Rembrandt

Rembrandt (full name Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn) (Leiden 1606 - Amsterdam 1669), was the most acclaimed painter in the Netherlands—the greatest of the "Dutch Masters." He considered himself a religious painter, but he is most famous for his portraits. Rembrandt produced about 600 paintings including his more than 90 self portraits, he made 300 etchings, and an estimated number of about 1,400 drawings. Most of his drawings look unfinished, but he stated a drawing is finished when the artist has fulfilled his intentions. Some of his most famous paintings are: Nightwatch (1642), The Syndics of The Cloth Guild (1662), Bathsheba at Her Bath (1654), Jacob Blessing the Sons of Joseph (1656), a Self Portrait (1659), and Jewish Bride (1667). Rembrandt's paintings are known for their depiction of light and shadow. The increasing number of portraits by Rembrandt and others demonstrated the new emphasis on individualism in the Renaissance.

The last years of Rembrandt's life were spent in increasing poverty and sadness. ^[1]

This red-chalk drawing by Rembrandt is closely based on an early print after Leonardo da Vinci's famous mural of the Last Supper

Of all the Baroque masters, it was Rembrandt who evolved the most revolutionary technique and who seemed to grow into the Italians' spiritual heir.^[2]

Portrait of Gerard de Lairesse.

The Netherlands of the 17th century saw an extraordinary growth of artistic achievement, accompanied by great prosperity. Painters such as Rembrandt, Vermeer, Hals, De Hooch, and Ruisdael began to specialize in portraiture, landscape, still life, and genre painting. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.