logan, Volker Manuth, Elizabeth McGrath, Law- rence Nichols, Lida Ouwehand, Shelley Perlove, John F. Piper, Jr., Frances L. Preston, Johanna C. Prins, Michael Rinehart, Bert van den Roemer, Anne C. Rose, Gary and Loekie Schwartz, Anne-Charlotte Steland, Sandra Stelts, Gerhard Strasser, Carola Vermeeren, Richard Wendorf, Mariët Westermann, Ernst van de Wetering, Thea Vignau- Wilberg, and Michael Zell. I am deeply grateful to Bas Dudok van Heel for many discussions on the fine points of Rembrandt documentation with me, and to the late Julius Held, for his keen interest in this project from its incep- tion. Martin Royalton-Kisch and Paul Taylor shared cogent observations on Rembrandt’s drawing of Pyrrhus. Charles Lutcavage and Anna E. C. Simoni graciously clarified the linguistic closeness of Dutch and German during the Renaissance. Eric Jan Sluijter and Lisa Vergara read portions of this material in early phases, and J. Michael Montias read the manuscript in a later stage; they offered many helpful sugges- tions that contributed much to this study. I am indebted to Christian Tümpel, whose scholarship has broken new ground for Rembrandt studies, for his insightful discussions and kindness. For singular gen- erosity of advice and lively conversation, Egbert Haverkamp Bege- 10 rembrandt’s reading mann is an unequalled friend and mentor. The scholarly exchanges that I have enjoyed over the years with him have contributed immea- surably to my research and my understanding of Rembrandt as a creative artist. Suzanne Bogman, Anniek Meinders, Chantal Nicolaes, and Marike Schipper of the Amsterdam University Press expertly guided this project from manuscript to publication. My gratitude to friends who offered hospitality and insight extends warmly to Sarah Falla and Paul Jefferson, Anne-Marie and Daniel Haber, Fermin and Philip Rocker, and Nicolette Sluijter Seijffert. Finally, I thank my family for their patient interest and support of this project. My warmest appreci- ation goes to Fred, Berta, Yuda, Irene, Richard, Emily and Gabe. note to the reader All translations are my own, unless otherwise noted; transcriptions keep to their original, often archaic, text. Pagination in early imprints differs among editions. Catalogue references for Rembrandt drawings, prints and paintings are provided in cases where the work is not illus- trated, or in cases where a reference was considered important. acknowledgments 11 preface The Scope of the Study This study addresses the question: What did Rembrandt read in order to create his subjects from ancient poetry and history? That question prompted two more: could there be established a somewhat limited reading list for this artist? How does Rembrandt’s reading contribute to his art? The following chapters provide answers to the first question, and responses to the next two: a limited reading list may be ascer- tained, but reading alone hardly accounts for Rembrandt’s conception, invention, execution, and interpretation of his historical themes. Rem- brandt’s greatness lies in his mastery of illusion in the service of narrative; it involves how he represented his themes as much as what they are. Rembrandt developed the stylistic means, in paint, pen, and print, to craft illusions of the material world and to communicate subtleties of expression; he developed a style that dazzled the beholder with tech- nical skill and conveyed psychological complexities. Rembrandt’s reading list in ancient poetry and history would connect him to the general literate culture of his time, even if it is in- sufficient to account for his art. This study does not include the Dutch literature of emblems, theater, costume books and poetry; nor does it concern the Bible, dramatic productions, and artist manuals. Rem- brandt was surely familiar with, if not expert in, this material.

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