SOURCE: “Making It,” in Los Angeles Times Book Review, November 14, 1999, pp. 1–2.

In the following review of Rembrandt's Eyes, Alpers praises Schama's descriptions of Rembrandt's life and art, but finds shortcomings in his links between the works of Rembrandt and Rubens.

Why is it that Rembrandt's works continue to have a hold on our feelings and our imagination? It is largely a matter of a profound human engagement. His works make what is distant and strange—Amsterdam burghers and their wives, biblical figures and Rembrandt himself—seem present and familiar, depicted in a most singular manner. So it is that, when one catches sight of a Rembrandt in a museum, one wants to confront it and, also, to be confronted by it. There is a relationship to be had, or so we imagine, with the person portrayed and also with the portrayer. In this, Rembrandt is unique.

It is...