Rembrandt

Netherlands

He worked in the Dutch "Golden Age".

💡 Did you know? Rembrandt lived in the Dutch „Golden Age,“ when Amsterdam was the richest trading city in Europe.

chiaroscuro

Rembrandt let his figures step out of darkness into warm light: a drama no contemporary matched.

💡 Did you know? Out of deep shadow he makes faces glow warmly.

The Night Watch

It shows a militia company in full movement: unusual for the time.

💡 Did you know? „The Night Watch“ is not a night scene at all: darkened varnish made it appear dim and gave it the wrong name.

painting self-portraits

Rembrandt made over 80 self-portraits: from cocky youth to careworn old man, a unique painted diary.

💡 Did you know? The series reads like a painted diary of his life.

loss and bankruptcy

His late works in particular are considered especially deep and human.

💡 Did you know? After his wife's death and bankruptcy Rembrandt had to sell his house and collection: yet his late pictures grew ever more profound.

1669

Rembrandt died impoverished in Amsterdam in 1669, outlived by almost none of his family.

💡 Did you know? He was buried in an anonymous pauper's grave: a sad end for the greatest painter of his age.

The Night Watch

Around 1642: his most famous work, a group portrait full of movement.

💡 Did you know? Rembrandt broke with the tradition of stiff group portraits and showed the militia company in full motion.

The Anatomy Lesson of Dr. Nicolaes Tulp

Around 1632: an early masterpiece that made him famous in Amsterdam.

💡 Did you know? The early group portrait of a public dissection made the young Rembrandt famous in Amsterdam.

The Jewish Bride

Painted around 1667.

💡 Did you know? Van Gogh said he would give ten years of his life to sit two weeks in front of this painting.

The Storm on the Sea of Galilee

Painted around 1633.

💡 Did you know? Rembrandt's only seascape was stolen in Boston in 1990 and remains missing to this day.

The Return of the Prodigal Son

Painted around 1668.

💡 Did you know? Rembrandt's moving late work on forgiveness: the father's hands are deliberately painted as one male and one female.

Danaë

Painted around 1636.

💡 Did you know? In 1985 the picture was doused with acid in the Hermitage and painstakingly restored over years.

Belshazzar's Feast

Painted around 1636.

💡 Did you know? The mysterious writing on the wall (the „writing on the wall“) Rembrandt painted correctly in Hebrew.

Aristotle with a Bust of Homer

Painted around 1653.

💡 Did you know? In 1961 a New York museum paid a then-record price of over 2 million dollars for it.

Syndics of the Drapers' Guild

Painted around 1662.

💡 Did you know? The five men seem to size up the viewer: a high point of the Dutch group portrait.

Bathsheba at Her Bath

Painted around 1654.

💡 Did you know? Rembrandt's lover Hendrickje was the model: the picture is considered one of the finest nudes ever painted.

Moses Smashing the Tablets of the Law

Painted around 1659.

💡 Did you know? Rembrandt captures the dramatic moment as Moses raises the tablets of the law.

Rembrandt and Saskia in the Parable of the Prodigal Son

Painted around 1635.

💡 Did you know? Rembrandt painted himself and his wife Saskia exuberantly as the prodigal son in the tavern: a rare cheerful self-portrait.

Rembrandt

Rembrandt (1606 to 1669) was the greatest painter of the Dutch Golden Age, an unmatched master of light, shadow and human expression.

💡 Did you know? Rembrandt was celebrated in his day but died poor: today scarcely a great museum is without a Rembrandt.