Delphi Complete Works of Rembrandt van Rijn (Illustrated) E-Book

Rembrandt van Rijn

• Herausgeber: Delphi Classics
• Kategorie: Geisteswissenschaft
• Serie: Masters of Art
• Sprache: Englisch
• Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2015

Seitenzahl: 364

Beschreibung

Rembrandt van Rijn, the greatest master of the Dutch Golden Age, created a prolific and innovative body of paintings and etchings, having an immense influence on the course of Western art and inspiring new genres in painting. The Masters of Art Series presents the world’s first digital e-Art books, allowing digital readers to explore the works of the world’s greatest artists in comprehensive detail. This volume presents Rembrandt’s complete paintings in beautiful detail, with concise introductions, hundreds of high quality images and the usual Delphi bonus material. (Version 1)

* The complete paintings and etchings of Rembrandt van Rijn — fully indexed and arranged in chronological and alphabetical order
* Includes reproductions of rare works
* Features a special ‘Highlights’ section of plates, with concise introductions to the masterpieces, giving valuable contextual information
* Enlarged ‘Detail’ images, allowing you to explore Rembrandt’s celebrated works in detail, as featured in traditional art books
* Hundreds of images in stunning colour – highly recommended for viewing on tablets and smart phones or as a valuable reference tool on more conventional eReaders
* Special chronological and alphabetical contents tables for the paintings and etchings
* Easily locate the works you want to view
* Features two bonus biographies, including Bell’s seminal study on the artist - immerse yourself in Rembrandt's turbulent life
* Scholarly ordering of plates into chronological order and literary genres Please visit www.delphiclassics.com to browse through our range of exciting e-Art books CONTENTS: The Highlights
ANNA ACCUSED BY TOBIT OF STEALING THE KID
SELF-PORTRAIT, 1630-31
THE ANATOMY LESSON OF DOCTOR TULP
PORTRAIT OF THE ARTIST JACQUES DE GHEYN
FLORA
DESCENT FROM THE CROSS
BELSHAZZAR’S FEAST
THE PRODIGAL SON IN THE TAVERN
SELF-PORTRAIT, 1640
PORTRAIT OF AGATHA BAS
THE NIGHT WATCH
THE HOLY FAMILY WITH ANGELS
SUSANNA SURPRISED BY THE ELDERS
PORTRAIT OF HENDRICKJE STOFFELS
A WOMAN BATHING
SLAUGHTERED OX
THE STAALMEESTERS
SELF-PORTRAIT WITH PALETTE AND BRUSHES, 1665
THE JEWISH BRIDE The Paintings
CHRONOLOGICAL LIST OF PAINTINGS
ALPHABETICAL LIST OF PAINTINGS The Etchings
CHRONOLOGICAL LIST OF ETCHINGS
ALPHABETICAL LIST OF ETCHINGS The Biographies
REMBRANDT by Mortimer Menpes
Rembrandt van Rijn by Malcolm Bell Please visit www.delphiclassics.com to browse through our range of exciting titles

Leseprobe

Rembrandt van Rijn

(1606-1669)

Contents

The Highlights

ANNA ACCUSED BY TOBIT OF STEALING THE KID

SELF-PORTRAIT, 1630-31

THE ANATOMY LESSON OF DOCTOR TULP

PORTRAIT OF THE ARTIST JACQUES DE GHEYN

FLORA

DESCENT FROM THE CROSS

BELSHAZZAR’S FEAST

THE PRODIGAL SON IN THE TAVERN

SELF-PORTRAIT, 1640

PORTRAIT OF AGATHA BAS

THE NIGHT WATCH

THE HOLY FAMILY WITH ANGELS

SUSANNA SURPRISED BY THE ELDERS

PORTRAIT OF HENDRICKJE STOFFELS

A WOMAN BATHING

SLAUGHTERED OX

THE STAALMEESTERS

SELF-PORTRAIT WITH PALETTE AND BRUSHES, 1665

THE JEWISH BRIDE

The Paintings

CHRONOLOGICAL LIST OF PAINTINGS

ALPHABETICAL LIST OF PAINTINGS

The Etchings

CHRONOLOGICAL LIST OF ETCHINGS

ALPHABETICAL LIST OF ETCHINGS

The Biographies

REMBRANDT by Mortimer Menpes

REMBRANDT VAN RIJN by Malcolm Bell

© Delphi Classics 2014

Version 1

Masters of Art Series

Rembrandt van Rijn

By Delphi Classics, 2014

The Highlights

Leiden, The Netherlands — the site of Rembrandt’s birthplace

The plaque commemorating the artist’s birthplace

Leiden in the early 1600’s

The Latin School in Leiden attended by Rembrandt

THE HIGHLIGHTS

In this section, a sample of some of Rembrandt’s most celebrated works are provided, with concise introductions, special ‘detail’ reproductions and additional biographical images.

ANNA ACCUSED BY TOBIT OF STEALING THE KID

Housed in the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam, this 1626 canvas concerns the Apocryphal Book of Tobit, in which Tobit, the rich, God-fearing Jew is depicted with his wife Anna. According to the story, Tobit was so strict in his observance of the Mosaic law, he had lost all his money and been blinded by an accident. To keep them both from starving, Anna had taken in work sewing and washing. However, when Tobit heard on one occasion the bleating of a kid, which Anna had been given to supplement her earnings, he falsely accused her of its theft. In the canvas, Rembrandt depicts the moment when she upbraids him for his self-righteousness and their sorry plight. Holding the detected kid, Anna towers dominantly above Tobit, who submissively grips his hands in apology.

Begun shortly after he had set up as an independent artist in Leiden in 1625, the painting is a master class in realist depiction, clearly exemplifying what would become one of the artist’s lifelong interests: the portrayal of old people.  He faithfully depicts the lines and wrinkles on the couple’s faces and skin with distinct clarity, conveying their advanced age by the awkward poses of the subjects’ bodies.  The canvas is notable for its ultra smooth brushstrokes, which separately are hardly visible, boasting a palette of colours that are warm and bright, with even lighting. The image is littered with still-life details, which are common conventions in the works of Dutch masters, though it is unlikely Rembrandt intended his props to have any symbolic meaning. Instead, each depicted object adds to the high degree of authenticity created by the image, depicting the interior as realistically as possible.

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SELF-PORTRAIT, 1630-31

This second plate, now housed in Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool, illustrates another of Rembrandt’s fascinations to dominate his art: the self-portrait. The artist completed over seventy-five self-portraits in oil and it has been estimated that 10% of his entire artistic output was dedicated to the depiction of his own facial features. This offers a unique opportunity of surveying a countenance gradually changing over the course of forty years. Rembrandt’s self-portraits have left posterity a visual autobiography of an artist that is simply without parallel in the history of Western art.

It is believed he had started making drawings and etchings of himself in 1628 and this habit would not stop until his death in 1669. Rembrandt often used his self-portraits for practice in order to discover for himself the range of expressions the human face is capable. As models could be expensive and impatient subjects, painting himself was a much more financial and feasible option for a young and aspiring artist to use. From the period of his first studio in Leiden , Rembrandt felt he needed a better understanding of the scope of human emotions, which he could then use to depict in his subject pictures. Also, there was a large demand for head and shoulders portraits at the time, marked by a strong facial expression – these works were known as tronie paintings. Rembrandt therefore decided to combine the self-portrait with the tronie genre to develop his own original style. In time, he realised that more normal and less pronounced and emotional portraits of himself were marketable.

The Liverpool Self-Portrait demonstrates the features of both genres. The hallmarks of a tronie are clearly shown by the conventional head and shoulders depiction of the artist, whilst the somewhat comical, wry look and twisted mouth of the artist reveal the study of expression that the self-portray affords the artist. Interestingly, not long after its completion, the canvas was purchased by Robert Ker, the Earl of Ancram, who then gave it to King Charles I. Therefore it is widely believed to be the first work by to leave The Netherlands and arrive in Britain.

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The artist’s first self-portrait in oil, 1629

THE ANATOMY LESSON OF DOCTOR TULP

This 1632 oil painting is housed in the Mauritshuis museum in The Hague, and concerns Dr. Nicolaes Tulp’s real-life anatomy lesson, as he explains the musculature of the arm of a corpse to his surrounding medical professionals. The spectators are various doctors that had paid commissions to the artist to be included in the painting. In the top-left hand corner of the canvas, it is signed Rembrandt. f[ecit] 1632, which is most likely the first recorded instance of the artist signing a painting with his forename in its original form as opposed to using the monogramme RHL (Rembrandt Harmenszoon of Leiden), demonstrating his growing confidence.

The actual event depicted in the canvas has been dated to 16 January 1632, when the Amsterdam Guild of Surgeons, of which Dr. Tulp was the official City Anatomist, permitted only one public dissection a year and the body would have to be that of an executed criminal. During the seventeenth century, anatomy lessons were a highly regarded social event, taking place in lecture rooms treated liked actual theatres, with students, colleagues and the general public being permitted to attend on payment of an entrance fee. The spectators were appropriately dressed for a solemn social occasion. In recent times, medical specialists have commented on the accuracy of the muscles and tendons painted by the 26-year-old Rembrandt. It is not known where he obtained such detailed knowledge, though it is likely he copied the details from an anatomical textbook.

The corpse was the criminal Aris Kindt, who was convicted for armed robbery and sentenced to death by hanging and executed earlier on the same day of the scene. Rembrandt chooses to partially shade the face of the corpse, giving a suggestion of umbra mortis (the shadow of death) — a technique that he was to use frequently later.

The painting was privately commissioned by Tulp and the other persons represented and their names are displayed on the paper held by one of the spectators. The scene depicted is not a faithful portrayal of a dissection, when there would have been many more people present and the operation would have started with the opening of the stomach, as shown in Rembrandt’s less famous work The Anatomy Lesson of Doctor Deyman. Instead this is an imaginary construction, with the grouping of the figures placed in accordance to pictorial considerations, allowing the artist to depict the patrons that have paid him to be included. By choosing to dissect the arm instead of the stomach, the artist is able to show off his painterly skills to more advantage in the careful and smooth delineation of the lines of the tendons in the arm.

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‘The Anatomy Lesson of Dr. Deijman’, 1656 — Rembrandt’s fragmentary painting demonstrating how the dissection would really have started – by opening the stomach of the corpse

PORTRAIT OF THE ARTIST JACQUES DE GHEYN

This 1632 portrait, which is housed in the Dulwich Picture Gallery, London, was completed soon after Rembrandt’s arrival in Amsterdam, heralding the beginning of his association with the art dealer Hendrick van Uylenburgh, with whom the artist established a busy portrait practice, following the great success of The Anatomy Lesson of Doctor Tulp. The portrait presents Jacques de Gheyn (1596-1641), who was the son and grandson of artists of the same name and featured as half of a pair of pendent portraits. The other piece is a portrait of de Gheyn’s friend Maurits Huygens, wearing similar clothing, including ruffs and black doublets and depicted facing in the opposite direction. Gheyn and Huygens were close friends living in The Hague, where the latter was Secretary to the Council of State, an administrative body under the States-General of the Republic. De Gheyn, like his father and grandfather, was a painter and draughtsman, although not very prolific, most likely due to his vast inheritance. The two portraits were almost certainly painted by Rembrandt during a visit to The Hague and it is believed that the artist was already acquainted with the sitters, as de Gheyn already owned one of Rembrandt’s early works.

Unusual for the artist’s oeuvre, both the portraits are under life-size, though the smooth application of paint, with meticulous eye for detail, more than compensates for the lack in size.  The de Gheyn portrait has been stolen numerous times, as its minute size has aided thieves in its numerous thefts. The painting has been given the nickname “takeaway Rembrandt” as it has been stolen four times since 1966 – the most recorded of any painting. Between 14 August 1981 and 3 September 1981 the painting was taken from Dulwich Picture Gallery and retrieved when police arrested four men in a taxi, who had the painting with them. Two years later, a burglar smashed a skylight and descended into the art gallery, using a crowbar to remove the painting from the wall. The police arrived within three minutes, but were too late to apprehend the thief. The painting was missing for three years, eventually being found in October 1986 in a luggage rack at the train station of a British army garrison in Münster, Germany. The other two times, the painting was found once underneath a bench in a graveyard in Streatham and once on the back of a bicycle. Each time the painting has been returned anonymously with more than one person being charged for its disappearance.

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The companion piece to the portrait: Pendent of Maurits Huygens

FLORA

Completed in 1634, this canvas represents the artist’s wife, Saskia van Uylenburgh, as the classical goddess of spring, Flora. Now housed in the Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg, the image depicts the goddess with flowers in her hand and entwined in her hair, while wearing a sumptuous robe, richly embroidered. However, the beauty of her adornments strangely contrasts with the diffident pose of the subject, giving the portrait an intriguing charm.  Rembrandt painted Saskia as Flora three times throughout his career: in 1634, 1635 and 1641. In this example, he combined elements of pastoral and historical portraits. Created in the year of their marriage, the canvas demonstrates the love and admiration the artist felt for his young bride.

Saskia was born in Leeuwarden, the youngest of the eight children of Sjoukje Ozinga and Rombertus van Uylenburgh, a successful lawyer, town burgomaster and one of the founders of the University of Franeker. Saskia was orphaned by the age of twelve and she met Rembrandt at the home of her uncle, Hendrick van Uylenburgh, a painter and art dealer. Saskia and Rembrandt were engaged in 1633 and on 2 July the couple were married in Sint Annaparochie. The preacher was Saskia’s cousin, but evidently none of Rembrandt’s family attended the marriage. That Saskia fell in love with an artist, who was socially no match for the daughter of a patrician, and that she pressed for a speedy betrothal, demonstrates that she was a strong and independent character. In 1635 the couple moved to one of the most desirable addresses in Amsterdam, the Nieuwe Doelenstraat, with prominent neighbours and a view of the river Amstel.

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The 1635 National Gallery version of the Flora theme

DESCENT FROM THE CROSS

Completed in 1634 and housed in the Alte Pinakothek in Munich, this impressive painting depicts the removal of Christ from the cross, following the crucifixion. Rembrandt had received a commission from the Dutch court in 1628 through Constantijn Huygens, secretary to the Prince of Orange, for five paintings of the Passion of Christ. The series eventually included these scenes: Raising of the Cross, Descent from the Cross, The Entombment, The Resurrection and The Ascension.

Rembrandt had been hired to create small versions of Rubens’ famous altarpieces Raising of the Cross and the Descent from the Cross in Antwerp. Huygens challenged Rembrandt to produce paintings less than one-twenty-fifth the size of Rubens’ versions. Unlike the Catholic Antwerp depiction of the scene by the artist’s older rival, where Rubens depicts the witnesses keen to touch and physically take hold of the body of Christ (a powerful symbol of the Eucharist, where worshipers eat the host which they believe has been transformed into the body of Christ), Rembrandt presents an entirely different Protestant view in keeping with his Amsterdam audience. In the latter altarpiece, the witnesses to Christ’s death are more contemplative of the scene before them, as several figures stand helplessly back and ponder the lifeless form. Rembrandt instead offers a Calvinistic approach to the Descent, where the other people in the painting are more suited as observers to the scene, devoted to personal introspection, rather than the outward displays of emotion that are seen in the Rubens’ version.

Where Rubens portrayed Christ as a muscular figure, inspired by the works of Michelangelo and Caravaggio, Rembrandt opts for a much more realistic and even flabby depiction of Christ, whose body is limp and skin depicted with a lifeless, pallid hue. There is also another feature in the Descent from the Cross found in many of Rembrandt’s major works. In the figure closest to Christ, hovering over the corpse and looking down with a troubled, pensive frown, we can detect the telltale frizzy hair of the artist himself.

After the first two paintings were finished in 1633, a further commission was given for three more paintings of scenes. The first to be delivered, early in 1636, was The Ascension, the last in iconographic order, this time taking the Venetian master Titian as his model of inspiration. In a composition based on one of Titian’s most famous works, the Assumption of the Virgin in the Church of Frari in Venice, Rembrandt created an image of earth, sky and heaven, with mortals taking leave of a divine creature being raised by angels to the Godhead itself.

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‘The Descent from the Cross’ is the central panel of a triptych painting by Peter Paul Rubens, 1612–1614. The painting is the second of Rubens’ great altarpieces for the Cathedral of Our Lady, Antwerp, Belgium, along with ‘The Elevation of the Cross’.

Rembrandt’s series of five paintings in narrative order: Raising of the Cross, Descent from the Cross, The Entombment, The Resurrection and The Ascension.

BELSHAZZAR’S FEAST

Housed in the National Gallery, London, and completed in 1635, this impressive oil painting centres on the story of Belshazzar and the writing on the wall in the Old Testament Book of Daniel. The canvas illustrates the artist’s attempt to establish his name as a painter of large, baroque history paintings. According to the story, the Babylonian King Belshazzar, feasting with his lords, wives and concubines, commanded the gold and silver vessels, which his father Nebuchadnezzar had looted from the temple at Jerusalem, to be brought in and filled with wine. Following this brazen command, a mysterious hand appeared and wrote on the wall: MENE, MENE, TEKEL, UPHARSIN. Frightened by the occurrence, Belshazzar called for his soothsayers to interpret the writing, but they were unable to decode the words. Eventually the Jewish captive, Daniel, was called before the King and he explained that the words foretold that Belshazzar’s days were numbered and his kingdom will be divided, due to his sacrilege. Belshazzar was slain later that night.

As seen in many of Rembrandt’s works, the figures portrayed in Belshazzar’s Feast are not aesthetically appealing, but they are depicted realistically, highlighting an important aspect of the artist’s style. The subjects are represented faithfully with wrinkles and other blemishes, showing that Rembrandt was not interested in recording perfection. In the image, he presents the moment at which the banqueters stare in amazement and terror at the mysterious hand. The central figure is the King of Babylon and the Queen sitting next to him, with their faces locked in surprise, as they stare at the mysterious hand. The artist employs chiaroscuro to heighten the distinctive shift between light and shadow, increasing the tension of the piece. The shadows are used to hide the unnecessary or distracting details and light is used to illuminate the faces of the figures and their emotions of wonder and fear.

At the time of completing the work, Rembrandt lived in the Jewish Quarter of Amsterdam and received help with the form of Hebrew inscription used in the top right of the canvas by his friend, the learned Rabbi and printer, Menasseh ben Israel. However, the artist mistranscribed one of the characters and arranged them in columns, rather than right to left, as Hebrew is written.

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Menasseh ben Israel (1604-1657), a Portuguese rabbi, writer, diplomat, printer and publisher, was the founder of the first Hebrew printing press. Israel helped Rembrandt with the Hebrew text used in ‘Belshazzar’s Feast’. This drawing of Israel was made by the artist in 1636.

THE PRODIGAL SON IN THE TAVERN

Housed in the Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister of Dresden, Germany, this canvas portrays Rembrandt as the prodigal son in a tavern, accompanied by a courtesan, modelled by his young wife, Saskia. The left side of the canvas has been at some point cut, perhaps by the artist himself, to remove secondary characters and focus the observer’s attention on the main theme. Saskia sits on the lap of the foppishly dressed Rembrandt, who gaily holds up a flagon of ale as he twists to offer a roguish grin out of the picture. The tavern setting indulges a current “Arcadian” fashion for showing fashionable ladies as courtesans, as well as drawing upon the pictorial tradition of the Prodigal Son with tavern harlots.

The painting was completed in 1636 at a carefree and happy time for the couple. Rembrandt was enjoying his rapidly growing reputation as a promising portrait painter and he was very fond of his well born wife, with whom he had just moved into the fashionable Nieuwe Doelenstraat district. However, tragedy was to plague the artist’s personal life. Three of their children died shortly after birth and then Saskia died, aged 29, probably from tuberculosis, in 1642.

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SELF-PORTRAIT, 1640

This 1640 image, now housed in London’s National Gallery, features a more refined handling of paint and developed level of finish than is found in the artist’s earlier self-portraits, evoking the brushwork used in his commissioned portraits of the Amsterdam bourgeoisie.  Completed in the year after he moved into his grand house in the Sint-Anthonisbreestraat, the portrait marks an important juncture in the artist’s development as a recorder of self-portraits. At this time Rembrandt’s style generally became more restrained and introspective, as demonstrated by his close study of the Italian masters, whose works influenced many of his other paintings during these years. He was particularly inspired by Raphael’s famous Portrait of Baldassare Castiglione when designing the National Gallery Self-Portrait, as well as Titian’s A Man with a Quilted Sleeve. Both paintings had belonged to Alfonso Lopez, a Portuguese Jewish merchant living in Amsterdam at the time Rembrandt was working on his self-portrait. As seen in the two Renaissance works, Rembrandt’s composition features a stable pyramid structure, with the subject’s head turned towards the viewer, whilst an arm rests upon a ledge and the shoulders are depicted in three-quarter view. The artist exudes a quiet confidence, presenting a man approaching his middle years, that has already tasted success and is certain of his achieved status.

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Portrait of Baldassare Castiglione by Raphael, c. 1514–1515, Louvre

‘A Man with a Quilted Sleeve’ by Titian, 1509, National Gallery, London

PORTRAIT OF AGATHA BAS

Housed in Buckingham Palace, London, this 1641 canvas was completed with a companion portrait of the sitter’s husband, Nicolaes van Bembeeck (1596-1661), a wool merchant, who had married Agatha Bas (1611-58) in 1638. The couple lived in the Sint Anthoniesbreestraat, where Rembrandt also lived from 1631. In the canvas, the artist introduces a new compositional device, where the figure is posed within a painted ebony frame, blurring the boundaries between the imaginary space within the composition and the outer real world. The impression of direct contact with the sitter is achieved partly through the gesture of the hand resting against the frame and by the depiction of a fan projecting over the edge towards the viewer’s space. However, an earlier reduction in the size of the canvas has considerably reduced the effect of these devices. The painting exhibits different levels of finish, with fine hairs at the edge of Bas’ hairline, through curling lines incised into the paint with the end of the brush, whilst in contrast the depiction of her skin and eyes is remarkably subtle and delicate.

There are five paintings by Rembrandt in the British Royal Collection, the earliest being The Artist’s Mother, which was presented to Charles I before 1633 and was thus one of the first works by Rembrandt to reach England. Of the three Rembrandts collected by George IV, The Shipbuilder and his Wife (Portrait of Jan Rijcksen and his Wife, Griet Jans), purchased for 5,000 guineas in 1811, was perhaps his most famous single acquisition. The Portrait of Agatha Bas was imported into England by Nieuwenhuys and offered at Christie’s, London, on 29 June 1814. It was later bought by Lord Yarmouth for George IV for a total of £74 10s and has remained in the Royal Collection in Buckingham Palace ever since. The companion piece is housed in Musée Royal des Beaux-Arts, Brussels.

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The companion Portrait of Nicolaes van Bembeeck, now housed in the Musée Royal des Beaux-Arts, Brussels

THE NIGHT WATCH

Widely regarded as Rembrandt’s masterpiece, the full title of this group painting is The Company of captain Frans Banning Cocq and lieutenant Willem van Ruytenburch preparing to march out. A highlight of the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam, the Netherlands, The Night Watch is renowned for its immense size (11.91 ft × 14.34 ft), its dramatic use of chiaroscuro and the perception of motion in what would have traditionally been a static military portrait.

In 1642 Rembrandt received the prestigious commission to decorate the Banqueting Hall of the Civic Guard in Amsterdam. Captain Frans Banning Cocq (1605-55) asked Rembrandt to paint a group portrait of his precinct guard. The canvas portrays the captain directing his lieutenant, Willem van Ruytenburch, how to order the company to march out. The captain is presented in black with a red sash, whilst the lieutenant is portrayed in pale yellow, carrying a ceremonial lance. At first it would appear the brighter dressed man is in charge of the Guard, due to the more ornate and expensive clothing he is wearing. However, Rembrandt is in fact conveying a sense of the man’s vanity. We are informed of the actual leader’s identity by the glaring red sash draped across the captain and the hand he holds out, giving the order to lead out the men.  It is a masterful demonstration of foreshortening, which has been admired by artists and art critics for centuries, clearly exhibiting Rembrandt’s painterly dexterity.  The captain’s superiority is further reinforced by how his outstretched arm casts a shadow over the lieutenant.

To the right of the arch, a shield, which was added later, depicts the names of eighteen of the persons portrayed. According to two of them that gave evidence on Rembrandt’s behalf during the investigation into his financial affairs in 1658, the artist was paid a total of 1,600 guilders, while the sitters contributed an average of 100 guilders each, the sum varying in degrees to their prominence in the picture.

The Night Watch was first hung in the Groote Zaal (Great Hall) or Amsterdam’s Kloveniersdoelen. This structure currently houses the Doelen Hotel. In 1715, the painting was moved to the Amsterdam Town Hall, for which it was altered. When Napoleon occupied the Netherlands, the Town Hall became the Palace on the Dam and the magistrates moved the painting to the Trippenhuis of the family Trip. Napoleon ordered the painting to be returned, but after the occupation ended in 1813, the canvas again went to the Trippenhuis, which now houses the Dutch Academy of Sciences. The Night Watch moved to the new Rijksmuseum when the building was finished in 1885.

Interestingly, since the cleaning of the picture in 1946, it has been revealed that the scene actually takes place in daylight, with the sun streaming down from the top left of the canvas. A further cleaning completed in 1980 revealed that the original tones were predominantly cool and that the traditional title of The Night Watch, which dates from the late 1700’s, is in essence an incorrect title.

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Detail showing the partial self-portrait (mostly of his eye) of Rembrandt in ‘The Night Watch’, located just above and to the left of the Captain.

The Doelen Hotel, Amsterdam, where the Night Watch was first housed in the Groote Zaal (Great Hall), Amsterdam’s Kloveniersdoelen

THE HOLY FAMILY WITH ANGELS

Housed in the Hermitage Museum, this canvas depicts a scene from Rembrandt’s favourite book for inspiration: the Bible. The painting concerns Christ’s birth, accompanied with angels as small boys, illustrated with wings and arms outstretched, hovering over the cradle with an expression of surprise. Joseph can be glimpsed in the background working on his carpentry, while Mary looks up from her reading and turns towards Christ, raising the cover that shields him from the firelight, ensuring the child is protected. Mary is dressed like a Dutch peasant girl, adding to the impression of earthy realism. The cradle is represented with a great degree of realism, as the weave of the fabric is delineated with fine precision. The image is a particularly personal rendering of a family scene, juxtaposed with elements of the divine.

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SUSANNA SURPRISED BY THE ELDERS

This panel painting is currently housed in Gemaldegalerie in Berlin and concerns the Biblical story of Susanna. It is believed the canvas was sold by Rembrandt for 500 guilders in 1647 to the merchant Adriaen Banck and that later in the eighteenth century the painting was owned by Sir Joshua Reynolds, the influential English painter and first president of the Royal Academy.

According to the Biblical story, two Jewish Elders hid themselves in a garden and watched Susanna bathing. They threatened her that they would publicly accuse her of committing adultery with a young man unless she gave herself to them. Rembrandt conveys the emotional turmoil experienced by Susanna, as she attempts to cover her nakedness. In the story, she is eventually exonerated by the wise judge Daniel and the wicked Elders are punished. Unlike in previous Baroque works of art, where Rembrandt would fall back on grand expressions of emotion to convey narrative, the artist relies on the realistic portrayal of emotion and his design of posture to capture the sense of Susana’s vulnerability to faithfully narrate the tale.

In preparation for the canvas, Rembrandt made numerous drawings of Susanna and at least one preliminary painting. X-rays on the Berlin canvas have revealed that the painting consists of several layers, the earliest showing signs of a rough composition characteristic of Rembrandt’s style of the 1630’s. When the artist re-painted the picture in 1647, he revised the design, changing the structure for a calmer effect, being particularly influenced by a painting of the same subject by Pieter Lastman (1583–1633), which he copied in a drawing.

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‘Susanna and the Elders’ by Pieter Lastman, 1614

PORTRAIT OF HENDRICKJE STOFFELS

Housed in the National Gallery, London, this 1656 portrait represents Hendrickje Stoffels, who was living with Rembrandt as his mistress. Hendrickje obtained work as the artist’s housekeeper, living with him from 1647, at first as a maid, but soon becoming his lover, leading to an acrimonious fallout with Rembrandt’s previous resident lover Geertje Dircx, who sued Rembrandt for breach of promise in 1649, demanding maintenance payments from him. Hendrickje testified in the case, confirming that a financial agreement had been reached with Geertje. In 1654, when she was pregnant with Rembrandt’s daughter, Hendrickje had to appear before the church council for ‘living in sin’ with Rembrandt, who was a widower and twenty years her senior. She admitted that she had “committed the acts of a whore with Rembrandt the painter” and was banned from receiving communion. On 30 October 1654, the couple’s daughter Cornelia van Rijn was baptised in the Oude Kerk in Amsterdam. Initially, Rembrandt’s unwillingness to marry Hendrickje was due to a pecuniary motive, as by marrying her he would have forfeited the inheritance of his wife Saskia. Even with this inheritance he was suffering major financial problems, but without it he would have been bankrupt. However, in 1655, Titus, the son he had with Saskia, turned fourteen and was thereby eligible by law to make his will. Rembrandt immediately made sure that Titus installed him as his only heir and by that he was free from Saskia’s inheritance will. Nevertheless, he still did not marry Hendrickje, though she remained with him until her death in 1663.

The canvas reveals a level of affection and intimacy between artist and sitter that is rarely seen in a commissioned portrait, demonstrating an increasing breadth of form and handling characteristic of Rembrandt’s style in this period. The represented forms lose their complexity of structure and surface detail found in earlier works, although they remain firm and block-like. The portrait is now regarded as one of the most private of in all of the artist’s oeuvre, establishing a quiet, dignified mood, whilst also suggesting a sensuous relationship between the artist and sitter, whose hand disappears into her fur robe. Hendrickje’s vulnerable, yet alluring gaze seems to tempt the viewer to share in the intimate moment captured by the artist.

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Statue of Hendrickje Stoffels in Bredevoort, the Garrison city in Gelderland, where she was born

A WOMAN BATHING

Hendrickje Stoffels is most likely the model for this 1654 panel painting, now housed in the National Gallery, London. In early years many believed this image was based on a Biblical theme, such as Susanna surprised by the Elders or Bathsheba, or a mythical theme of the goddess Diana, which would be supported by the sumptuous gold and red cloak behind the figure and the grotto-like setting, adding a romantic effect. However, more recent scholarship tends to suggest that it is a more intimate painting of a modern scene, where the young woman is entirely absorbed with her bathing, showing no reactions to the narrative stories of either Susanna or Bathsheba. Instead the canvas appears to be an independent sketch made for the artist himself and was most likely painted from life. The brushstrokes are broad and impulsive, except for the face and flesh of the woman, altogether suggesting a sense of freedom and spontaneity. The image appears unfinished in places, for example, in the shadow at the hem of the chemise, the right arm and the left shoulder, although the painting was clearly finished to Rembrandt’s satisfaction, since he signed and dated it. There is no record that the artist ever sold the work.

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SLAUGHTERED OX

Housed in the Louvre, the Slaughtered Ox is a 1665 still life, representing the carcass of an ox hung up to bleed. The rack on which the butchered animal is hung is presented to the viewer with vivid rich detail, whilst in the dimness of the background, the head of a young woman peers tentatively into the space where the animal hangs, introducing an element of questioning into the scene. Rembrandt has portrayed the ox with thick strokes, making the meat appear lifelike. Like a butcher himself, the artist’s strokes seem to cut into the canvas, vividly bringing to life the rotting corpse of the animal.

Various hidden meanings have been given to this unique composition, one of which links to the parable of the prodigal son. The Biblical story concerns a son that leaves his father and spends all his money. After realising he has gained nothing and lost everything, the son returns home and his father greets him with open arms and orders the slaughter of the fatted calf to celebrate his homecoming. Therefore, Rembrandt could be playing on the iconography of the fatted calf with the representation of the slaughtered ox.

Another interpretation could be a reference to the Biblical Crucifixion. Parallels can easily be seen between the frame on which the slaughtered ox is stretched and to Christ hanging from the cross. Others have identified a relationship between the young girl and the rotting corpse as a parallel of life and death, where Rembrandt explores the fragility of life and the ephemeral nature of this world.

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THE STAALMEESTERS

This 1662 group portrait was previously hung in the Hall of the Drapers’ Guild in the Staalstraat, but was later bought by the City of Amsterdam in 1771 and transferred to the Rijksmuseum in 1808. The canvas represents the city figures responsible for controlling cloth-samples (staal translating as ‘sample’), who were appointed by the Burgomaster of Amsterdam to regulate the quality of cloth sold throughout the city. The book in front of the chairman is the account book in which the names are recorded of the drapers, whose samples have been approved, together with the date and the fees they paid. As with the artist’s two other famous group paintings (The Anatomy Lesson of Dr. Nicolaes Tulp and The Night Watch), he has once again taken great care with the pictorial requirements, carefully considering the relationship of the figures to each other. X-rays of the painting have revealed that the servant, who is bareheaded in the background was moved several times, while three drawings have survived of the three figures at the left, demonstrating a range of postures that Rembrandt tried for each before settling on the final arrangement. The composition is given a low viewpoint, making the figures appear more impressive and magisterial, as well as allowing for the canvas to be raised in perspective, in keeping for its destined position above a chimney-piece.

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SELF-PORTRAIT WITH PALETTE AND BRUSHES, 1665

Completed in 1665 and now part of the Iveagh Bequest, at Kenwood House, London, this is one of Rembrandt’s most famous and haunting self-portraits, offering an intimate visual rendering of the ageing artist. In the canvas, the face is fully worked up with layers of paint, whilst the body is thinner in paint and the hands are barely indicated at all. Except for the painting of the head, there is very little modelling and no foreshortening. The mysterious circles on the wall suggest the impression of a composition conceived as a surface design. The painting is in fact an unfinished work, which has not been signed or dated.

Unlike the artist’s earlier experimentations with tronie paintings, which tended to represent excessive facial emotions, the artist now expresses a maturer approach to self-portraiture, where the forms are flatter and the facial expressions more passive. The artist now presents himself as a mournful presence, with no trace of humour. Rembrandt presents himself to be in essence what he fundamentally was: an artist, holding the tools of his trade, gazing out at the viewer with a sombre, contemplative attitude.

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THE JEWISH BRIDE

Painted c. 1667 and one of the most celebrated masterpieces of the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam, this endearing work gained its current name in the early nineteenth century, when an Amsterdam art collector identified the subject as that of a Jewish father bestowing a necklace upon his daughter on her wedding day. However, this interpretation is no longer accepted and the identity of the couple remains uncertain. The ambiguity of the image is increased by the lack of a narrative context, leaving only the central universal theme of a couple joined in love, though the type of love remains a mystery. Speculative suggestions as to the couple’s identity have ranged from Rembrandt’s son, Titus, and his bride, or the Amsterdam poet Miguel de Barrios and his wife. Several couples have also been suggested from the Old Testament, including Abraham and Sarah, or Boaz and Ruth. The most popular interpretation of the painting is that of Isaac embracing his wife Rebecca, as they are being spied on by Abimelech, Genesis 26:8, which theory is supported by a drawing made by Rembrandt close to the same time.

According to the Biblical story, Isaac makes a visit to the land of the Philistines and pretends that Rebecca is his sister, as the Philistines had wanted to seduce her and if they had known she was Isaac’s wife, they would have felt obliged to kill him first. One day, the Philistine King, Abimelech, observes the couple from a window making love in secret and surmises the truth of their relationship. He reproves Isaac for the deception, pointing out that any man might have lain with Rebecca in all innocence, not realising she was a married woman, bringing dishonour on himself and his people.

The image presents an intimate relationship between the two subjects, as the man places his hand on the woman’s breast, while she instinctively moves to protect her modesty, in the classic Venus pudica pose, which Rembrandt would have known from engravings of classical statues. The couple display every sign of tenderness towards each other, suggesting this is not a common seduction scene often found in Dutch genre paintings. The image is renowned for the manner in which it depicts the sensitive fusion of spiritual and physical love.

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The Paintings

Rembrandt was married to Saskia van Uylenburgh in the parish church in St. Annaparochie in 1634.

CHRONOLOGICAL LIST OF PAINTINGS

Rembrandt’s paintings are presented in chronological order and divided into decade sections, with an alphabetical table of contents following immediately after.

CONTENTS

1620’s

The Operation

The Spectacles-pedlar

The Three Singers

The Stoning of St. Stephen

History Painting

Balaam and the Ass

The Baptism of the Eunuch

Christ Driving the Moneychangers from the Temple

Tobit and Anna with the Kid

Musical Allegory

Bust of a Man in a Gorget and Cap

David with the Head of Goliath before Saul

The Rich Man from the Parable

St. Paul in Prison

Simeon in the Temple

Two Old Men Disputing (St. Peter and St. Paul)

The Artist in his Studio

St. Paul at his Writing-Desk

The Supper at Emmaus

Samson Betrayed by Delilah

David Playing the Harp to Saul

1630’s

An Officer

A Bust of an Old Woman: “The Artist’s Mother”

Self-portrait

Self-portrait

Self-portrait

An Old Man Asleep, Seated by the Fire

Judas Repentant, Returning the Pieces of Silver

Self-portrait

Self Portrait with Gorget and Beret

Self-portrait

Bust of a Laughing Man in a Gorget

Self Portrait with Beret and Gold Chain

An Old Woman at Prayer

Bust of an Old Man in a Fur Cap

Bust of an Old Man with a Beret

Andromeda

Jeremiah Lamenting the Destruction of Jerusalem

The Raising of Lazarus

Simeon in the Temple

St. Peter in Prison

An Old Woman Reading, probably the Prophetess Anna

Bust of an Old Man

Head of an Old Man

Christ on the Cross

Minerva in her Study

The Artist in an Oriental Costume, with a Poodle at His Feet

The Abduction of Proserpina

Old Man in a Gorget and Black Cap

Portrait of Nicolaes Ruts

Portrait of a Man at his Writing Desk

Portrait of a Man Seated

Portrait of Marten Looten

Knee-length Figure of a Man in an Oriental Dress

The Anatomy Lesson of Dr. Tulp

Portrait of Joris de Caullery

Portrait of Princess Amalia van Solms

Portrait of Maurits Huygens

Portrait of Jacques de Gheyn III

A Young Woman in Profile with a Fan

Bust of a Young Woman

Bust of a Young Woman in a Cap

Portrait of a Man Trimming his Quill

Portrait of a Young Woman Seated

Self-portrait as a Burger

Landscape with a Castle

The Rape of Europa

A Young Woman at her Toilet

The Descent from the Cross

The Raising of the Cross

Bellona

Bust of a Man in Oriental Dress

Bust of Young Woman (probably Saskia van Uylenburgh)

Bust of Young Woman Smiling (Saskia van Uylenburgh)

A Bust of an Old Man

Christ in the Storm on the Sea of Galilee

Joseph Telling his Dreams

Daniel and Cyrus before the Idol Bel

Portrait of a Bearded Man in a Wide-Brimmed Hat

Portrait of Jan Hermansz Krul

Portrait of a Man Rising from His Chair

Portrait of a Young Woman with a Fan

Portrait of a Young Woman

Portrait of Maertgen van Bilderbeecq

Portrait of Johannes Wtenbogaert

Portrait of Jan Rijcksen and his Wife, Griet Jans

Self-portrait

Self Portrait

Self-portrait in a Cap

Half-length Figure of Saskia in a Red Hat

The Entombment

A Scholar Seated at a Table with Books

Diana Bathing with her Nymphs

Ecce Homo

Flora

Portrait of Dirck Jansz Pesser

Portrait of van Haesje Jacobsdr van Cleyburgh

Portrait of Aechje Claesdr

Portrait of Reverend Johannes Elison

Portrait of Maria Bockenolle

Portrait of Marten Soolmans

Portrait of Oopjen Coppit

Self-portrait in a Cap and Fur-trimmed Cloak

Self-portrait with Shaded Eyes

Bust of Young Woman (probably Saskia van Uylenburgh)

Sophonisba, Receiving the Poisoned Cup

The Incredulity of Thomas

Self Portrait with Helmet

The Holy Family

Self Portrait (?)

Self Portrait (?)

John the Baptist Preaching

The Lamentation

Abraham’s Sacrifice

Belshazzar’s Feast

Flora

Minerva

Portrait of Philips Lucasz

Samson Threatening his Father-in-law

The Prodigal Son in the Tavern

The Rape of Ganymede

The Entombment

The Resurrection

The Ascension

Susanna at the Bath

The Blinding of Samson

The Standard-Bearer

Self-portrait

Danae

A Polish Nobleman

The Angel Raphael Leaving Tobit and his Family

Landscape with a Stone Bridge

Landscape with the Good Samaritan

Mountain Landscape with a Thunderstorm

The Rising Christ Appearing to Mary Magdalene

The Wedding of Samson

A Dead Bittern Held by a Hunter

Dead Peacocks and a Girl

Man in Oriental Costume

Self Portrait

Portrait of a Man Holding a Hat

Portrait of Andries de Graeff

Portrait of Aletta Adriaensdr

Tronie of a Young man with Gorget and Beret