In the early 50s of the XIX century, the famous American artist William Sydney Mount (1807-1868) announced that he was the owner of a treatise on painting, the author of which is the great Rembrandt himself! Imagine the surprise of the scientists when Mount submitted for examination a manuscript written in English by the artist's own hand! Not at all embarrassed, the artist said that he had summoned the spirit of Rembrandt during a seance and the ghost "dictated" to him a scientific treatise on how to paint pictures. Mount demanded that the manuscript be considered on a par with the original Rembrandt autographs. According to the artist, the conversation was conducted telepathically, and he only wrote down the transmitted thoughts.
The ill-fated manuscript looked like a forgery, but Mount was not like a charlatan. The artist was a respected person, a recognized authority in the world of painting and did not seek cheap sensations. Having the title of professor, he, like his great compatriot Samuel Morse, combined the features of a painter and an inventor. Mount practiced spiritualism in order to "talk" with fellow artists from other eras.
Spiritual seances in America were officially allowed, but not a single recording made during a conversation with spirits was examined, and even less declared material value. And yet Mount wanted to give the text the status of a historical document, the author of which was a great man. His opponents very much hoped to find in the treatise modern colloquial expressions or information about some special techniques of painting, unknown in the time of Rembrandt. This would be a sure sign of falsification. But each time the experts were convinced of the "timeless" character of the text, which meant that it could well have been written by Rembrandt in the 17th century.
Only 30 years after Mount's death, scientists were imbued with the idea that exciting mysteries are associated with the personality of Rembrandt. They concern both the character traits of the artist (unwillingness to travel and even just leave the house), and the peculiarities of his vision, which allowed him to create a unique color scheme, and, of course, the secrets of the strongest emotional impact of his great paintings. X-rays of Rembrandt's paintings, revealing early versions of painting under a layer of paint, were amazing.
But could the greatest master turn into a phantom, penetrate the thickness of two centuries and dictate the treatise to his American colleague? They tried to restore the story with the mysterious manuscript from eyewitness accounts, because the original, unfortunately, disappeared somewhere …
Bernatsky Anatoly