For a snapshot of the dominant directions of current Rembrandt research, particularly under the leadership of senior Dutch scholars, two recent publications provide a sensitive vision. Their very titles signal the degree of adulation accorded to the painter Rembrandt, a solitary “genius,” whose wide-ranging influence, or “impact” diffused outward to a circle of talented but lesser painters who followed in his wake. Emphasis is on distinctive, individual artistic production in both books, though van de Wetering makes claims to “demythologizing” the artist’s techniques, because of the scientific investigation of works themselves. The exhibition catalogue from Australia essentially reprises the outlook and organization of the most recent major exhibition in Europe: the large production of Berlin/Amsterdam/London in 1991-92, which juxtaposed The Master and His Workshop. Blankert’s catalogue provides a primer of Rembrandt historiography, emphasizing the vicissitudes of painting attributions, particularly over the past century. In some ways, these catalogue essays provide more of the received wisdom or consensus on the artist rather than breaking new ground, especially in matters of identifying themes or offering new interpretations. Along the way, useful cautionary notes are sounded. For example, Blankert’s own essay rightly debunks the nineteenth-century biographical tendency to project hypothetical identities of Rembrandt’s...