The Age of Rembrandt: Dutch Paintings, organized by Walter Liedtke, Curator of European Paintings at the Metropolitan Museum, provides unparalleled opportunities for the enjoyment and study of Dutch art on a vast scale. Timed to coincide with Rembrandt’s four-hundredth birthday (2006) and the publication of Liedtke’s masterful two-volume catalogue, Dutch Paintings in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, this impressive exhibition puts on display every one of the museum’s 228 Dutch paintings produced from 1600 to 1800. Since normally only about a third of the collection can fit in the galleries at any one time, many of the Met’s “lesser” Dutch pictures hardly ever appear in public. This generous hanging thus introduces quite a few works heretofore known mainly to specialists. It also reacquaints visitors with once-familiar pieces now usually relegated to storage, not to mention current favorites that glow with added luster in the context of the collection as a whole. It is a rare treat to see this many fine Dutch paintings exhibited in one place. In its size and richness alone, the exhibition leaves an indelible mark. The significance of The Age of Rembrandt lies also in its unusual system of organization and scholarly focus. Rather than adopting...