Rembrandt
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1. Rembrandt was born Rembrant Harmenszoon van Rijn
in 1606, though he is now generally referred to as simply
Rembrandt. Harmenszoon indicates that his father was
named Harmen, and van Rijn refers to his hometown near
the Rhine River. He added the silent ‘d’ to his signature for
reasons unknown, in 1633.
2. He was one of the leading painters of the Dutch Golden
Age, and is remembered for his dramatic use of light and
shadow, his versatility, and most specifically, his
portraiture.
3. He was born in the city of Leiden, but abandoned his
university studies to devote himself to painting, and
completed his training in Amsterdam under Pieter
Lastman, who specialized in historical and biblical
subjects.
4. In 2016, ING and Microsoft collaborated to
produce “The Next Rembrandt,” a 3D printed
object that closely resembles a Rembrandt
painting. The machine-learning algorithms used
specific data points like color, geometry and
texture to mimic an authentic Rembrandt painting.
5. Almost immediately after moving to Amsterdam
in 1631, Rembrandt expanded his business; he
became a burgess of Amsterdam and a member of
the local guild of painters, acquired some students,
and entered the lucrative market for portraiture –
the genre for which he would become renowned.
6. Although contemporary and classical Italian masters
had great influence on Rembrandt through his training, the
artist never actually left the Dutch Republic during his
lifetime.
7. Rembrandt’s early work is signed with his Latin
Monogram: RHL (Rembrandus Hermanni Leydensis.) He
then switched to RHL-van-Rijn, and eventually settled on
simply Rembrandt as his signature for the majority of his
career.
REMBRANDT HARMENSZ VAN RIJN, PORTRAIT
OF A YOUNG WOMAN WITH A BLACK CAP ,
1632. SOLD AT SOTHEBY’S NEW YORK FOR
8. Since the 1960s, the Rembrandt Research
Project has undertaken the work of correctly
attributing or de-attributing works that have been
associated with Rembrandt. Scholars have debated
the veracity of his complete works, and
approximate that only about 300 paintings on
canvas are authentically by Rembrandt, as
opposed to the 2,000 works that have been
attributed to him.
9. The theme song of the popular
sitcom Friends was written and performed by the
band The Rembrandts, named after the Dutch
artist.
10. By 1632, he was already
demonstrating his versatility and
impressive range. He produced
mythological, biblical and allegorical
scenes in addition to landscapes and
portraits, both in paintings and etchings.
He experimented with saturating large
areas with color and intense chiaroscuro to
achieve unprecedented levels of
psychological character in his sitters, as
well as dramatic interior and exterior
scenes.
REMBRANDT HARMENSZ. VAN RIJN, SAINT
JAMES THE GREATER , 1661. SOLD AT
SOTHEBY’S NEW YORK FOR $25.8 MILLION IN
11. Despite his commercial and financial success,
by the late 1640s, Rembrandt had overspent his
fortune, could no longer pay his mortgage, and
had to declare insolvency. He sold his house, many
objects and paintings from his collection, and his
printing press. He moved his family into a smaller
home, and never financially recovered, eventually
dying in poverty.
12. Rembrandt sustained a significant and
influential legacy for painters of later
generations. Vincent van Gogh explained the
meaning Rembrandt carried for him, “Rembrandt
goes so deep into the mysterious that he says
things for which there are no words in any
language. It is with justice that they call
Rembrandt ‘magician’ that’s no easy occupation.”
REMBRANDT HARMENSZ VAN RIJN, SASKIA VAN UYLENBURGH IN
PROFILE, IN POMPOUS DRESS, CIRCA 1642, IN THE COLLECTION
OF THE GEMÄLDEGALERIE ALTE MEISTE R , KASSEL.
13. In 1634, Rembrandt married
Saskia van Uylenburgh, the cousin
of one of Rembrandt’s first dealers,
Hendrick van Uylenburgh. Saskia
gave birth to four of Rembrandt’s
five children, although three of them
died in infancy. Saskia died in 1642,
probably of tuberculosis, prompting
Rembrandt to produce some of his
most successful works: dark
portraits of his sick and dying wife.
After Saskia’s death, he had a child,
Cornelia, with his former maid
Hendrickje Stoffels, who later
became his common law wife.
Cornelia was Rembrandt’s only
living immediate family member at
the time of his death.
14. Rembrandt was known for his
REMBRANDT HARMENSZ. VAN RIJN, THE HUNDRED
history paintings and portraits
GUILDER PRINT , 1649. SOLD AT SOTHEBY’S NEW
commissioned by patrons, but he
YORK FOR $325,000 IN 2007.
also pushed forward the genre of
self-portraiture. The exact number of
15. Rembrandt died in 1669 at
the age of 63. Because he had
lost most of his fortune, he was
given a funeral that was
customary for the poor. He was
buried in an unknown grave
owned by the church, despite
his atheism. His remains were
later dug up and destroyed, a
common custom for remains of
the poor.
