The Universal Art of Samuel Van Hoogstraten (1627-1678)

Book excerpt: The versatile painter, poet, courtier and European traveller Samuel van Hoogstraten (1627-1678), one of Rembrandt's pupils, has received much scholarly attention in the last two decades. Whereas older historians allotted him a marginal role as a minor figure in his master's studio, he is now recognized for his central position in the world of art and letters in the Dutch Golden Age. This new evaluation is mainly due to careful studies of his treatise on painting, 'Inleyding tot de Hooge Schoole der Schilderkonst' (Introduction to the Academy of Painting, 1678). His book has been mined for unique insights not only into Rembrandt's working methods but also into profounder problems relative to Dutch art and culture, such as pictorial realism, imitation and illusion, the rise of landscape and still life and the status of the 'learned artist'.