Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn (* July 15, 1606 in Leiden; † October 4, 1669 in Amsterdam), known by his given name Rembrandt, is considered one of the most important and best-known Dutch artists of the Baroque period. His work coincided with the era of the Golden Age,
when the Netherlands experienced a period of political, economic and artistic prosperity. Rembrandt studied under Pieter Lastman, opened his first studio in Leiden in 1625, and soon attracted attention. In 1631 he moved to Amsterdam, where he became a celebrated artist. Nevertheless, he suffered from considerable financial problems at times, went bankrupt in 1656, and died in poverty.
Rembrandt worked as a painter, etcher and draftsman, ran a workshop and trained artists. His complete works include portraits, landscapes, and biblical and mythological subjects.
Among his best-known works are The Blinding of Simson, The Night Watch, The Anatomy of Dr. Tulp, and The Hundred-Gulden Leaf. In his depictions of history, Rembrandt took up numerous motifs that had not been artistically worked on before, or he sought new ways of depicting traditional motifs.
Many of these works are characterized by strong contrasts of light and dark, which is why he is considered a master of chiaroscuro.
Rembrandt was already received during his lifetime through re-engravings and copies of his paintings. After his death, his coloristic painting style was negatively evaluated in art criticism and art literature of classicism, while his works enjoyed great popularity among collectors and fetched high prices.
In the 18th century Rembrandt found successors among German and English artists. His life was mystified and embellished with legends during this period. It was not until the middle of the 19th century that his real biography was extracted from this Rembrandt image through source research.
Since the 1970s, the Rembrandt Research Project has been researching Rembrandt's works and examining them for authenticity. Of over 700 paintings once attributed to Rembrandt, today only about 350 are actually considered to be works by his hand.
Rembrandt's Life
Childhood and education
Rembrandt was born in Leiden on July 15, 1606, the eighth of nine children. His parents were the miller Harmen Gerritszoon van Rijn and his wife Neeltgen Willemsdochter van Zuytbrouck, a baker's daughter.
Like many other children of the town, Rembrandt attended elementary school between 1612 and 1616 and then, from 1616 to 1620, the strict Calvinist Latin school. There he was taught Biblical history and the classics. In addition, Rembrandt received rhetoric lessons, which possibly influenced his painting. After eight years of schooling, he enrolled in the Faculty of Philosophy at Leiden University.
Self-portrait, c. 1630, Rijksmuseum Amsterdam
He broke off this study after a short time to begin training as a painter. From 1620 to 1624 he was a student of Jacob Isaacsz. van Swanenburgh. The teacher, who had been trained in Italy, specialized in architectural painting and the scenic depiction of hell, and taught his pupil the basics of painting.
The design of fire in the portraits of hell may have sparked Rembrandt's interest in the depiction of light. He then completed a six-month apprenticeship with the history painter Pieter Lastman in Amsterdam in 1624, which had a greater impact on him than his previous training.
Lastman introduced him to history painting, which held the highest position in the hierarchy of painting genres valid at the time. Training under two masters was not unusual at that time.
Beginning of professional life
In 1625 Rembrandt returned to Leiden. There he established his own workshop with his friend Jan Lievens. He devoted himself primarily to history painting based on the model of his teacher Lastman and to physiognomic studies. Three years later he made his first etching and began to take in students.
In the same year, the secretary of the governor Frederick Henry, Constantijn Huygens, who visited Leiden in November 1628, showed interest in Rembrandt's art. He subsequently supported the artist and arranged commissions for him. Thus Rembrandt was able to sell two paintings to the English crown in 1629 and 1630.
The Resurrection of Lazarus and Judas Brings Back the Thirty Pieces of Silver were copied several times by other artists. On April 27, 1630 Rembrandt's father died.
The artist in his studio, 1626-1628, Museum of Fine Arts in Boston
After his first successes and attracted by the rising importance of the Dutch capital, Rembrandt gave up the Leiden studio he ran with Lievens in 1631 and moved to Amsterdam. There he bought into the art dealer Hendrick van Uylenburgh, who owned a large workshop where copies were made and restorations carried out.
After a short time, Rembrandt began receiving portrait commissions from wealthy merchants. The following year, through the mediation of Constantijn Huygens, Governor Frederick Henry purchased several of Rembrandt's paintings and commissioned a Passion cycle. Also in 1632, Rembrandt was commissioned to paint The Anatomy of Dr. Tulp, which he completed that same year. In all, he produced 30 paintings that year.
Rembrandt probably worked as a workshop leader for Uylenburgh, because before he was accepted into the Amsterdam guild and thus became independent, he must have first worked for another master or in a workshop.
Rembrandt's Independence and marriage
On July 2, 1634, Rembrandt married Saskia van Uylenburgh, the niece of his art dealer and daughter of a wealthy patrician. In the same year he joined the Guild of St. Luke. This enabled him to train apprentices and students as an independent master.
In 1635, he worked on the paintings The Sacrifice of Isaac and Samson Threatening His Father-in-Law, among others. Rembrandt's first son, baptized Rombertus (other spelling Rombartus) on December 15, 1635, died after a few months.
Rembrandt: Saskia van Uylenburgh in profile, in rich costume, 1633/34-1642,
by Rembrandt van Rijn, oil on wood, Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister, Kassel
In 1636 the couple, who until then had still lived with the art dealer Uylenburgh, moved to Nieuwe Doelenstraat. In addition to his artistic activities, Rembrandt traded there in works of art and built up a collection of historical and scientific objects, plants and animals, and exotica (objects from distant lands such as India).
In 1638, Rembrandt sued his wife's relatives in an insult suit because they had accused her of wastefulness. The relatives of Saskia justified this accusation by saying that her inheritance of about 40,000 florins was almost exhausted. Also in this year, his first daughter named Cornelia was born, who died a short time later.
Rembrandt bought a new house in the Breestraat on January 5, 1639, which today houses the Museum Het Rembrandthuis. To do this, he took out a loan, which he planned to pay off in five to six years. The year 1639 also saw the completion of the last painting in the Passion cycle.
The year 1640 was marked by two strokes of fate for Rembrandt: His second daughter, who had been baptized Cornelia on July 29, died shortly thereafter. Rembrandt's mother also died a month later.
Artistically, he took a turn when he began to devote himself also to landscape painting and etching landscapes. His second son Titus was baptized on September 22, 1641. The following year Rembrandt completed the painting The Night Watch.
On June 14, 1642, his wife Saskia died. This event meant a deep break in Rembrandt's life. While the years before had been characterized by high productivity, his artistic activity now clearly declined. He created only a few paintings and etchings, such as the Hundertguldenblatt, one of his most famous works.
In addition, he strongly identified with his role as a father and took special care of his son Titus. Rembrandt also picked up on his family situation in works of art, such as the drawing that shows a man feeding a child. To relieve him in the household, he brought in Geertje Dircx, who developed a particularly close relationship with Titus.
Thus she included him as the main heir in her will when she fell seriously ill in 1648. In 1649 Rembrandt hired the much younger Hendrickje Stoffels.
Financial problems and the last years of his life
After Hendrickje became Rembrandt's new partner, a dispute arose with Geertje Dircx. In 1649 she sued him in court for alimony and succeeded in having Rembrandt ordered to pay more.
The following year, when she pledged further jewelry that she had received from Rembrandt, contrary to the agreement made in court, he and her brother collected incriminating statements against her and enforced that she had to spend five years in a reformatory (the Spinhuis in Gouda).
In 1652 Rembrandt received a commission from the Sicilian patron Antonio Ruffo to paint Aristotle with the bust of Homer. Despite the good order situation, the proceeds from the sale of etchings and the fees from his teaching activities, he could not pay off his debts and had to continue borrowing money.
Rembrandt's epitaph in the Westerkerk
In 1654 Hendrickje Stoffels was summoned before the Amsterdam church council, which reprimanded her for lewd cohabitation with Rembrandt. She gave birth to Rembrandt's third daughter, who was also named Cornelia and baptized on October 30, 1654.
Rembrandt signed his house over to his son Titus on May 17, 1656, before being declared insolvent shortly thereafter. In the two years that followed, the house and his collection were auctioned off. The proceeds were unable to pay the debts in full. Rembrandt then moved to Rozengracht, where mainly socially weaker classes lived.
There he led a secluded life among Mennonite and Jewish friends. The guardianship of Titus was taken over by Louys Crayers (1623-1688), who won the inheritance for Titus from the bankruptcy estate in a long process. In 1660, Titus and Hendrickje Stoffels hired Rembrandt in their art shop.
Through this he maintained business contacts, continued to accept commissions, and taught students. Ruffo purchased the painting Alexander the Great in 1661 and ordered a painting to depict Homer. In 1663 Hendrickje Stoffels died.
In 1665 Titus came of age and received his inheritance. At the same time Rembrandt was working on the painting The Jewish Bride. Three years later his son, who had married Magdalena van Loo six months earlier, died and was buried on September 7, 1668.
Rembrandt moved in with his daughter-in-law after this event. She gave birth to his grandson, whose godfather he became on March 22, 1669. Rembrandt died on October 4 of the same year. The painting Simeon in the Temple remained unfinished. On October 8, Rembrandt was buried in the Westerkerk.
Rembrandt Works
While in the 1920s Rembrandt was still credited with over 700 paintings in some cases, experts now assume that his complete oeuvre comprises around 350 paintings, 300 etchings and 1000 drawings.
The main subjects of his paintings and etchings are histories and portraits, including self-portraits. Many of the history paintings and etchings show biblical scenes and myths artistically processed here for the first time or implement a traditional theme in a significantly different way than had been done in models. In addition,
Rembrandt was a successful portrait painter who succeeded in believably integrating his sitters into actions. The self-portraits bear witness to his view of himself and convey his confrontation with his own aging. The etchings in particular show him with various facial expressions and gestures and thus also served study purposes.
Rembrandt painted and etched only a few landscapes and genre scenes. With the painting Dead Peacocks only one still life is known. Many of the drawings Rembrandt made exclusively for study purposes for his students. In some he also recorded small incidents from his private life and other impressions.
Rembrandt marked his first paintings with the monogram RH, later with RHL, where the L stands for the city of Leiden. At the age of 26 he began to sign his works with Rembrant. From the beginning of 1633 he signed with Rembrandt, the now common spelling of his name.
Paintings of Rembrandt
History paintings
Many of Rembrandt's paintings can be classified in the genre of history painting. They show scenes from the Old and New Testaments, myths or portraits of historical figures. In doing so, Rembrandt developed a particularly condensed representation of the action, so that in the depiction of a particular moment, narrative contexts beyond this are expressed.
The focus on history was also a consequence of his training with the famous history painter Pieter Lastman, on whose subjects and compositions Rembrandt initially oriented himself. One example of this is the painting Stoning of Saint Stephen from 1625, which is one of Rembrandt's earliest works.
The Stoning of St. Stephen, 1625, Musée des Beaux-Arts in Lyon
For a long time it was considered to be a painting by Lastman, whose work it strongly resembles stylistically. Rembrandt used the composition of a lost Lastman painting with the same subject, but already used his typical use of light and shadow.
The Pharisees and elders in the background of the painting are brightly lit as the driving forces behind the execution, while the people carrying it out in the foreground are shadowed. He was to use this device again and again to emphasize people and actions.
Between 1632 and 1646 Rembrandt produced a seven-painting cycle of images from the infancy of Jesus and the Passion.
The commission was issued by the governor Frederick Henry through the mediation of Constantijn Huygens and originally comprised the five paintings Deposition from the Cross, Erection from the Cross, Ascension, Entombment and Resurrection, which is why the designation as the Passion cycle has become established in the specialist literature.
Deposition from the Cross, 1633, Alte Pinakothek in Munich
The two paintings Adoration of the Shepherds and Circumcision in the Temple, which is known today only through a copy, Rembrandt painted only later as a supplement to this cycle. Rembrandt delivered the paintings at great intervals and sometimes late, which is why he tried to "bribe" Huygens with other paintings and in this context produced The Blinding of Samson.
The time frame of the work also caused differences in the dimensions of the paintings, the colors, the size of the figures and the painting style as a whole, so that the series of paintings is not a homogeneous work.
When painting the Deposition from the Cross, Rembrandt was dealing with a composition by Peter Paul Rubens, which was known to him through an engraving. Rubens had depicted the body of Christ parallel to the picture and arranged all the helpers around it.
Rembrandt changed this composition fundamentally. The cross is placed at an angle and the people are divided into groups, either mourning Jesus or helping to remove him from the cross. To the right of the corpse Rembrandt depicted Nicodemus, as was common in comparable history paintings, and to his left he showed Mary supported by two women.
Their presence does not go back to the Bible, but picks up a legend that originated in the Middle Ages. Rembrandt put the emphasis on the suffering of the crucified in the depiction. Thus, the bloody traces of the crowning with thorns, the nailing and the side wound can still be seen on the beams of the cross.
The contrast between light and dark emphasizes the cross and the corpse, as well as the hands and faces of the mourners.
205 centimeters high and 272 centimeters wide, The Blinding of Simson is one of Rembrandt's most important paintings. It shows an episode from the story of Judge Samson, which Rembrandt treated in several paintings.
The Blinding of Simson, 1636, Städel Museum in Frankfurt am Main
Samson was a Nazarite, which gave him special strength if he adhered to three conditions, such as the prohibition to cut his beard and hair. The scene depicted here follows the cutting of his hair by Delilah, who betrayed him to the Philistines.
This aspect of the plot is also taken up in this painting, as Delila is depicted in the background fleeing with the shock of hair and scissors in hand. Rembrandt also depicted various aspects of the plot with the other characters. For example, after his hair was cut off, Samson had to be wrestled to the ground and tied up before his eyes were gouged out.
Rembrandt conveyed this through the fighters, one of whom fearfully enters the scene, another holds Samson to the ground, one ties him up, and one gouges out his eyes. Yet the immediate action of the painting is the climax of the story, the glare of the penetrating knife, with blood spurting. However, the viewer can reconstruct the entire action through the painting.
In addition to striving to convey as much action as possible in his paintings, even beyond the moment depicted, and to depict the action at its climax, such as in the Blinding of Samson, Rembrandt also incorporated external influences from his immediate surroundings into his histories.
Aristoteles, 1653, Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York
This becomes particularly clear in the example of the depiction of the Jews. For a long time, for example, Rembrandt used physical features associated with the Jews only in depictions in negative contexts, such as the High Priests, and he reinforced these traditionally depicted facial features.
After his bankruptcy-related move, he studied directly on Jewish models for the first time. One of these studies is the painting A Christ After Life, in which he fashioned the Son of God, whose appearance was otherwise conformed to that of Dutch models, with Jewish facial features.
In 1653, Rembrandt was commissioned by the Sicilian aristocrat Ruffo to paint the historical half-length figure of Aristotle, a painting that is one of Rembrandt's important late works. It was followed later by two more paintings commissioned by Ruffo, showing Alexander the Great and Homer.
Ruffo was very pleased with the portrait of Aristotle and mentioned it in praise in a letter to the painter Giovanni Francesco Barbieri, who was to produce a companion piece to it, because Rembrandt delivered the other two ordered pictures only after a long delay in the early 1660s.
The portrait of Alexander the Great was also well received by Ruffo, who, however, noticed after some time that the canvas had been enlarged on three sides and complained as a result.
Ruffo felt that the Homer was unfinished, so he sent it back and demanded that Rembrandt rework it. Rembrandt seems to have chosen the subjects of the paintings himself, since he had already laid out the following two in the portrait of Aristotle.
The philosopher is depicted in a moment of musing. He has placed his right hand on a bust representing Homer. With his left hand he touches at waist level a golden chain of honor with a portrait of Alexander the Great. This also expresses Rembrandt's knowledge of the historical context. Aristotle was a connoisseur of the works of Homer and imparted them to his student Alexander the Great.
Portraits and group portraits
Following his move to Amsterdam, Rembrandt began to paint more portraits while working in Uylenburgh's studio and quickly captured the market for this genre with them.
The success was based on experience gained in history painting, with which Rembrandt surpassed the established portrait painters. He involved the sitters in small actions, such as the wife handing over a letter to her husband in a double portrait, which gave the paintings liveliness.
The Anatomy of Dr. Tulp, 1632, oil on canvas, Mauritshuis in The Hague
In addition, Rembrandt succeeded in rendering human skin particularly realistically. In comparison with other portrait painters, Rembrandt took more liberties, so that his paintings have fewer similarities of physical features compared with other portraits of the same person.
The couplet "This is Rembrandt's hand, and de Gheyn's face. Marvel. Reader, this is de Gheyn and is not." by the poet Constantijn Huygens about the portrait of his friend Jakob de Gheyn the Younger is interpreted as a criticism of Rembrandt's portrayal of de Gheyn, or else as a musing on the fact that a portrait is not the sitter himself, but only an image of him.
The first group portrait painted by Rembrandt that marked his breakthrough as a portrait painter is The Anatomy of Dr. Tulp, 169.5 centimeters high and 216.5 centimeters wide, commissioned by Nicolaes Tulp, prelector of the Surgeons' Guild, in 1632 shortly after his move to Amsterdam.
Portrait of the preacher Johannes Uytenbogaert, 1633, Rijksmuseum Amsterdam
It depicts a public anatomical lecture, which was commonplace and popular at the time. Rembrandt did not depict the sitters in a row, as was the tradition, but rather gathered them around the corpse. The latter's tendon on the left forearm is exposed and is being lifted by the surgeon with forceps as he delivers his lecture.
With the exception of Tulp, who is seated in an armchair, all the figures, identifiable as members of the guild, are standing and are depicted in poses typical of following a lecture. Thus Rembrandt shows the concentrated gaze on the speaker as well as an examining one into the textbook in the lower right corner of the picture or the expert patterning of the specimen.
Thus all figures are united in a common event. The individual facial features are worked out more clearly than the situation demands, which appears to today's viewer to be an exaggerated pose. However, Rembrandt discarded this exaggeration in time.
An example of the individual portraits painted at the beginning of the Amsterdam period is the 130-centimeter-high and 103-centimeter-wide portrait of the preacher Johannes Uytenbogaert, painted by Rembrandt in 1633 on behalf of the Remonstrant congregation. It depicts the priest Johannes Uytenbogaert, who had returned for a short time from his exile in the Netherlands.
He noted in his diary for April 13, 1633, that he sat all day modeling for Rembrandt. Parts of the painting, such as the hands, were not done by Rembrandt himself, but were painted by a studio employee. This practice occurred in some of Rembrandt's portraits, as it was not uncommon for portrait studios to have different painters working on the same painting.
One of Rembrandt's most famous paintings is the group portrait The Night Watch, painted in 1642. The painting, 363 centimeters high and 437 centimeters wide, was commissioned by the Riflemen's Guild, which was moving into a new shooting house and ordered several group portraits to decorate the banquet hall. Rembrandt fulfilled this commission, as he had done with the Anatomy of Dr. Tulp, by including the sitters in a plot.
The Night Watch, Rijksmuseum Amsterdam
Captain Frans Banning Cocq gives the marching orders to Lieutenant Willem van Ruytenburgh, who now passes them on. Captain and lieutenant stand in the center foreground as the starting point of the pictorial action. Individual members of the company have noticed the order and are getting ready to march.
The action of the guild is symbolized by three riflemen showing different stages of firing. In the left foreground, one is stuffing the rifle, behind the lieutenant is the muzzle flash of a firing rifleman, and to the right of the lieutenant an old man is blowing spent powder from the priming pan.
In the left half of the picture Rembrandt depicted two little girls who appear as sutlers and of whom only the front one can be recognized as an allegory. She wears on her belt a chicken, whose claw was the symbol of the riflemen's guild, the drinking horn of the guild and a pie.
Thus, the painting indicates the celebration of the guild community with a communal meal. Rembrandt, by suggesting other figures in the background, gives the impression that the whole company is present, which included not only riflemen, but also spearmen and lancers.
The painting shows an ordinary marching up of the guild, which is why for a long time titles such as Captain Frans Banningh Cocq gives his lieutenant the order to march up the citizen company were common.
It was not until the layers of varnish had darkened and the picture therefore appeared like a nocturnal scene that the title The Night Watch became established towards the end of the 18th century.
Portrait of a lady with ostrich feather, in the 1660s, National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C.
Various rumors and anecdotes have grown up around the painting, such as that the sitters were members of a theater group, or that Rembrandt's reputation as a portrait painter had deteriorated because of the painting's unusual composition. These speculations are rejected by researchers.
The 99.5-centimeter-high and 83-centimeter-wide Portrait of a Lady with Ostrich Feathers is an example of Rembrandt's portraits of women and his portraits in the last decade of his life. Beginning in the early 1660s, Rembrandt experienced an increase in the number of these commissions after a prolonged period with few portrait commissions.
These works are all characterized by a strong chiaroscuro and a calm demeanor of the sitter. The portrait of the unknown woman holding a peacock feather is characterized by two light triangles.
The upper one includes the head and shoulder area, the lower one the forearms, hands and the feather. Both are separated by a black area of clothing. This stands out only slightly from the background, which is also dark.
Self-portraits
Throughout his life, Rembrandt made portraits showing himself with various gestures and facial expressions, as well as in different roles. He depicted himself "nearly fifty times in color, twenty times in etchings, and about ten times in drawings."
Rembrandt undertook the study of himself primarily at the beginning of his career, when he made etchings depicting himself in various emotional states with the corresponding postures and body language. In his later work, instead, he increasingly produced portraits that focus on his age or in which he assumes historical roles.
Self-portrait, 1640, National Gallery in London
The 102-centimeter-high and 80-centimeter-wide self-portrait from 1640 shows Rembrandt against a light, neutral background, so that the figure is particularly emphasized. He wears clothes made of silk and brocade fabric. The coat is trimmed with a fur collar.
Over the arm supported on a barrier lies a heavy and precious stole. As headgear Rembrandt wears a beret. The face is painted in half profile with a melancholic expression. The gaze is directed at the viewer of the picture. In the lower right corner of the picture on the barrier the signature Rembrandt f. 1640 is visible.
With the perfect painting style and the portrayal of the sitter, this painting resembles works by Raphael or Titian.
Rembrandt's aging can be traced in his portraits. Thus, the paintings show him with thinning hair and increasing wrinkles. However, he not only portrayed himself, but in some cases also placed himself in a larger narrative context by taking on historical roles.
An example of this is the self-portrait as Paul the Apostle from 1661, which shows the darkly dressed Rembrandt against a predominantly dark background. Only the upper left corner of the picture, where the signature is also affixed, is lighter.
Self-portrait as the Apostle Paul, c. 1661, Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam
The white turban he wears as headgear is the brightest section of the painting. In his hand Rembrandt holds an edition of the Old Testament; the letters depicted are based on the Hebrew script. The sword as a typical attribute of the apostle Paul of Tarsus, who was executed with one, is only indicated with its pommel.
Another painting from this creative phase is the self-portrait as Zeuxis from around 1663/64, which was long considered to be a representation of Democritus. Democritus was considered in antiquity as the laughing philosopher, due to his doctrine of benevolence as the highest good.
The interpretation as Democritus was also associated with the interpretation that Rembrandt viewed his aging positively. According to current research, however, this painting depicts Zeuxis of Herakleia, who died of a fit of laughter while painting a portrait of an ugly woman.
Thus, the painting could also symbolize Rembrandt's realization of his own arrogance and mortality. However, this interpretation is also not considered certain. For example, it is cited that X-ray examinations revealed that Rembrandt was only smiling, not laughing, in an earlier version of the painting.
Landscapes
Rembrandt's insolvency inventory of 1656 lists twelve landscape paintings by his hand, of which eight have survived according to current knowledge. In addition, 32 etchings and numerous drawings depicting landscapes are attributed to him.
During Rembrandt's lifetime, landscape paintings stood below portrait and history painting in the traditional hierarchy of genres and were accordingly less expensive. Rembrandt himself will have seen himself as a history painter.
Landscape with buildings, 1642-1646, Louvre in Paris
He drew landscapes while walking around Amsterdam more for his personal pleasure. This explains why he created only a few landscape paintings, which, moreover, clearly differ from those of his contemporaries.
In the period between 1636 and 1655 Rembrandt painted a few landscape paintings, which does not necessarily mean that these paintings do not contain figures. The majority of them show fantasy landscapes, only a minority were painted realistically by Rembrandt.
Winter Landscape, 1646, Old Masters Picture Gallery in Kassel, Germany
In contrast to his drawings and etchings, which mostly show wide, open and realistic landscapes, the paintings seem mostly motionless and cramped. Unlike the histories and portraits, Rembrandt's landscape paintings were very different from the traditional paintings of this genre.
They had limited influence on subsequent artists in England around the 1800's. While many Italian artists and those who emulated the Italians chose landscapes of Roman or Greek antiquity, Rembrandt often painted those that could be more closely associated with Israel.
Like the painters of idealized landscapes, Rembrandt did not represent reality in his paintings. However, he went further by also abandoning the basis of studying nature for painting the picture.
An example of the fantastic landscapes is the painting Landscape with Buildings, which Rembrandt created between 1642 and 1646. It is the most classical landscape composition among his works and was probably based on the 1604 Landscape with Flight into Egypt by Annibale Carracci, a painting Rembrandt may have known as a copy.
In both paintings, a group of buildings dominates the horizon. One part of them is illuminated by the sun, the other is in shadow. The buildings blend into the landscape in terms of color and composition in such a way that they appear to belong to it naturally.
In the foreground, a river can be seen, crossed by a bridge. It is possible that Rembrandt did not complete the painting and therefore no figures are integrated into the picture.
One of the realistic landscapes is the 17 × 23 centimeter Winter Landscape from 1646. The small format and execution suggest that it is based on a drawing. The depiction of the weather and clouds is based on reality.
The foreground of the painting is relatively empty. In its left corner sits a man, in its right half are three other figures. In execution, this landscape is not as representative and ostentatious as many other winter landscapes created in the 17th century in the Netherlands.
Drawings
Of the numerous drawings Rembrandt made during his life, about 1000 are preserved today. He sold only a few of these drawings; the majority served study purposes.
They were sketches, preparatory drawings, re-drawings and memory aids, which were available to his students in the workshop, arranged by subject. Some drawings bear witness to the fact that Rembrandt was more concerned with certain problems.
The Last Supper, 1635, National Museums in Berlin
In the second half of the 1630s, for example, he devoted himself to symmetry and asymmetry in Leonardo da Vinci's work The Last Supper. Rembrandt was familiar with this work through an engraving, which prompted him to study the structure of this painting in various drawings.
Rembrandt transferred his knowledge gained in this way into the painting Samson at the Wedding Table, posing the riddle, which is based on the Last Supper in its composition.
Over time, Rembrandt repeatedly dealt with the depiction of certain themes, such as the story of Susanna in the bath. One example of the realization of this biblical tale is the drawing Susanna in the Bath, executed in red chalk and painted around 1637. It is compositionally based on a history painting by Pieter Lastman, with whom Rembrandt had studied.
Susanna in the bath, c. 1637, National Museums in Berlin
Susanna, according to the biblical tale, is beset by two old judges and faced with the choice of doing their bidding or being slandered. Rembrandt adopted the large layout of the picture, the grouping of the figures and essential pictorial elements of Lastman in his chalk drawing.
The main difference from the original lies in the further elaboration of the scene, with Rembrandt emphasizing the dialog character.
He conveys Susanna's alternatives via the body language of the two old men: the one on the left points to the castle with his thumb as a threat of slander and accusation, the one on the right entices Susanna with his finger. The latter is met by Susanna with a dismissive look, representing her rejection of the solicitation.
Painting Susanna and the Two Old Men, 1647
Recent Rembrandt research no longer sees the majority of the drawings in his late work as primarily having the "preparatory drawing" character originally assumed - they are now considered autonomous works of art. One of Rembrandt's preferred techniques became the reed pen, often also in Bister wash.
Etchings
Rembrandt created about 300 etchings, of which 80 copper plates have survived. Their dissemination via reproductions contributed to the artist's fame throughout Europe even during his lifetime.
Rembrandt's early etchings show clear differences in style from his contemporaries and suggest that he approached this genre of art as an autodidact.
Rembrandt's technique was freer than that of other artists, who approached engraving with regular lines and hatching, so that his etchings appear more vivid. With the play of light and dark and the perspective created by different hatchings, he gave them a painterly character.
The Landscape with Three Trees from 1643 is one of Rembrandt's first realistic landscape depictions, after he created heroic landscapes with obelisks, waterfalls and castles in his earlier paintings.
Now he focused on the vastness of the landscape and the depiction of clouds. The etching The Landscape with Three Trees shows the flat landscape typical of the Netherlands after a thunderstorm.
The Landscape with the Three Trees, 1643, Museum Het Rembrandthuis in Amsterdam
The 38.5-centimeter-wide and 45-centimeter-high etching The Three Crosses from 1653 shows an interpretation of the Calvary scene, a traditional subject of paintings that Rembrandt approached from a new point of view.
He focused on the reactions of those present to Jesus' death and the subsequent earthquake, as well as the three crosses. Rays of light erupt from the sky, their geometric structure emphasizing the sacred character of the etching. They illuminate Jesus and the good thief, while the second thief remains in darkness.
The three crosses, 1653, Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam
Rembrandt depicted the effect on the people present in various ways. For example, the centurion has fallen to his knees, while on the left edge of the picture, in the foreground, an overwhelmed man is being led away. Rembrandt borrowed the design of this man from an engraving by Lucas van Leyden, which shows Paul being shaken after his conversion.
Further, women have fallen to the ground, and most of the figures depicted show feelings of despair, fear, and pain in some way. In this Rembrandt mainly received representations from the Renaissance and antiquity.
Collection of Rembrandt
Rembrandt probably began building his extensive collection of various objects and works of art while still in Leiden. From 1628 onward, precisely rendered exotic and ethnological objects can be found in Rembrandt's works, suggesting that the collection also served study purposes and included studio props.
However, it may also have been a stockpile of valuable items intended for sale, as Rembrandt was also an art dealer. With the encyclopedic claim of the collection, Rembrandt possibly also wanted to distinguish himself in the higher circles of society.
The collection was divided into two sections, the Naturalia, such as stone corals and shells, and the Artificialia, which included items such as coins, weapons, musical instruments, and plaster casts of busts of Greek philosophers and Roman emperors.
Rembrandt divided the collection of artworks into paintings, paper art, copper engravings and woodcuts. It included paintings by masters who strongly influenced him, such as Pieter Lastman and his circle, by Hercules Seghers, and by artists who were friends or stylistically close to him, such as Jan Lievens.
Rembrandt also owned works by Palma Vecchio, Lucas van Leyden, Raphael and Peter Paul Rubens. The copper engravings were by Hans Holbein the Younger and Martin Schongauer, for example. An entire album was filled with engravings and woodcuts by Lucas Cranach the Elder. Titian, Mantegna, Michelangelo, Annibale and Agostino Carracci were also represented in the collection.
Drawing by Rembrandt after an Indian miniature from his collection, which served as a model for the etching The Three Archangels Visit the Archfather Abraham
As a result of his bankruptcy, Rembrandt also had to part with his collection. Due to the inventories made before the auction, the size of the collection and the works and objects it contained are still known today.
Already a short time later, when he had moved into a small apartment, he acquired a new collection. This suggests that collecting was something of an obsession for Rembrandt. The Museum Het Rembrandthuis in Amsterdam presents a reconstruction of the collection around 1650, based on the inventories that also spatially assigned the exhibits.
Rembrandt's Significance and aftermath
Workshop and pupils
Between 1628 and 1663 Rembrandt trained students in his workshop. In Leiden, his studio was located in his parents' house, so that there was no separation between home and workplace.
His first pupil was Gerard Dou in February 1628, who would later become famous for his genre paintings and portraits. Isaac Jouderville followed in November of the same year.
In Amsterdam, Rembrandt first worked in the workshop of the art dealer Hendrick van Uylenburgh, until he joined the Guild of St. Luke in 1634, which gave him the right to run his own workshop and take on students. In his house he set up his studio on the second floor and on the second floor, under the roof, the workshop where his students worked.
Small workrooms were divided off for the students by movable partitions. They had access to drawings, engravings and paintings by their master, which they copied or reproduced in free variations.
Rembrandt sold these works, which added to the 100 guilders paid by the parents for one year. The apprenticeship fee was very high considering that Rembrandt did not provide the students with room or board. Some students remained as assistants in Rembrandt's workshop after the end of their apprenticeship.
The exact number of students is not known. Early biographers of Rembrandt have handed down the names of about 20 of them. The records of Rembrandt's pupils at the guilds of Leiden and Amsterdam have been lost.
Thus, today their number is estimated at about 50. From the German artist Joachim von Sandrart, who lived in Amsterdam from 1637 to 1645,
it has been handed down that "countless" young men studied and worked with Rembrandt. This statement suggests a higher number of students. Among the students were Carel Fabritius, Ferdinand Bol, Willem Drost, Gerbrand van den Eeckhout, Govert Flinck, Arent de Gelder, Samuel van Hoogstraten, Nicolaes Maes, Jürgen Ovens, Lambert Doomer, and Franz Wulfhagen.
Aeneas on the coast of Latium, 1661-1663, Gerard Dou, Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam
View of Delft, 1652, Carel Fabritius, National Gallery in London
Self-portrait as Zeuxis, 1685, Arent de Gelder, Städel in Frankfurt am Main
Christus vor Pilatus, Nicolaes Maes, Museum of Fine Arts in Budapest
Attention and fame
Rembrandt gained national recognition and fame early on. For example, the English traveler Peter Mundy, who was in the Netherlands in 1640, noted in his diary that "there were many excellent artists in this country, some still exist, for example Rembrandt."
A year later, the early Rembrandt biographer and city historian of Leiden Jan Janszoon Orlers wrote of Rembrandt "that he has become one of the present most renowned painters of our century."
As early as 1629 and 1630, the English crown acquired two of his paintings, and knowledge of his works spread throughout much of Europe via engravings. Rembrandt sold three paintings to the Sicilian Antonio Ruffo, who had them put on a list of the hundred most beautiful paintings in his collection.
After Rembrandt's death, the view of his works was divided. The classicist view of art dominated in Italy, France, the Netherlands, and England between 1750 and 1850, and contrasted with the colorism to which artists such as Caravaggio and Rembrandt belonged.
In the Teutsche Akademie, published in 1675, the German painter Joachim von Sandrart accused Rembrandt of having "disregarded the rules of art - anatomy, proportion, perspective, the standard of antiquity and the draftsmanship of Raphael - and of fighting sensible training in the academies" Sandrart also judged Rembrandt to be uneducated and rebuked his art collection,
which he had previously praised in his biography, so that the public now considered it worthless. In 1681, Anries Pels published the didactic poem Gebruik en Misbruik des Toneels (Use and Abuse of the Theater), in which he also addressed painting, calling Rembrandt "the first (most notable) heretic in painting" for refusing to submit his "famous brush to the rules."
The art writer Arnold Houbraken went even further in his 1718 work Groote Schouburgh, inventing alleged quotes from Rembrandt and inaccurate biographical information, as well as spreading legends. By this time, the facts about Rembrandt's life had largely been forgotten. Therefore, people concluded from his paintings that he was of low social standing and bad character.
This was applied to his artistic conception. In the approximately 20-page article, which probably involved several authors in addition to Houbraken, reference was made to many of the previous critics and reviews.
Rembrandt monument in Amsterdam
The harsh criticism is countered by the fact that Rembrandt's artworks were popular with collectors. In Paris in the second half of the 17th century as well as the 18th century, when artists active there were creating smooth ideal compositions, there was a large market for Dutch realists and Rembrandt in particular.
In addition, due to the increased prices of his works, forgeries were increasingly entering the art market. The existing interest prompted the French art dealer Gersaint in 1751 to compile the first catalog of Rembrandt's etchings, which amounted to a pioneering art historical achievement.
Rembrandt's pictures also found favor in Germany and England, and were purchased by both the bourgeoisie and the aristocracy. In England, his works fetched such high prices that the British art dealer John Smith produced the first catalog of the paintings in 1836.
The paintings by Rembrandt, his pupils and successors, represented in collections throughout Europe, inspired Rembrandt successors in the 18th century. In Germany, the painter Januarius Zick was concerned with the costumes of the figures and chiaroscuro painting in Rembrandt's paintings;
in England, Joshua Reynolds acquired paintings that Rembrandt had painted and oriented himself on the color scheme, in Italy, Giovanni Battista Tiepolo worked on compositions of Rembrandt's engravings, and the poets of the Sturm und Drang, a current of German literature in the period from 1770 to about 1785, praised the popular and natural quality of Rembrandt's art.
After the erection of monuments to Albrecht Dürer in Germany and Peter Paul Rubens in Belgium, the unveiling of a Rembrandt monument took place in Amsterdam in 1853. Although this was done primarily for patriotic motives, the result was a renewed interest in Rembrandt on the part of art historians.
For the first time, his life was thoroughly researched, with documents found in archives revealing that previous publications had contained a great deal of misinformation. In 1854, the first art historical monograph on Rembrandt was published, whose author, Eduard Kolloff, knew many of his works from his own experience. In these developments lies the foundation of the actual Rembrandt research.
Elderly lady with a hood, 1632, sold at auction in December 2000 for more than $28 million
Important art historians such as Abraham Bredius and Wilhelm von Bode did research on Rembrandt and his environment. Jan Emmens corrected the image of Rembrandt as a breaker of the rules of art of his time, which the classicist art literature had made him out to be, pointed out historical references and dealt with Rembrandt's studio work and his artistic models.
Christian Tümpel dealt with misinterpreted and not yet interpreted historical representations of Rembrandt, and the Rembrandt Research Project worked on clarifying the authorship of his paintings and those of his circle.
Rembrandt's success on the art market continues unabated. Works by him have achieved high auction results in recent years. On December 13, 2000, the portrait Older Lady with a Bonnet, painted in 1632, was auctioned at Christie's in London (lot no.: 52) for 19,803,750 pounds, the equivalent of $28,675,830.
The 1633 portrait A Gentleman in a Red Skirt from the collection of the Bellagio Gallery of Fine Art in Las Vegas was called at Christie's in New York on January 26, 2001 (lot no.: 81) and acquired by the art dealer Noortmann for $12,656,000. On January 25, 2007,
two paintings were offered at once at Sotheby's in New York, of which the portrait A Woman in a Black Cap (lot no.: 6) from 1632 sold for $9,000,000 and The Apostle James (lot no.: 74) from 1661 sold for $25,800,000. The portrait A Man with Arms at His Hips (lot no.: 12) from 1658, auctioned at Christie's in London on December 8, 2009,
which came from the estate of Barbara Piasecka Johnson, fetched £20,201,250, or $33,210,855, the highest price ever achieved for a Rembrandt work.
Attribution problems and the work of the Rembrandt Research Project
Determining the autograph of Rembrandt's works was already difficult for his contemporaries, as they are sometimes difficult to distinguish from those of other artists such as Govert Flinck, Jan Lievens or Aert de Gelder.
In addition, copies and variants were made in the workshop, so that, for example, ten versions of the Penitent Judas are known, which cannot be clearly assigned to a particular artist.
In part, archival documents, literary mentions, or reproduction engravings can be used to determine the author, but this is not particularly reliable.
In addition, there are scientific examinations of the works and connoisseurship about specific quality and style characteristics of the artist, according to which correspondences and deviations can be determined in comparison with undocumented works. However, they are subject to subjective points of view.
At the beginning of the 20th century, an optimistic attribution practice was widespread that took a broad view of stylistic characteristics for evaluating a painting as Rembrandt's own work. Since 1968, a group of experts brought together in the Rembrandt Research Project has been evaluating paintings attributed to Rembrandt.
The man with the golden helmet, attributed to the Rembrandt circle, Gemäldegalerie in Berlin
They divided the works into three categories: Category A includes paintings whose authorship by Rembrandt is certain, Category B those whose authorship by Rembrandt cannot be considered certain but cannot be denied, and Category C includes works whose authorship by Rembrandt cannot be confirmed and which are assigned to his circle.
At the same time, the assignment of some works to their respective categories has not been without controversy. In 1982, for example, of the three pictures painted on gilded copper plates, Laughing Soldier from the Mauritshuis, Praying Old Woman from the Residence Gallery, and a self-portrait from the Swedish National Museum, all of which have a similar small format, only the most accurately painted picture,
Praying Old Woman, was declared authentic. In the catalog of the exhibition The Young Rembrandt. Enigmas of His Beginnings, which was on view in Amsterdam and Kassel in 2001, however, the other two paintings were also counted among the secure core of authentic works from Rembrandt's output of the years 1627 to 1629. The Rembrandt Research Project reduced the number of Rembrandt's works considered authentic to about 350 and published its research results in four catalogs to date.
Among the most prominent write-offs is the portrait The Man with the Gold Helmet in the Berlin Gemäldegalerie. It has not been proven with certainty, but there is the hypothesis that it was made by the Augsburg-born painter Johann Ulrich Mayr, who worked at times in Rembrandt's workshop, since the helmet came from an Augsburg armory.
In addition, there is the hypothesis that the author of this portrait is not to be sought in the workshop, but in Rembrandt's wider circle. The drawings were also affected by depreciation on a larger scale, while the etchings had already been largely freed from school works and imitations.
In addition to the question of the authenticity of Rembrandt's works, the Rembrandt Research Project has provided new insights into Rembrandt's workshop and teaching, as well as archival findings on the artist's biography, models, and early provenances of his works.
Furthermore, it has compiled many scientific findings on Rembrandt's works in a database, for example on the pigments, binders, and painting grounds used. In addition, X-rays and neutron irradiation have yielded many clues about the painting process.
Rembrandt's Reception
Painting
Rembrandt's works served as inspiration for many artists, some of whom copied them or used them as models for their own works. This already began during Rembrandt's lifetime.
One example is the painter Gerrit Lundens, who made several copies of The Night Watch and transferred its composition to his own works. A total of ten such works by Lundens are known to date.
The original condition of Rembrandt's work before it was reduced in size and darkened can also be seen in his copy, which was painted between 1642 and 1649 and is in the National Gallery in London. Another contemporary reception of this painting is a watercolor in the family album of Frans Banningh Cocq, made around 1650.
In addition to such copies, many engravings of Rembrandt's works were also in circulation, making him known throughout Europe. For example, during the Baroque era, Rembrandt exerted influence on other portrait painters such as Johann Kupetzky.
After Rembrandt's death, his influence on subsequent generations of artists did not diminish, so that works inspired by him and based on his paintings and engravings were produced again and again. One of Rembrandt's successors in the 18th century was Christian Wilhelm Ernst Dietrich, who did not imitate Rembrandt, but portrayed his compositions in a more narrative way and withdrew Rembrandt's drama.
Max Liebermann was also influenced by Rembrandt. In his early work, influences of Rembrandt, who was introduced to Liebermann by his teacher Ferdinand Pauwels at the Fridericianum in Kassel, can be discerned. During his stay in Amsterdam in 1876, Liebermann had etchings by Rembrandt presented to him in the Rijksmuseum and copied them into pen and ink drawings. Among other things,
he copied an etching that showed a portrait of Rembrandt's mother. Rembrandt's etchings were also referred to by the French graphic artist Rodolphe Bresdin, who emulated his model in the depiction of brightness in contrast to blackness.
Another artist impressed by Rembrandt's works was Vincent van Gogh, who particularly appreciated The Jewish Bride. He made several paintings based on Rembrandt's works. Édouard Manet also copied a work by Rembrandt with The Anatomy of Dr. Tulp, and Pablo Picasso referenced Rembrandt in some of his works.
Rembrandt and his works also influenced many other artists, such as Hans von Marées, Ilya Repin, Wilhelm Leibl, Franz von Lenbach, Max Slevogt, Eugène Delacroix, and Gustave Courbet. The expressiveness of Rembrandt's self-portraits also influenced a number of artists such as Francisco de Goya and Anton Raphael Mengs in their own self-portrayals.
Images of Rembrandt were also used by Glenn Brown, whose works often incorporate paintings by famous artists. His 2001 work Joseph Beuys (after Rembrandt) was based on a portrait by Rembrandt.
Artist Devorah Sperber recreated Rembrandt's 1659 self-portrait, which hangs in the National Gallery of Art in Washington, in a pixelated detail in an installation After Rembrandt made of spools of yarn. Hiroshi Sugimoto made a silver gelatin print Rembrandt van Rijn in 1999, showing a wax figure modeled after the 1659 self-portrait in the National Gallery in London.Literature.
The person of Rembrandt became the subject of several historical novels. In 1934, the Russian-born author Valerian Tornius published the novel Between Light and Dark.
The focus of this book is on the contrast between Rembrandt's successes and his material decline until his death in poverty. In addition, his homage as a genius plays a central role.
A number of novels dealt with Rembrandt's relation to religion such as The Mission of Rembrandt, Harmenszoon van Rijn by Meta Scheele from 1934 and Rembrandt and the Great Mystery of God by Kurt Schuder from 1952. In the book Light on Dark Ground. Ein Rembrandt-Roman by Renate Krüger, published in 1967,
Rembrandt's move to Amsterdam's Jewish quarter and his relationship with the neighbors there is discussed.
The book The Painter's Assistant: A Rembrandt Novel, written by Alexandra Guggenheim, was published in 2006 and deals with Rembrandt's fictional student, Samuel Bol. The painter is commissioned to create a portrait of an anatomist at work, but no corpse of an executed man is present. When the lecture finally takes place, the body of a petty thief is dissected, making Bol suspicious.
Despite this crime story, a major focus of the novel is Rembrandt's work as a painter, his style and choice of subject matter. Also published in 2006 was the novel Van Rijn by Sarah Emily Miano, which features the elderly and penniless Rembrandt, whose studio is visited by the young publisher Pieter Blaeu in 1667. The novel also features other characters related to Rembrandt.
In the novel The Color Blue, Jörg Kastner recounts the experiences of the painter Cornelius Suythof in uncovering a conspiracy against the Netherlands in 1669. Suythof is described as a student of Rembrandt. Rembrandt himself plays a significant role in the story as a painter. Suythof ends up marrying Rembrandt's daughter Cornelia.
The novel The Painter and the Maiden by Dutch writer Margriet de Moor highlights two fictional storylines of Elsje Christiaens and the artist who drew the dead woman at Calvary.
Rembrandt in Film
Rembrandt van Rijn has been the subject of several films. In 1936, for example, Alexander Korda directed the film Rembrandt, whose screenplay was written by Carl Zuckmayer and June Heart.
The film attempted to transfer Rembrandt's painting technique to pictorial direction and sets in after the death of his wife. Charles Laughton played the leading role. In 1942, the film Ewiger Rembrandt followed, directed by Hans Steinhoff and starring Ewald Balser as the painter.
It partly presents the National Socialist view of culture and deals with the creation of the painting The Night Watch, basing its content on the novel Between Light and Dark by Valerian Tornius. In 1954, he made the Oscar-nominated short film Rembrandt: A Self-Portrait.
In the 1970s and 1980s, several television films were produced that had Rembrandt as their subject. This was followed in 1999 by the feature film Rembrandt, in which Klaus Maria Brandauer, directed by Charles Matton, portrayed the painter.
The film explores many biographical aspects of Rembrandt and presents his vision of painting. The 55-minute 2006 documentary The Rembrandt Company explores the work of the Rembrandt Research Project and Rembrandt's artistic achievement,
while Peter Greenaway's 2007 film Nightwatching, in which Martin Freeman played Rembrandt, chose a non-historically accurate portrayal of the character, using him much more as a projection screen for his own cinematic art. Thus, Greenaway interprets the shot fired in Nightwatching as murder,
the sash of the guild master as the tail of the devil, and the girl inserted as allegory as the illegitimate daughter of a member of the guild. The account that Greenaway had found a new interpretation of the painting was contradicted by Rembrandt expert Ernst van de Wetering.