Rembrandt was one of the greatest draftsmen in the history of art. About 1400 attributed to him drawings survive, and probably at least an equivalent number have been lost. He made comparatively few preparatory studies for his paintings and even fewer highly finished drawings - gifts for friends and followers. Usually his drawings were unrelated to his major works and were, moreover, unsigned. Like other artists he drew preparatory studies far his paintings and prints, but he did not make many drawings of this type. Those executed as finished works, complete in themselves, are even rarer. The selection in this book gives us a good idea of Rembrandt's range, depth and drawings techniques. It includes self-portraits, portraits; sketches, women gossiping, or people merely watching the passing scene; studies of Jewish types and Orientals; drawings of nudes, birds, domestic animals and captive wild beasts, studies of the landscape, drawings of episodes from the Bible.
