Although he ’s most famous for his 1642 paintingThe Night Watch , Rembrandt created hundred of paintings , drawings , and etchings in his life . work during the seventeenth century Dutch Golden Age , he painted portrait and landscapes and explored themes from the Bible and classical antiquity . interpret on for 16 facts about Rembrandt .
1. REMBRANDT WASN’T HIS LAST NAME—OR HIS BIRTH NAME.
His full name — RembrantHarmenszoon van Rijn — requires a bit of parsing . Harmenszoon means that his father ’s name was Harmen , and van Rijn refers to where his family populate , near the Rhine River . So his full name mean Rembrant , Logos of Harmen , from the Rhine . For reasons that are unclear , he added the silent “ d ” to his signature , changing it from Rembrant to Rembrandt , in 1633 .
2. HE SIGNED EARLY ART WITH HIS LATIN MONOGRAM.
Educated at The Latin School in Holland , Rembrandt studied religious belief , mythology , and ancient Roman kit and boodle , speak in Latin with his fellow students . His Latin name , Rembrandus Hermanni Leydensis , refer to his birthplace of Leiden , Holland — Rembrant , son of Harmen , of Leiden . Early in his calling , Rembrandt sign his art with his Romance monogram “ RHL . ” before long after , he began sign his name " RHL - van Rijn , " then he briefly switched to " Rembrant , " and finally , his most remembered cognomen : " Rembrandt . "
3. HE MARRIED HIS ART DEALER’S COUSIN.
Saskia , as painted by Rembrandt . Wikimedia Commons .
Rembrandt ’s fine art dealer was Hendrik van Uylenburgh , a homo who helped Rembrandtget commissionsfrom wealthy artistic production patrons . Rembrandt survive in Uylenburgh ’s house in Amsterdam and painted portraits of the lodge people that Uylenburgh brought him . In 1634 , Rembrandt married Uylenburgh’scousin(althoughsome sourcessay she was his niece ) , Saskia van Uylenburgh . Saskia come from a affluent kinsperson , and with her fortune and Rembrandt ’s increase salary , they were able to move to a trendy , affluent neighborhood in Amsterdam .
4. HE OUTLIVED FOUR OF HIS FIVE CHILDREN.
Titus , as paint by Rembrandt . Wikimedia Commons
Rembrandt dealt with much loss throughout his living . He and Saskia had four children : Rumbartus , Cornelia , another Cornelia , and Titus , born in 1641 , who was the only tyke to survive infancy . Saskia died nine month after Titus ’s birth , probable of tuberculosis . Twelve years later , Rembrandt had a daughter , also name Cornelia , with his housekeeper and lover , Hendrickje Stoffels . Stoffels died , likely of the plague , in 1663 , and a few years later on , Titus pass away at age 26 in 1668 . Rembrandt give way the following year and was bury in an overlooked tomb .
5. A LOT OF MYTH SURROUNDS HIS LIFE…
Because scholar do n’t have a net ton of chief or contemporaneous source , myth wager a full-grown role in many of his biographies . Inaccurate information is often restate as fact , and books and pic , such as the British movieRembrandt(1936 ) , havepropagated misconceptionsabout the artist such as that he was low - born and uneducated ( neither of which is on-key — he was the ninth child of a well - off miller and a baker ’s daughter , and was school straight through university ) . Although multiple biographies state that he was digest into poverty , was illiterate , stingy , a slovenly person , and worked for Sweden ’s court , art scholars have proven these asseveration simulated .
6. …AS WELL AS HIS MOST FAMOUS PAINTING,THE NIGHT WATCH.
Wikimedia Commons
Another ofttimes - reduplicate caption is that his patrons hat his work onThe Night Watch(which , despite another myth surround the painting , actually takes place during the day ) so much that the painting make for about his downfall . artistic creation historiographer Walter Liedtke of the Metropolitan Museum of Artrefuted this claim , pointing out that Rembrandt get committee from Amsterdam ’s governance and other important customers afterThe Night Watchwas unveil in 1642 . Rather than beinga failurethat led to Rembrandt ’s failure , his most famous painting was popular even in its own time .
7. HE ACHIEVED GREAT WEALTH AND SUCCESS…
Although Rembrandt ’s married woman Saskia do from a wealthy family unit , he earned plenty of money in his own right for his art . Starting in the 1630s , Rembrandt set up a studio and , when he was n’t busy process on portraits for wealthy client , he taught students . In 1639 , he paid 13,000 guilders ( an enormous sum ) for an upscale township house , which serves asThe Rembrandt House Museumtoday .
8. …BUT LOST IT ALL.
Rembrandt ’s " Self - Portrait with Beret and Turned - UpCollar " ( 1659).WikimediaCommons
By the late 1640s , Rembrandt ’s overspending catch up with him . He was earning less money because he was get fewer commissions to paint portraits , he lost money on unsound investments , and some of his house painting had been damaged or lost at ocean . He could n’t pay his mortgage , and in 1656 , he declare insolvency . He moved his family unit ( Titus , Hendrickje Stoffels , and their girl Cornelia ) to a smaller household in Amsterdam , sold his printing process press , and auctioned off his massive art accumulation . By this time , Stoffels stepped in and start managing his affairs . She afford a small art shop to sell his paintings , and through her oversight , Rembrandt was able to pore on his esthetic turnout once again .
9. HE REPORTEDLY PAINTED HIS DEAD PET MONKEY.
Arnold Houbraken ( 1660 to 1719 ) was a Dutch painter who wrote biographies about artists , include Rembrandt . allot toHoubraken , Rembrandt was halfway through painting a portrait of a category when his pet monkey , Puck , died . For some rationality , the artist decided to paint the drained creature into the portrayal , alongside his portrayal of the house . The family did n’t like it , and they allegedly told him to either remove or paint over the imp . Rembrandt stubbornly refused and lose the commission . While no house painting has yet been discovered to definitively have the monkey , mod Rembrandt scholarly person retrieve it sound like something he would do .
10. WE’RE NOT CERTAIN IF SOME OF HIS PAINTINGS WERE REALLY HIS.
Since the late 1960s , as part of theRembrandt Research Project , scholars have try out the creative person ’s mould to watch whether sure paintings were actually his . Some prowess historians arrogate that Rembrandt created thousands of drawing , paintings , and etching , but others debate that many of his work were actually done by his students and assistants ( and should be attributed to the School of Rembrandt ) . Because he did n’t sign all his drawings , scholars differ about the legitimacy of sure works , such asA Weeping Woman . In 2015 , a squad of art historians and restorers determined thatSaul and Davidwas indeedRembrandt ’s oeuvre , not that of his students .
11. HE NEVER LEFT THE NETHERLANDS.
Although some art historians inaccurately claimed that he lived in Italy , England , and Sweden , Rembrandt most likely subsist his entire life in the Netherlands . historiographer impute Rembrandt ’s strong use of chiaroscuro — the contrast between visible radiation and dark — to his instructor ’s Italian influence . As a untested man in Amsterdam , Rembrandt study with Dutch Felis concolor Pieter Lastman , who had been to Italy . Lastman instruct him proficiency from Italian creative person such as Caravaggio .
12. IF YOU LOOK CLOSELY, YOU MIGHT RANDOMLY SPOT HIM.
Rembrandt create more than 90 self - portraits , but he also liked to insert himself into his other paintings . He paint his face as a spectator in the gang in several pieces of art , such asThe Stoning of Saint Stephen(his first known painting),Raising of the Cross , andpossiblyevenThe Night Watch .
13. HE MAY HAVE BEEN STEREOBLIND (UNABLE TO SEE FULLY 3D).
In 2004 , a neurobiologist at Harvard Medical School posited that Rembrandt was stereoblind : his eyes were unaligned , so he was ineffective to see in 3D. publish inThe New England Journal of Medicine , the articleargues that the artist ’s vegetable oil paintings and etching self - portraits show that he had one-sided squint , mean that his eyes were not properly aligned with each other . If Rembrandt was indeed stereoblind , his want of deepness sensing would mean that he saw everything flatten , which could slightly help him play objects and peoplein 2Dpaintings and drawing .
14. A NEW REMBRANDT PAINTING DEBUTED IN 2016.
ROBIN VAN LONKHUIJSEN // AFP // Getty Images
Thanks to the wonder of machine - memorise algorithms and 3D printing , a group of information scientists and applied scientist from Microsoft working with a Dutch advertizement agency created a raw Rembrandt painting , calledThe Next Rembrandt . Using specific data point points such as coloration , geometry , paint , and theface shapeand direction of the the great unwashed in his paintings , the team three-D - print a Modern Rembrandt to give the painting texture … and it looks pretty veritable !
15. YOU CAN VISIT WHERE HE LIVED AND WORKED IN AMSTERDAM.
Rembrandt ’s town planetary house in Amsterdam , where he endure and work for intimately 20 age , is now a museum calledThe Rembrandt House Museum . work up in 1606 , the property houses collecting of Rembrandt ’s etching , exhibits by artists whom he has inspired , and 17th century furniture . The museum also hosts etching shop and paint readiness demonstrations .
16. HisCHRIST IN THE STORM ON THE SEA OF GALILEEis still missing.
In 1990 , two thieves got away with 13 pieces of artistic production from the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston , including Rembrandt’sChrist in the Storm on the Sea of Galilee . To this solar day , none of the picture have been recovered , and the advantage for their dependable return is still in place .
