"Looking at Rembrandts," 3 Quarks Daily, January 15, 2015.
Looking at all the pieces in the exhibit, it became clear that throughout Rembrandt’s career, he returned to shadow. He seems to have been especially obsessed with studying how shadow changed a subject’s eyes. He used hats to darken the faces and yet still found a way to bring out the expression. But those later paintings, after 1642, get dark. Very dark. The etchings too. One etching of St. Jerome in a dark room, from a distance, looks like a square of black. Once you get close you can see a sliver of a window, the shadow of a staircase, and the shadow of a man bent over a desk. Shadow upon shadow upon shadow.
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