Life of Rembrandt

Rembrandt Harmensz van Rijn was born on July 15, 1606 in Leiden, the second largest city in the Netherlands and a center of religion and scholarship about 25 miles south of Amsterdam. He was the eighth of nine children; his father was a miller and his mother was a baker's daughter. He attended Latin school from the age of seven and later attended one year of university before convincing his parents that he wanted to be an artist.

Rembrandt first apprenticed for three years in Leiden under the undistinguished painter, Jacob van Swanenburgh, during which time he primarily learned the basic techniques of making paint and painting. In 1624, Rembrandt journeyed to Amsterdam to study for six months with Pieter Lastman, a successful painter of religious and mythological subjects, whose influence can be seen in many of Rembrandt's early works.

Unlike other Dutch painters of the century, depictions of Biblical subjects remained part of Rembrandt's oeuvre for the rest of his life. Rembrandt returned to Leiden in 1625 and set up an independent studio where he received several commissions and initial success; by 1631 he was ready to return to Amsterdam for good.

In 1634, Rembrandt met Saskia van Ulenborch at her cousin Hendrick Van Ulenborch's home, where he was living. Van Ulenborch was an art dealer and owned the painting academy where Rembrandt taught. Rembrandt and Saskia were married in 1634 and in 1639 purchased a home in the Breestraat, which reflected their wealth and social status. Saskia had four children, but only her last child, Titus, survived and she herself died six months after his birth in 1642.

Hendrickje Stoffels was hired in the early 1640's as Titus's nurse, and although Rembrandt and Hendrickje never married, they had a daughter, Cornelia, and spent the rest of their lives together.

Although Rembrandt suffered financial problems throughout his later years, it was not because he was an unsuccessful artist, but because he was a poor fiscal manager who was unable to resist collecting -- on a large scale -- the art of others.

In 1658, after Rembrandt was forced to declare bankruptcy, many of his possessions were auctioned and his home was sold. He and Hendrickje then moved with Cornelia to a smaller house in the Jordaan district on the other side of town. Hendrickje and Titus set up a partnership as art dealers and continued to sell Rembrandt's works.

Hendrickje died in 1663; Titus died in 1668 and Rembrandt himself died shortly thereafter, on October 4, 1669.

--Laura Anderson, Director of Acquisitions