On the evening of Wednesday 22nd April, our College art historians attended a superb lecture on Rembrandt by Dr Lizzie Marx, Curator of Dutch and Flemish Art at the National Gallery of Ireland.
Dr Marx, who had travelled over from Dublin specially, is renowned as one of the foremost authorities in the British Isles on the art of the Dutch Golden Age, and was therefore the perfect person to take our pupils on a tour through Rembrandt’s remarkable career.
With absolute clarity and quiet authority, Dr Marx spoke about Rembrandt’s training, his work as an independent master in portraiture, landscape, history painting, and tronies, or character heads, before looking at his methods and techniques as an engraver. She also introduced pupils to the technological edge afforded by infrared reflectography in looking below the surface of the paint layers to understand better Rembrandt’s studio practice and his decision making in the composition and execution of his works. Above all, the lecture advised the pupils on how to look at Rembrandt with patience and focus, and how his works often offer a slow reveal of their secrets and delights.
It was an uplifting start to the term, a timely revision aid for those facing examinations, and an invigorating reminder of the power of the incomparable artists’ artist.
Dr Simon McKeown
Head of History of Art
