Art Guide · Painters
Rembrandt van Rijn
1606–1669
Rembrandt van Rijn (1606–1669) was the greatest painter of the Dutch Golden Age, known for his dramatic use of light and shadow, his searching self-portraits and his etchings. His most famous work is The Night Watch (1642).
Last updated: · Iconica Society editors
Life
The son of a miller, he was born in Leiden and moved to Amsterdam around 1631, quickly becoming the city’s most sought-after portraitist. He married Saskia van Uylenburgh in 1634; she died in 1642, the year he completed The Night Watch.
Lavish spending and collecting drove him into debt; in 1656 he went bankrupt and his house and collection were sold. He kept working in an ever deeper style in his last years and died in Amsterdam in 1669.
Style and key works
Rembrandt gave his figures both volume and emotion with warm light rising out of darkness (chiaroscuro). The Night Watch is not actually a night scene: the painting of Captain Frans Banninck Cocq’s militia company acquired its name because of darkened varnish. The roughly 80 self-portraits he made across his life, in paint, etching and drawing, are seen as an honest self-examination from youth to old age.
Key works
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Frequently asked questions
Where is The Night Watch?
In the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam, where it hangs in the museum’s main gallery.
Why did Rembrandt go bankrupt?
Buying a large house, spending heavily on art and curiosities, and a decline in commissions left him in debt; he went bankrupt in 1656.