Rembrandt's Eyes

By Steven Henry Madoff Sunday, Nov. 28, 1999
  • Share
With the richness of brocade and the smoothness of shot silk, Schama's prose unfurls the life of Rembrandt in all its pathos. From prodigy to pauper, the troubled genius of 17th century Dutch painting is intricately conceived as he rises and falls in a world of war, plague and stolid bourgeois comfort. A galvanic force--ambitious, hugely inventive, avaricious--he is the portraitist of the poshest plutocrats, nobly aglitter, and the allegorist of human wreckage. Schama's book is a marvel of storytelling: sometimes heart pounding, always sympathetic and coolly reasoned. Seamlessly joining social history and art, what a triumph of scholarship and imagination!

Most Popular »

Full List »
  1. Israel vs. Hizballah: Drumbeats of War
  2. Super-Earth: Astronomers Find a Watery New Planet
  3. Church Group Attacks Christmas Commercialism
  4. Under U.S. Pressure, Pakistan Balks at Helping on Afghan Taliban
  5. America's Most Wanted Teenage Bandit
  6. The Pentagon Prepares for a Missile Attack from 'Iran'
  7. Study: European Muslims Feel Shut Out
  8. Proposed 'Botox Tax' Draws Wide Array of Opponents
  9. Why Home Churches are Filling Up
  10. The Teddy Awards for Political Courage
  1. Church Group Attacks Christmas Commercialism
  2. Super-Earth: Astronomers Find a Watery New Planet
  3. Why Home Churches are Filling Up
  4. Proposed 'Botox Tax' Draws Wide Array of Opponents
  5. Majority U.S. Population Non-White by 2050
  6. Study: European Muslims Feel Shut Out
  7. Singapore: 10 Things to Do in 24 Hours
  8. Tax Reform Means Working Moms Do Less Housework
  9. America's Most Wanted Teenage Bandit
  10. The Pentagon Prepares for a Missile Attack from 'Iran'

Time.com on Digg

POWERED BY digg

More on TIME.com

Top Stories on TIME.com

Quotes of the Day »

"We still have a big workload — of a purely technical character — facing us."
SERGEI LAVROV, Russia's foreign minister, announcing that a new US-Russia nuclear arms reduction treaty faces further delays and is unlikely to be signed this week
More Quotes »
For use in rail of Articles page or Section Fronts pages. Duplicate and change name as necesssary to distinguish.