THE Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijnas his name is, was born in Leiden Netherlandsin 1606. Although his father was a miller, he was able to send his son to school. At the age of 14 he went to the university of his hometown, but young Rembrandt quickly realized that the academic life did not suit him and began an apprenticeship as a painter.
In 1624 he went to Amsterdam to apprentice for a short time with Peter Lastman. He then returned to his hometown, where he began working as a freelance painter. However, such a thing would not prove easy, as after the Protestant Reformationlocal churches no longer placed any commissions on artists. The only way out was private orders.
Rembrandt did not wish to travel to Italy, as he was advised, as he felt he could learn all he needed from the works and artists in his homeland. So, around 1631, he moved to Amsterdam. There he stayed in the house of an art dealer, where he met his future wife, Saskiawhich is depicted in many of his paintings.
Professionally, Rembrandt secured recognition in a short time. In addition to portraits, which were commissioned by the most important families of the city, he created numerous paintings of Baroque history. In this phase, his painting was quite influenced by the new developments in Italian art, which were reaching Holland.
Caravaggio’s influence on Rembrandt’s work is evident as early as the 1630s.
Many of his contemporaries, moreover, had begun to experiment with the dramatic use of lighting, a style developed by Caravaggio. The latter’s influence on Rembrandt’s work is evident as early as the 1630s, when he developed a new way of depicting faces with patterns of light and shadow.
In 1641, the fourth child of the family was born, o Titusthe only one that lived. His wife, devastated by childbirth, died a few years later, leaving Rembrandt and Tito her property, with the stipulation that the greater part of Rembrandt’s share would be forfeited should he remarry.
Left alone with a baby, Rembrandt needed female help. The first assistant caused him various problems and the second, Hendrikge Stoffels, was to become his partner. In fact, it is likely that he was the model for the painting “Woman bathing in a stream».
He used broad strokes that seemed designed to work only from a distance.
Simultaneously with the changes in his personal life, changes would also be observed in his painting. A notable aspect of his later works is his use of broad brushstrokes, which, rough in effect, appear to have been designed to work only from a distance.
The difficulties in the life of the famous painter intensified in the following decade, when Amsterdam experienced a huge economic depression. In July 1656, he applied – successfully – for a “cessio bonorum”, a form of bankruptcy that did not lead to imprisonment. He moved to a poorer neighborhood, and continued to paint. In the last twenty years of his life he painted more and more self-portraits. But the 1660s would also bring the end. First his partner died and then his son. He himself died in 1669 in poverty. He was buried next to his partner and son, with no official announcement of his death.
Column editor: Myrto Katsigera, Vassilis Minakakis, Antigoni-Despina Poimenidou, Athanasios Syroplakis
