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One hundred self-portraits
- Rembrandt created approaching one hundred self-portraits including over forty paintings, thirty-one etchings and about seven drawings; some remain uncertain as to the identity of either the subject (mostly etchings) or the artist (mostly paintings), or the definition of a portrait.
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Rembrandt created approaching one hundred self-portraits including over forty paintings, thirty-one etchings and about seven drawings; some remain uncertain as to the identity of either the subject (mostly etchings) or the artist (mostly paintings), or the definition of a portrait.
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Feb 24, 2019 · Recent scholarship has shown that some of the paintings previously thought to have been painted by Rembrandt were actually painted by one of his students as part of his training, but it is thought that Rembrandt, himself, painted between 40 and 50 self-portraits, seven drawings, and 32 etchings.
- Overview
- Early years
Dutch painter and printmaker Rembrandt van Rijn (1606–69) is considered one of the greatest storytellers in art, unusually gifted in rendering people in various moods and guises. His works suggest an acute and loving attention toward the world around him and a strong understanding of the significant detail—a dual quality that inspired later artists.
How was Rembrandt educated?
About age 10, Rembrandt entered the Latin School in Leiden, where he studied Classical and biblical works and oratory, but he soon left to train as an artist. He learned how to render everything from landscape to architecture, from still life to drapery, from animals to people and how to arrange them in complex scenes.
What did Rembrandt create?
Rembrandt created works in several genres, including portraits and “history pieces.” Group portraits included The Anatomy Lesson of Dr. Nicolaes Tulp (1632), Night Watch (1642), and The Syndics of the Amsterdam Drapers’ Guild (1662). “History pieces” included Judas Repentant (1628/29), Descent from the Cross (1632/33), Jacob’s Blessing (1656), and Conspiracy of the Batavians (1661).
Rembrandt (born July 15, 1606, Leiden, Netherlands—died October 4, 1669, Amsterdam) Dutch Baroque painter and printmaker, one of the greatest storytellers in the history of art, possessing an exceptional ability to render people in their various moods and dramatic guises. Rembrandt is also known as a painter of light and shade and as an artist who favoured an uncompromising realism that would lead some critics to claim that he preferred ugliness to beauty.
Rembrandt was the fourth of 6 surviving children out of 10. Unlike many painters of his time, he did not come from a family of artists or craftsmen; his father, Harmen Gerritszoon van Rijn (1568–1630), was a miller. His mother, Neeltgen Willemsdochter van Zuytbrouck (1568–1640), came from a family of bakers.
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The first name Rembrandt was—and still is—extremely rare. It is akin to more common Dutch first names such as Remmert, Gerbrand, and IJsbrand. The way Rembrandt inscribed his name on his work evolved significantly. As a young man, he signed his work only with the monogram RH (Rembrant Harmenszoon, “son of Harmen”); from 1626/27, with RHL; and in 1632, with RHL van Rijn (the L in the monogram presumably standing for Leidensis, “from Leiden,” the town in which he was born). At age 26 he began to sign his work with his first name only, Rembrant (ending only with a -t); from early 1633 onward until his death, he spelled his name Rembrandt (with -dt) and signed his works that way. It has been suggested that he began using his first name as his signature because he considered himself the equal of the great artists of the 15th and 16th centuries; Michelangelo (Michelangelo Buonarroti), Titian (Tiziano Vecellio), and Raphael (Raffaello Sanzio) were also generally known by their first names.
Like most Dutch children of his day, Rembrandt attended elementary school (c. 1612–16), after which, from roughly 1616 to 1620, he attended the Latin School in Leiden, where biblical studies and classics were the main subjects taught. The school’s emphasis on oratory skills may have contributed to his ability to “stage” the figures in scenes depicted in his history paintings, drawings, and etchings. It is not clear whether Rembrandt completed his course of study at the Latin School. His first biographer, Jan Janszoon Orlers (1570–1646), provided a laudatory half-page biography of Rembrandt within his Beschrijvinge der stadt Leyden (1641; “Description of the Town of Leiden”). There Orlers wrote that Rembrandt was taken out of school prematurely and, at his own request, was sent to be trained as a painter. The fact that Rembrandt was enrolled in Leiden University on May 20, 1620, does not necessarily contradict this. Whether for tax reasons or simply because they had attended the Latin School, it was not unusual for Leiden boys to be registered as students without being expected to attend any lectures. The extent of Rembrandt’s intellectual development and any possible influence this might have had on his work remain matters of speculation.
From approximately 1620 to 1624/25, Rembrandt trained as an artist. As was quite common in his time, he had two masters in succession. Rembrandt’s first master was the Leiden painter Jacob van Swanenburgh (1571–1638), with whom, according to Orlers, he remained for about three years. Van Swanenburgh must have taught him the basic skills and imparted the knowledge necessary for the profession. He was a specialist in architectural pieces and in scenes of hell and the underworld, which called for skill in painting fire and its reflections on the surrounding objects. In Rembrandt’s time this skill was considered distinct and demanding. It may well be that Rembrandt’s early exposure to this kind of pictorial problem underlies his lasting interest in the effects of light.
Dec 24, 2021 · While many preceding artists created significant self-portraits—Albrecht Dürer and Leonardo da Vinci, to name a couple—Rembrandt was the first to use the art form in ways beyond simply recording his own likeness, and he was the first to make numerous self-portraits throughout his lifetime.
- Rosie Lesso
- Earlier Rembrandt Self-Portraits: Rembrandt Laughing, 1628. Rembrandt Laughing, 1628 was made when the artist was around 21, but he already reveals the skill and ambition of a man destined for success.
- Self Portrait at An Early Age, 1629. Get the latest articles delivered to your inbox. Sign up to our Free Weekly Newsletter. Rembrandt’s Self Portrait, 1628 captures a young man on the brink of adulthood at 23 years old, with youthful plump skin and wild, unruly hair.
- Self Portrait In A Cap, Open Mouthed, 1630. In Rembrandt’s striking Self Portrait in a Cap, Open Mouthed, 1630, the artist’s playful spirit almost jumps out from the page towards us.
- Portrait of The Artist As A Young Man, 1631. In Rembrandt’s Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, 1631, the artist oozes a cool air of confidence, reflecting his growing maturity and advancing career.
Today nearly 80 self-portraits—paintings, drawings, and prints—are attributed to him. By age 21, the artist had established his own studio and had taken on the first of many students.
Jan 12, 2022 · Rembrandt’s self-portraits were a significant component of his output. These paintings by Rembrandt numbered around one hundred self-portraits. But why did Rembrandt make so many self-portraits, and which are the most noted works?