Rembrandt is among the few outstanding artists of universal appeal. Yet he remains an elusive figure, too often the subject of romantic interpretation. Christopher White, author of a number of highly regarded books on Rembrandt, firmly bases his study on the most thorough and up-to-date scholarly research, and builds up a sensitive, accurate and fully-rounded portrait of his life and work. The author describes the radiant happiness of Rembrandt's marriage, tragically cut short by the death of his wife, and discusses the catastrophe of his bankruptcy. He suggests the psychological factors that may have awakened Rembrandt's sudden interest in landscape, and sympathetically delineates the last decade of the artist's life, in which he retreated into the private world of his imagination.