Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Rembrandt van Rijn
(1606-1669)
The son of a Leiden miller who owned a waterwheel on the
Rhine (“van Rijn”), Rembrandt took Amsterdam by storm
with his famous painting of
The Anatomy Lesson
( 1 632,
currently in the Mauritshuis
museum in The Hague). The
commissions poured in for offi-
cial portraits, and he was soon
wealthy and married (1634) to
Saskia van Uylenburgh. They
moved to an expensive home
in the Jewish Quarter (today's
Rembrandt's House museum),
and decorated it with their col-
lection of art and exotic furni-
ture. His portraits were dutifully
detailed, but other paintings explored strong contrasts of
light and dark, with dramatic composition.
In 1642, Saskia died, and his fortunes changed, as the
public's taste shifted and commissions dried up. In 1649, he
hired an 18-year-old model named Hendrickje Stoffels, and
she soon moved in with him and gave birth to their illegitimate
daughter. Holland's war with England (1652-1654) devastated
the art market, and Rembrandt's free-spending ways forced
him to declare bankruptcy (1656)—the ultimate humiliation
in success-oriented Amsterdam. He moved to more humble
lodgings on Rozengracht Straat.
In his last years, his greatest works were his self-por-
traits, showing a tired, wrinkled man stoically enduring life's
misfortunes. Rembrandt piled on layers of paint and glaze to
capture increasingly subtle effects.
In 1668, his lone surviving son, Titus, died, and Rembrandt
passed away the next year. His death effectively marked the
end of the Dutch Golden Age.
one or two “Rembrandts” that may not be his. A century ago,
there were 1,000 so-called Rembrandt paintings in existence.
Since then, a five-man panel of art scholars has declared most of
those to be by someone else, winnowing the number of authen-
tic Rembrandts to 300, with some 50 more that may one day be
“audited” by the Internal Rembrandt Service. Most of the fakes
are not out-and-out forgeries, but works by admirers of his distinc-
tive style. So be careful the next time you plunk down $15 million
for a “Rembrandt.”
• In Room 9, you'll find...
