Rembrandt and His Paints Video (DVD)

Rembrandt and His Paints Video (VHS/DVD). One of the principal characteristics that mark a Rembrandt is the artist's use of paint. Try to analyze that and you are thrown back on the paint itself. This program shows the results of decade-long work at the Rembrandt Research Project. In attempting to determine the chemical composition of Rembrandt's pigments and binders, the program uses the latest electronic tools to identify Rembrandt's pigments layer by layer; uses recipes and instructions from Rembrandt's time to test quills and oils and gums; and seeks to reconstruct the skills needed to use these substances. This extraordinary analysis of the elements in Rembrandt's paintings teaches an enormous amount about how he worked and with what-but cannot, of course, explain his art. (27 minutes.) Art History, Art and Photography