Page:Things Seen In Holland (1912).djvu/167

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Holland's Artistic Side

year begun preparations to convert into a museum Rembrandt's house at No. 4, Joden-Bree-Straat, where he lived several years. It was to this house that the great painter brought his wife Saskia, and there she died; there he lived until his fortunes declined, when he sought a refuge somewhere else in the city, no one knows exactly where. This museum is to contain many valuable contributions from various public benefactors, and thus Rembrandt will be honoured in the town which has taken him to her bosom as her son; his native town of Leyden does not possess any of his works.

The churches of Holland would have been a feast for the eye had they not suffered from the iconoclasm of the Protestants, who in their zeal smashed or whitewashed all that was artistic and ornamental. When entering them one

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