A Brief Look at Rembrandt

The greatest genius of Dutch seventeenth century art was Rembrandt. Far less successful than his Flemish contemporary Rubens, who enjoyed the patronage of royalty and the Catholic church, Rembrandt's fortunes fluctuated with the art market. Throughout his career Rembrandt painted self-portraits. The portrait had developed during the Renaissance, partly as an attempt to record realistically the face of the sitter, but often to record his or her social status. In Rembrandt's late self-portraits, however, there is no attempt at idealization -- no vanity. It is as if he is contemplating his own mortality.

Self-portrait

	The Blinding of Samson 1636
	Even though Protestant reformers in Holland proscribed religious art, Rembrandt depicted religious themes throughout his career -- Biblical themes, never saints, since he was a pious Protestant believer. In his early career he was influenced by the followers of Caravaggio. (How is this painting like Caravaggio's Supper at Emmaus?)
	The Company of Captain Frans Banning Cocq and Lt. Willem van Ruytenburch (a.k.a. Night Watch) 1642
	Like many of Hals' group portraits, this large work was commissioned by the Civic Guard. Rembrandt's very famous painting does not actually meet the criteria of a group portrait, however. Some of the members of the guard, who paid for the painting, do not receive prominence, and Rembrandt added miscellaneous figures as well -- the girl with the dead bird at her waist, for example, and the boy with the musket. A genius like Rembrandt could not be restricted by the requirements of a group portrait; this becomes a lively and realistic history painting.
	Christ Healing the Sick etching, 1648-50
	Print media, especially the woodcut and engraving, developed in the Renaissance. The etching, developed early in the 17th century, uses a process whereby the metal plate is etched by immersion in acid. This process allows for great subtlety of line and tone; note the deep velvety blacks, grays and bright areas. It was a medium Rembrandt excelled in and prints provided him an important source of income. (Since prints can be produced in multiples, middle-class consumers could afford them.) This etching combines several incidents from Matthew 19 -- the healing of the sick, the Pharisees arguing (left), the rich young man who was told to give his money to the poor (left, with hand on his face). Rembrandt's deeply-felt Christianity is revealed in his humanization of religious themes. Here Christ's lowered left hand suggests he is saying, "suffer the little children to come unto me," while his right hand rebukes the bald Peter (center), who tries to stop the woman with the infant from approaching.
	The Return of the Prodigal Son ca. 1665
	One of Rembrandt's late paintings, The Return of the Prodigal Son, is based on the theme of forgiveness and mercy. It is very different from the theatrical paintings in the baroque style we saw earlier. One art historian refers to the "spiritual stillness" in paintings like this. The eloquent hands of the father, his lighted spiritual face, the gesture of the crouching son, and the light and shadows all emphasize the religious theme. Recall too that one of the characteristics of Renaissance art was its new emphasis on psychological realism. Here that quality reaches a climax in the moving art of Rembrandt.