Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn was born on July, 15th 1606 in Leiden, and died on the 4th October 1669 in Amsterdam. Today, he is usually known by his first name Rembrandt and one of the most famous Dutch artists of the Baroque, just as Johannes Vermeer. His work fell into the era of the Dutch Golden Age, when the Netherlands flourished as well political, economical and cultural. Rembrandt studied at Pieter Lastman, opened his first studio 1625 in Leiden and soon started to attract attention. In 1631 Rembrandt moved to Amsterdam, where he became an appreciated artist. Still, he sometimes suffered from serious financial problems and was 1656 in bankruptcy. Rembrandt died in poverty.
Rembrandt worked as a painter, etcher, printmaker and draftsman, led a studio and trained other artists. His oeuvre includes portraits, landscapes, biblical and mythological themes. Among his best known works are: The Blinding of Samson, The Night Watch, The Anatomy Lesson of Dr. Nicolaes Tulp and The Hundred Guilder. In his historical paintings Rembrandt included many motifs which had not been illustrated before and always looked for new ways to illustrate the classical motifs. As many of these works are characterized by bold light-dark contrasts Rembrandt is considered a master of the Chiaroscuro.
The first copies of Rembrandt’s works appeared even during his lifetime. Though his coloristic style had been evaluated negative by many critics after his death, Rembrandt’s works enjoyed great popularity among collectors and were sold for high prices. During the 18th Century, Rembrandt found successors among German and British artists. His life was mystified now and embellished with legends. Only in the middle of the 19th century some serious research started to investigate Rembrandt’s life.
Rembrandt: Childhood and Education
Rembrandt was born on 15th July 1606 in Leiden as the eighth of nine children to the miller Harmen Gerritszoon van Rijn and his wife Neeltgen Willemsdochter van Zuytbrouck; a baker’s daughter. As most other children in Leiden Rembrandt visited the primary school from 1612 to 1616 and afterwards (1616 to 1620) the Calvinist grammar school. There Rembrandt was mainly taught in Bible history, the classics and rhetoric. After eight years of school, he enrolled at the Philosophical Faculty of Leiden University. However, he should drop soon the studies there and started to his training as painter.
From 1620 to 1624 he was a student of Jacob Isaacsz van Swanenburgh. The latter had been trained in Italy and specialized in architectural painting and the scenic view of hell. He was it, who taught Rembrandt the basic painting lessons. Later on, in 1624, Rembrandt learned for six month at the history painter Pieter Lastman in Amsterdam. This time influenced Rembrandt more than the previous training. Lastman introduced him to historical painting, at those time the most appreciated painting discipline.
Rembrandt’s Life as Painter
In 1625 Rembrandt returned to Leiden and opened with his friend Jan Lievens his own studio. He devoted himself primarily to historical and narrative paintings, following the example of his teacher Lastman but also portraits. Three years later, he executed his first etching and started to train artists. In the same year Constantijn Huygens, secretary to Friedrich Heinrich, Prince of Orange, became interested in Rembrandt’s art. He would subsequently support Rembrandt and arranged some orders for him. Thus, Rembrandt could even sell two of his paintings to the British Crown during 1629 and 1630. Rembrandt’s father died on 27th April 1630.
After his initial success Rembrandt was attracted by the growing importance of the Dutch capital. Thus, in 1631 Rembrandt moved to Amsterdam. He should join the studio of the art dealer Hendrick van Uylenburgh. The studio was quite a big one and produced also copies and restorations. Soon, Rembrandt received orders for portraits by wealthy merchants. In the following year, Governor Friedrich Heinrich, Prince of Orange bought some paintings by Rembrandt thanks to the mediation of Constantijn Huygens. He also ordered a Passion series. Also in 1632, Rembrandt received an order for the painting The Anatomy Lesson of Dr. Tulp and completed the work in the same year. Overall, he executed some 30 paintings in 1632. Rembrandt probably lead the studio for Uylenburgh, as he had to work for another master before he could join the guild of Amsterdam and start his own business.
Rembrandt as Independent Artist and Marriage with Saskia
On the 2nd July 1634 Rembrandt married Saskia van Uylenburgh, the niece of his art dealer and the daughter of a wealthy patrician. In the same year he joined the Guild of St Luke. Now he could start to train as an independent master students on his own. Rembrandt’s first son, born on 15th December 1635 and named Rombertus died already after a few months. In 1636 the young couple who still had lived so far with the art dealer Uylenburgh moved to Nieuwe Doelenstraat.
In addition to his activities as artist, Rembrandt dealt also art and built a collection of historic and scientific objects, plants, animals or exotics such as objects from countries like India. In 1638 Rembrandt sued the relatives of his wife in a libel suit, because they had accused her of extravagance. They justified their allegation with the fact that her legacy of 40,000 guilder had been largely depleted. It was the same year when their first born daughter named Cornelia died a short time after her birth.
Rembrandt’s Last Years and Financial Problems
In 1649 Rembrandt was sued by Geertghe Dircx, his former housemaid for an alleged unkept promise of marriage. However, after Hendrickje Stoffels – Rembrandt’s new housemaid – had testified against her, Dircx was sentenced and had to spend several years in the penitentiary of Gouda.
The Sicilian patron Antonio Ruffo ordered the painting of Aristotle Contemplating a Bust of Homer in 1652. But, despite the good order situation Rembrandt couldn’t pay off his debts and had to continue borrowing money. In 1654 the Church Council of Amsterdam complained about Hendrickje Stoffels for her cohabitation with Rembrandt. The latter gave birth to the third daughter of Rembrandt, also named Cornelia and baptized on 30th October 1654.
Rembrandt overwrote on 17 May 1656 his house to his son Titus, shortly before he declared bankruptcy. In the two following years his house and art collection were auctioned. Nevertheless, his debts still could not be paid completely. Rembrandt moved to Rozengracht. There, he led an isolated life among Mennonite and Jewish friends. Louys Crayeres took the guardianship for Titus who fought in a long process for the inheritance of Titus from the bankruptcy estate. In 1660 Titus and Hendrickje Stoffels employed Rembrandt in their art dealer shop. Thus Rembrandt continued to maintain business contacts and to take orders. In 1663 Hendrickje Stoffels died.
Titus reached legal age in 1665 and got his inheritance paid. At the same time Rembrandt executed his painting The Jewish Bride. Three years later, in 1658, Titus died, just six months after he had had married Magdalena van Loo. Afterwards, Rembrandt moved to his daughter in law. Magdalena gave birth to his grandson, and Rembrandt became also his godfather on 22th March 1669. Rembrandt died shortly after, on 4th October 1669. The image of Simeon in the Temple remained unfinished. On 8th October Rembrandt was buried in the Westerkerk.
