17. 4. 2008

Recently we have welcomed a noble guest, who personally supervised the quality of the publication, which he has written. This guest was the world’s foremost expert on the work of Dutch painter Rembrandt – Ernst van de Wetering. Namely his book called “Rembrandt A Life in 180 Paintings” has begun its printing process on our machinery. Five thousand copies of the book were printed; it was written in English and is intended for the global market.

Ernst van de Wetering has studied the works of Rembrandt all his life and he is apparently the most significant expert of Rembrandt’s works. In the new publication the professor of the University of Amsterdam gathered all his knowledge from his studies of Rembrandt’s works. “This is augmented and amended text, which I have created for Encyclopedia Britannica. There are lots of replicas and most of all compendium of all discoveries and findings, which I have rendered within the scope of investigation of Rembrandt’s works during the last forty years” says Ernst van de Wetering about the publication, which is to premier in the biggest printing house in Czech Republic. “I came to make sure, that replicas of Rembrandt’s works in the book match tones and color scheme of the originals” added Wetering. Ernst van de Wetering has spent in Český Tešín three days, which is the period of time, when the sheets of his book were being printed. The publication, whose printing has begun on Thursday, was expedited already on Tuesday, which means in less than one week.

Ernst van de Wetering was very satisfied with the quality of the print. The expert assured that a replica of a painting, which has recently caused big commotion in Czech Republic, is also included in the narrative publication. It was Ernst van de Wetering and his team, who two years ago came with a statement saying that Portrait of an Old Man or rabbi in Uffizi Gallery in Florence is the portrait of Jan Amos Komenský. Towards the end of his life Komenský lived in Amsterdam and they knew each other with Rembrandt. The face from the portrait was assigned to Komenský already in the beginning of the 20th century, but only now the current expert came with a definite conclusion.  In the book Rembrandt and Komenský are represented speaking together during portraiture. According to Wetering the two men had a couple of common subjects to discuss together right away. “They were both pedagogues, they both had a relationship with Prince Rupert of the Rhine, son of Frederick V, Elector Palatine and Elizabeth Stuart, the Queen of England. Rembrandt portrayed Prince Rupert and Komenský wrote a book about him” thinks Ernst van de Wetering.

The team working with professor van de Weter screens similar discoveries very carefully. Ernst van de Wetering has already overcome authorship of nearly one hundred from among four hundred paintings accredited to Rembrandt.