Excerpt from Old Dutch and Flemish Masters The publication of this volume requires few words of explanation. That it contains, in permanent form, thirty wood-engravings by Timothy Cole, after the masterpieces of Dutch and Flemish art, is, in itself, sufficient reason for the book's existence. These engravings have been produced in the same manner, and with the same skill and care, that characterized Mr. Cole's earlier engravings after the old Italian masters. Indeed, it was the success of the Italian work that led to his undertaking the present series. Directly after completing his work in Italy, Mr. Cole was asked by the managers of The Century to go to Holland and undertake the translation of the great Dutchmen. In 1892 he removed from Italy to Amsterdam, where he remained for a year, engraving the pictures chosen for reproduction from the Holland galleries. He then went back to Paris, where he has remained up to the present time, working from the Dutch and Flemish pictures in the Louvre and elsewhere. In every instance Mr. Cole has produced his engraving with the original picture before him, the photograph being thrown upon the block and its insufficiencies or inequalities being corrected by consulting the original. In this way absolute fidelity to the original has been obtained, not only in line and in modeling, but in giving the exact values of colors under light and under shadow. In determining the truth of a form, a light, or a tone, Mr. Cole's long experience has made him an expert, and though passing from Italy to Holland, - a change from line to color, - he has easily adapted himself to the new point of view, and has interpreted the new methods with the same artistic sympathy that marked his former work. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.