Gerrit Dou (April 7, 1613 – February 9, 1675) — also known as Gerard Douw or Dow — was a Dutch Golden Age painter. From the InfoGalactic Wiki: “…[his] small, highly polished paintings are typical of the Leiden fijnschilders. He specialized in genre scenes and is noted for his trompe-l’œil “niche” paintings and candlelit night scenes with strong chiaroscuro. He was a student of Rembrandt.
Dou was born in Leiden, where his father was a manufacturer of stained-glass. He studied drawing under Bartholomeus Dolendo, and then trained in the stained-glass workshop of Pieter Couwenhorn. In February 1628, at the age of fourteen, his father sent him to study painting in the studio of Rembrandt (then aged about 21) who lived nearby. From Rembrandt, with whom he remained for about three years, he acquired his skill in coloring and in the more subtle effects of chiaroscuro, and his master’s style is reflected in several of his earlier pictures.”
His painting “Dog At Rest” (above) is in the collection of the Boston Museum of Fine Arts.
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April 7th is also the birthday of Colonel Bob Denard (born 1929, died October 13, 2007). He had an amazing life as a mercenary, including four attempted coups in the Comoros.
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Today’s feature piece is a review written by our own Tom Christianson.
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We are seeking entries for Round 118 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. More than $950,000 worth of prizes have been awarded since we started running this contest. Round 118 ends on May 31st, so get busy writing and e-mail us your entry. Remember that there is a 1,500-word minimum, and that articles on practical “how-to” skills for survival have an advantage in the judging. In 2023, we polled blog readers, asking for suggested article topics. Please refer to that poll if you haven’t yet chosen an article topic.
Read the full article here