The Masters of Past Time Dutch and Flemish Painting from Van Eyck to Rembrandt

In 1875 Eugène Fromentin toured Flanders and Holland to study Dutch painting. He visited churches, museums, and private collections, and jotted down his personal impressions on the spot. The result was The masters of past time--a delightful, sensitive book. In his own foreword Fromentin speaks modestly of his aim: "I shall merely describe, in the presence of certain pictures, the effects of surprise, pleasure, astonishment, and no less exactly of disappointment, which they happened to cause me." As a painter himself Fromentin was absorbed by the technique of the paintings he studied, and he describes the works with directness and simplicity, but also with a subtle and critical intelligence.--Back cover.