Rmbrant Harmens van Rijn. Hermitage.

Rembrandt Harmens van Rijn, (1606–1669), Dutch painter, the largest representative of the golden age of Dutch painting

Rembrandt's quotes and aphorisms:

Painting is the granddaughter of Nature, a relative of God.

A painting is ready when the artist says it is ready.

Try to succeed in what you already know; in doing so, you will discover in good time the hidden things that you are now striving to know.

Exercise what you know, it will help you understand what you do not know.

Listen to only one teacher, Nature.

On July 15, 1606, in Leiden, the wealthy miller Harmen Gerrits and his wife Neeltge Willems van Zeitbrook had a sixth child, named Rembrandt. The mill was located near the Rhine, so Harmen Gerrits became known as van Rijn, and this addition to the name was received by the whole family.
His parents, giving Rembrandt a good education, wanted him to become a scientist or official. He studied at the Latin school, and then from 1620 at the University of Leiden, which left without graduating. The craving for drawing, manifested since childhood, led him to the workshop to the local painter Jacob van Swanenburg, who taught Rembrandt the basics of drawing and painting, introduced him to the history of art. After studying with him for three years, Rembrandt moved to Amsterdam in 1623 and continued his studies with the famous painter Peter Lastman (1583–1633). But the training lasted only six months. In 1624 Rembrandt returned to Leiden and there, together with his friend Jan Lievens, opened his painting workshop.

In the 17th century in Holland after the victory over Spain, Catholicism was prohibited, Protestantism does not allow painting in churches. Therefore, the church, formerly the largest customer of painting, loses this role, and the big and middle bourgeoisie, wealthy citizens, come to the fore. Paintings designed to decorate burgher houses must now meet the new challenges. Sizes change, new plots appear, there is a division into genres of painting, interest in the everyday genre, landscape, still life, portrait, the type of group portrait is formed. Rembrandt learns from artists of the past and his contemporaries, masters the technique of painting and engraving. He studies the art of Italy by casts, prints, copies and perceives the humanistic beginning of Italian art. A great influence on his work was the Baroque style, which originated in the 17th century, but the sophistication, pomp, emphasized theatricality of this style was far from the searches of Rembrandt. He was a fan of the work of Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio (1573-1510), the founder of the realistic direction in European painting of the 17th century.

At the end of 1631 Rembrandt, a famous portraitist and author of historical paintings, moved to Amsterdam, the largest trading city.

In 1634, Rembrandt married the daughter of the former mayor of Leeuwarden, Saskia van Eilenburg, a noble and wealthy patrician. After marriage, he buys a large house. Filling the house with luxurious things, the artist creates a rich collection, which included works by Raphael, Giorgione, Durer, Mantegna, van Eyck, engravings from the works of Michelangelo, Titian. Rembrandt collected Persian miniatures, vases, shells, authentic antique busts, Chinese and Japanese porcelain, Venetian glass, expensive oriental fabrics, costumes of various peoples, tapestries, musical instruments.

In the 30s, Rembrandt was a prosperous, successful, wealthy artist, which is reflected in his works. In many paintings he depicts his beloved wife Saskia (Portrait of a smiling Saskia, 1633, Dresden, Picture Gallery; Flora, 1634, St. Petersburg, State Hermitage Museum; Samson’s Wedding, 1638, Dresden, State Picture Gallery). Particularly prominent is the famous Self-Portrait with Saskia on his lap (1635, Dresden, State Picture Gallery). He shows himself as a cheerful cavalier with a glass of wine, who embraces a half-turned Saskia sitting on his lap with her back to the viewer. The picture is filled with vitality, energy and imbued with love for his wife.

By the early 40s, Rembrandt was a popular and highly paid painter. During the 30s he painted about 60 custom portraits. He has about 15 students. One of Rembrandt’s most famous paintings of this period is Danai (1636–1646, St. Petersburg, State Hermitage Museum). Having placed the mythological heroine in the luxurious alcove of a rich burgher Dutch house, he masterfully prescribes a velvet canopy, elegantly embroidered pillows, admires the rays of golden light, soft waves flooding the beautiful naked body of Danai.

Work on the picture he began to write in the period of family happiness, at the zenith of fame. But in the following years, much has changed: three children die Rembrandt, a few months after the birth of his last son, Titus, died beloved wife Saskia (1642), soon he loses his mother and sisters.

The 50s and 60s were marked by the creation of outstanding masterpieces, as well as the deepening of the conflict between the artist and the authorities. The displeasure of the authorities was caused by the fact that his civil wife became Hendrikje Stoffels, a former maid in the house of Rembrandt. The artist could not officially marry her, because according to the will of Saskia Rembrandt at the conclusion of a new marriage would lose the right to be the guardian of the inheritance of his son Titus. The church persecuted Hendrikje for her unmarried bond.

Having bought a luxurious house during the years of financial prosperity, Rembrandt paid only half the sum. The remaining debts, especially after Saskia's death, gradually led the artist to bankruptcy. Creditors file formal lawsuits, seek a court order for imprisonment. The campaign of persecution of the artist includes relatives of Saskia, with whom even during the life of Saskia, Rembrandt had a conflict, because they claimed that the artist was squandering the state of his wife. Although at that time Rembrandt made a fortune beyond his wife’s, he collected a magnificent collection of artistic values. Once again, the church condemns his cohabitation with Hendrikje, and their daughter Cornelia is declared illegitimate. In 1656, by a court decision, the Amsterdam City Hall declared Rembrandt an insolvent debtor, an inventory of the property was carried out, in 1656-1658 its sale took place. The real value of the artist’s property exceeded the size of his debts several times: the collection was estimated at 17 thousand guilders. However, it was sold for only 5 thousand, the house was valued at half its original value. But not all creditors were satisfied. And the court ruled that all paintings that would be created by the artist should be sold to pay off debts, the court also deprived Rembrandt of the right to own property other than wearables and drawing accessories, which meant a beggar existence. The Rembrandt family moves to the poorest quarter of Amsterdam. Titus, after the ruin of his father, in order to make his property completely inaccessible to Rembrandt's creditors, makes a will in which all his fortune leaves his sister Cornelia, and Rembrandt appoints a guardian with the right to use money.

In 1660, Titus and Hendrikje opened an antique shop, where Rembrandt was hired by an expert. Although Rembrandt’s newly painted paintings were to be placed at the disposal of creditors, the contract for his employment allowed the artist to transfer his works to an antique store. This allowed the family to increase their income and buy a house.

Hendrikje died in 1663, leaving Titus with an antique shop and Rembrandt with a small inheritance. Rembrandt becomes the guardian of his daughter Cornelia. In February 1668, Titus married Magdalena van Loo, but soon died. This dealt a crushing blow to Rembrandt, and on October 8, 1669 he died in the arms of his daughter Cornelia.

Rembrandt’s creative heritage is enormous: about 600 paintings, almost 300 etchings and 1,400 drawings. It affected the work of his students, the most famous of whom are Gerrit Dow, Howarth Flink, Samuel van Hoogstraten, Karel Fabricius, Nicholas Mas. It influenced the development of world art in general, although it was appreciated many years later.

The true apotheosis of all Rembrandt’s work was the painting The Return of the Prodigal Son (1668–1669, St. Petersburg, Hermitage). Repeatedly, the artist addressed this topic (drawings and sketches are found already in the 30s). On a huge canvas (260 × 205 cm) from the back shows the kneeling figure of a son who returned to his father's home. His figure embodies the repentance of a person who has passed the tragic path of knowledge of life. The wise and spiritualized face of the old father, consecrated by great kindness, accepting and forgiving his son, is a masterpiece of Rembrandt, a master who knows how to penetrate the soul of his characters, and show all their experiences on canvas. It is a picture of suffering and great love.