Studien zur Komposition in ausgewählten Werken Rembrandts unter besonderer Berücksichtigung der Links-Rechts -Problematik

Studies about composition in selected works of Rembrandt with particular consideration of left-right problem

by Hea Yean Rosenhauer-Song
Doctoral thesis
Date of Examination:1999-11-30
Date of issue:2001-03-22
Advisor:Prof. Dr. Carsten-Peter Warncke
Referee:Prof. Dr. Carsten-Peter Warncke
Referee:Prof. Dr. Antje Middeldorf
Persistent Address: http://dx.doi.org/10.53846/goediss-1221

 

 

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Abstract

English

The present study investigates the impression of a composition on the viewer through the aspect of laterality. The asymmetry of the visual perception is discussed which originates from the asymmetry of the celebral hemispheres but also from environmental influence. The asymmetry of visual perception leads to a different evaluation of visual weight and a preference of the left side. Rembrandt probably didn t know the cause for the asymmetry in visual perception but it is not debatable that Rembrandt was confronted with the different visual weight of the motives depending on their pictorial location due to the side-reversal in the printing process. Arguments are given which indicate that Rembrandt drafted his compositions with the print picture in mind. The investigation of Rembrandt s drawings and his procedure during the work on etching plates which document the coming into being of the etching verify that Rembrandt was aware of the change due to the side-reversal during printing. The raising and the falling diagonals which suggest a certain direction of movement require a corresponding asymmetry of the pictorial field. By examinating etchings of Rembrandt which diagonal composition not only show an obvious line structure but is also an immediate element of composition, it can be concluded that Rembrandt used the impact of the diagonal with respect to the print. By comparing analysis of print picture (original) and plate (reversed) of Rembrandt s etchings, in which the different impact of the left and right pictorial field of the composition is observed, they can be devided into three groups: The arrangement of the raising and the falling diagonal, the retarding effect of the left-right asymmetry and the accelerating effect of the left-right asymmetry. Resulting from the retarding and accelerating (dynamisieren) effect of the left-right asymmetry which Rembrandt used according to the preferred visual direction, the internalising (verinnerlichten) expressiveness of the shown scenes can only be experienced in the print version. The hypothesis that Rembrandt s artistic intention is shown only in the print picture is also backed up with respect to composition and content. The important fact is that Rembrandt s compositions require the participation of viewing, following the preferred visual direction of the observer. Thus, the expressiveness of his pictorial invention is completed through the viewing process.
Keywords: Rembrandt; etching; left-right-problem
 
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