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Pachelbel - Canon from "Canon & Gigue in D"
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REMBRANDT van Rijn
(1606-1669)

Considered by some sources to be a deeply religious man and by others an unscrupulous cad, Rembrandt was without a doubt one of the greatest painters of all time. Even so, this son of a miller rose to the upper ranks of Dutch society not just on the merits of his talent, but by marrying into wealth. He seems to have adored his wife Saskia (there are a number of portraits of her), but their life together was not without misery; they lost three children before a son, Titus, was born. In ill health, Saskia died a year later.

After Saskia's death, Hendrickje Stoffels came to live in Rembrandt's household. Her roles as housekeeper and nurse to the artist's son eventually evolved into that of life companion. Rembrandt never married Hendrickje because he feared that it would violate the provisions of Saskia's will and he would lose the money she had left him.

After a career of remarkable success, Rembrandt began to shown signs of burnout. Less and less satisfied with portraiture, he painted more uncommissioned works, particularly those with religious themes. Although this may have brought him spiritual fulfillment, it provided little for him financially. The resulting decline in sales income, as well as his penchant for an extravagant lifestyle, slammed the great master into poverty and forced Titus and Hendrickje to form a company to protect him from his creditors.

As an artist, Rembrandt's range was extraordinary: graphic artist, painter of historical and religious subjects, landscapes, and everyday life. He was a superb storyteller, interjecting sympathy and compassion with an uncanny ability to capture his subject's innermost feelings

 

Rembrandt and the Civil Culture in Holland at the 17th Century
Rembrandt from the Rembrandt Research Project
Rembrandt from The Web Gallery of Art
Rembrandt from Top 30 Artists from the Artcyclopedia

A FEW WELL-KNOWN WORKS BY REMBRANDT &
SOME STORIES ABOUT THEM

• • • Most of the images whose links appear below can be enlarged by clicking on the image.

The Night Watch
Virtually unrecognized by the title, "The Militia Company of Captain Frans Banning Cocq," the most famous of Rembrandt's group portraits was given its famous nickname, "The Night Watch," during the nineteenth century. Yet when the painting was recently cleaned, it was discovered to be a day scene. Its nocturnal appearance had been the result of centuries of dirt resting on top of a varnish which had yellowed and darkened.

The piece created something of a controversy when it was unveiled. Sixteen guardsmen paid roughly 100 guilders apiece for the commission, but all were not given equal prominence in the composition. One of the men supposedly complained that a dog and children appeared in the painting in which he was virtually hidden.


* * *

The Anatomy Lesson of Dr. Nikolas Tulp
Another of Rembrandt's great group portraits illustrates a more gruesome set of circumstances. Before the Age of Enlightenment, anatomists often furthered their knowledge of the human body by stealing and dissecting the bodies of dead criminals and indigents. Things were quite different in eighteenth century Holland. In Amsterdam, the Anatomy Theater was built, and the public often paid to attend the dissection of human corpses.


* * *

Self-portraits
Rembrandt painted nearly one hundred portraits of himself. One may get a sense of the rise and fall the artist's fortune by viewing his portraits chronologically. Comparing the image of a prosperous and respected 34 year old to that of an impoverished, debt-ridden old man just months before the end of his life is a sobering study worthy of reflection.
aged 34 • at age 63 • a number of self-portraits in chronological order


* * *

The Blinding of Sampson
This powerful but grisly work was done as a gift for the collector Constantijn Huygens who was also secretary to the Stadtholder, Prince Frederick Henry. Huygens had just finished building a new home befitting his station. Knowing that such an environment would have shown his work to great advantage among the right people, Rembrandt painted a scene which he assumed Huygens would like. Although Huygens was known to admire scenes of horror, he apparently was hesitant to receive the work...at first. When Rembrandt's first attempt to give the gift was rebuffed, he responded with a second letter in which he wrote: "I now send this canvas, against your express wishes, in the hope that you will not hold it against me; it is the first time that I have given any token of my gratitude."


* * *

Belshazzar's Feast
As recorded in the Book of Daniel, Belshazzar, the king of Babylon, was having a great feast and drinking to heathen gods using goblets which had been stolen from Solomon's Temple in Jerusalem. Suddenly, a mysterious hand appeared and wrote a message on the palace wall which no one could understand. Terrified, the King sent for Daniel, who told him that the inscription foretold the fall of the Babylonian kingdom and the death of Belshazzar himself.

In Rembrandt's depiction of this event, his association with Jewish scholars of Amsterdam is evident. One of his friends, Rabbi Menasseh ben Israel, had developed a theory that the reason Belshazzar's wisemen could not understand the writing on the wall was that the words were written from top to bottom rather than from right to left. In this painting, Rembrandt portrays this theory, several years before the rabbi's book was published.


* * *

The Little Children Being Brought To Jesus
Matthew 19 tells of Jesus preaching and performing miracles. In this scene Rembrandt has merged several events into one picture. It is nicknamed "The 100 Guilder Print" because Rembrandt is said to have paid the excessively high price for his own work at an auction in which he got caught up in the bidding.


Information about Rembrandt's time

  • HISTORICAL EVENTS:

    1573-1610 Caravaggio
    1588 - Spanish Armada defeated by the English
    1606-1669 - Rembrandt van Rijn
    1607 - Jamestown, Virginia founded
    1611 - King James Bible written
    1619 - Dutch ship brings first African slaves to the American colonies
    1620 - The Pilgrims land at Plymouth Rock
     1649 - Charles I of England beheaded
    1679 - English Parliament passes Habeas Corpus Act

  • The Art Historian's Guide to the Movies
    THE BAROQUE
  • The Artist's View of World History and Western Civilization
     THE BAROQUE
    • (comprehensive links pages for all of the arts and history)

A SAMPLING OF GREAT BAROQUE
PAINTERS & SCULPTORS outside of Italy:

• • • See Caravaggio's page for Italian artists.

A TASTE OF GREAT BAROQUE
MUSIC outside of Italy:

• • • See Caravaggio's page for Italian composers.

A SMATTERING OF GREAT BAROQUE
WRITERS & DRAMATISTS from Britain:

• • • See Caravaggio's page.

 

BAROQUE
DANCE:

• • • See Caravaggio's page.

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