Rembrandt's Practical Approach to Italian Art. Three Variations

An international outlook is a constant component in the ongoing definition of Dutch identity and character. Rembrandt's interest in visual culture beyond the Netherlands is one measure of his own Dutchness, and his practice of assimilating and transcending a variety of sources, indigenous and foreign, is well-known. Through his training Rembrandt came into contact with Italy at second-hand and for many of his specific uses of this Italian art there is an inclination already present in Low Countries art, and that is the case with the three pictures discussed by the author of this essay.