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July 15, 1606 – October 4, 1669

Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn

is generally considered one of the greatest painters in European art history, and the most important Dutch painter of the seventeenth century.

Self-portrait by Rembrandt (1661)Rembrandt was also a proficient engraver and made many drawings. His contributions to art came in a period that historians call the Dutch Golden Age (roughly equivalent to the 17th century), in which Dutch culture, science, commerce, world power and political influence reached their pinnacles.

Works
In all, Rembrandt produced around 600 paintings, 300 etchings, and 2,000 drawings. He was a prolific painter of self-portraits, producing almost a hundred of them (including some 20 etchings) throughout his long career. Together they give us a remarkably clear picture of the man, his looks, and — more importantly — his emotions, as misfortune and sorrow etched wrinkles in his face.

Among the prominent characteristics of his work are his command of light and dark, often using stark contrasts, thus drawing the viewer into the painting; his dramatic and lively scenes, devoid of any rigid formality that contemporary artists often displayed; and his ostensibly deep-felt compassion for mankind, irrespective of wealth and age.

His immediate family — his first wife Saskia, his son Titus, and his second wife Hendrickje — often figured prominently in his paintings, many of which had mythical, biblical, or historical themes.

Life
Rembrandt was born on July 15, 1606, in Leiden, the Netherlands; he was one of nine children. His father was a miller, his mother was a baker's daughter. He spent his youth and most of his early years as a painter there. He attended Latin school and studied less than a year at the University of Leiden.

In 1621, he decided to dedicate himself fully to painting and took lessons from Leiden artist Jacob van Swanenburgh. After a brief but important apprenticeship in Amsterdam, Rembrandt opened a studio in Leiden, which he shared with friend and colleague Jan Lievens. In 1627, Rembrandt began to accept students.

By 1631, Rembrandt had established such a sound reputation that he received several assignments for portraits from Amsterdam. As a result, he moved to that city and into the house of his art dealer, Hendrick van Uylenburgh. This move eventually led, in 1634, to the marriage of Rembrandt and Hendrick's wealthy niece, Saskia van Uylenburg. A daughter of a patrician, she introduced him to higher social circles, which increased his fame.

In 1639, Rembrandt and Saskia moved to a prominent house in the Jodenbreestraat in the Jewish quarter, which later became the Rembrandt House Museum. Three of their children died shortly after birth. Their fourth child, a son, Titus, was born in 1641 and survived into adulthood. Saskia died in 1642 soon after Titus' birth, from tuberculosis.

In 1645, Hendrickje Stoffels, who had initially been Rembrandt's maidservant, moved in with him. In 1654 they had a daughter, Cornelia, bringing them an official reproach from the church for "living in sin".

Rembrandt lived beyond his means, buying many art pieces, costumes (often used in his paintings), and rarities, which caused his bankruptcy in 1656. He had to sell his house and move to a more modest accommodation on the Rozengracht. Here, Hendrickje and Titus started an art shop to make ends meet. Rembrandt's fame waned in these years, only to be restored later.

Rembrandt outlived Hendrickje and Titus. In the end, only his daughter Cornelia was at his side. He died October 4, 1669, in Amsterdam in poverty and was buried in an unknown grave in the Westerkerk.

Influences
Rembrandt's first teacher, Jacob van Swanenburgh, taught him much of the art of etching.

Rembrandt studied with Pieter Lastman for half a year in Amsterdam. Lastman, a painter of biblical, mythological and historical scenes, is considered a major influence. He gave Rembrandt a good sense of composition and made him perceptive of religion and history as sources of inspiration for this work. Lastman had studied in Italy, in the early years of the century, and naturally passed his Italian discoveries to Rembrandt. This is quite possibly where he learned the Italian technique of adding bees-wax to his oil paint, which helped to give his paintings the well known relief and luminosity that they have.

Students
Many students of Rembrandt became famous in their own right. Among them were:

Ferdinand Bol (1616–1680)
Gerard Dou (1613–1675)
Willem Drost (1630–1680)
Govert Flinck (1615–1660)
Carel Fabritius (1622–1654)
Samuel van Hoogstraten (1627–1678)
Nicolaes Maes (1643–1693)
Rembrandt experts disagree about the authenticity of many paintings that were long attributed to him: Were they made by Rembrandt himself, by one of his students, or both?

Periods, themes, and styles
It was during Rembrandt's Leiden period (1625–1631) that Lastman's influence was most prominent. Paintings were rather small, but rich in details (for example, in costumes and jewelry). Themes were mostly religious and allegoric.
During his early years in Amsterdam (1632–1636), Rembrandt used large canvases and strong tones and depicted dramatic scenes. Rembrandt painted many portraits in this period. Other paintings had biblical and mythological scenes.
In the late 1630s, Rembrandt painted many landscapes and produced etchings about nature. In this period, his landscapes were tormented by nature, showing trees taken down by a storm or ominous skies with dark clouds.
Starting in about 1640, his work became more sober, reflecting the family tragedies that he had suffered. Exuberance was replaced by deeply felt inner emotions. Biblical scenes were now derived more often from the New Testament instead of the Old Testament, as had been the case before. Paintings became smaller again. An exception is the huge painting The Night Watch, his largest, which was as worldly and spirited as any previous painting. Landscapes were more often etched than painted. The dark forces of nature made way for quiet Dutch rural scenes.
In the 1650s, Rembrandt's style changed again. Paintings increased in size. Colours became richer, brush strokes stronger. With these changes, Rembrandt distanced himself from earlier work and current fashion, which increasingly inclined towards fine, detailed works. Over the years, biblical themes were still depicted often, but emphasis shifted from dramatic group scenes to intimate portrait-like figures.
In his last years, Rembrandt painted some of his finest self-portraits, showing a face on which grief and sorrow had left their marks.
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Museum collections
In the Netherlands, the most notable collection of Rembrandt's work is at Amsterdam's Rijksmuseum, including De Nachtwacht (The Night Watch) and De Joodse bruid (The Jewish Bride).
Many of his self-portraits are held in The Hague's Mauritshuis. His home, preserved as the Rembrandt House Museum in Amsterdam, houses many examples of his engravings.
Prominent collections in other countries can be found in Berlin, St. Petersburg, New York City, Washington, D.C., The Louvre and the British Museum.

Famous works
1632 Anatomy Lesson of Dr. Nicolaes Tulp (Mauritshuis, The Hague)
1635 Belshazzar's Feast (National Gallery, London)
1636 The Blinding of Samson
1636 Danaë (State Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg)
1642 The Militia Company of Captain Frans Banning Cocq better known as the Night Watch (Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam)
±1643 Christ Healing the Sick also known as The Hundred Guilders Print (Victoria and Albert Museum, London) etching, nicknamed for the huge sum (at that time) paid for it
1653 Sacrifice of Isaac (State Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg)
1654 Bathsheba at Her Bath (Louvre, Paris) (Hendrickje is thought to have modeled for this painting)
1661 Conspiracy of Julius Civilis (National Museum, Stockholm) (Julius Civilis led a Dutch revolt against the Romans) (most of the cut up painting is lost, only the central part still exists)
1662 Syndics of the Drapers' Guild (Dutch De Staalmeesters) (Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam)
1664 The Jewish Bride (Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam)
1669 Return of the Prodigal Son (State Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg)
This is just a small selection. Many of Rembrandt's paintings are famous around the world.
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The Night Watch
Main article: Night Watch (painting)

The portraitist. restrained, dark, brooding portraits of local wealthy, snapshots of the time that only a few could afford.

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Rembrandt".