As his name denotes, Rembrandt Harmensz van Rijn (1606-1669) was born
on the banks of the Rhine, his father being a miller at Leyden. When
fourteen years of age he entered the university of his native town and
had a classical education, which stood him in good stead through his
long and troubled career. Although he was at first placed as a pupil
of Jacob van Swanenburgh, he at an early age removed to Amsterdam.
There he worked under Pieter Lastman (1583-1633), whose _Abraham’s
Sacrificing Jacob_ (No. 2443A) of 1616 is hung opposite the works
of his illustrious pupil. The independent spirit of Rembrandt soon
asserted itself, and as early as 1627 he placed his name on pictures
which still exist, notably in the Berlin and Stuttgart museums. His
earliest picture in the Louvre is the _Old Man Reading_ (No. 2541A),
which is signed and dated 1630, and was presented by M. Kaempfen, a
former Director of this gallery, on his retirement. Three years later
came the two small and very similar versions (No. 2540 and No. 2541)
of the _Philosopher in Meditation_, the former of which is signed and
dated; in 1633 was painted the _Portrait of the Artist_ (No. 2552),
while another oval picture of the same subject (No. 2553) is inscribed
1634. In this early period the artist was in the habit of portraying
members of his own family, who were naturally his most accessible
models.
At this moment of his career Rembrandt had to measure himself with
many rivals in Amsterdam, notably with Thomas de Keyser (1596?-1667),
whose _Portrait of a Man_ (No. 2438A) was formerly in the Rodolphe
Kann collection, while a half-length _Portrait of a Man_ (No. 2438B),
also by de Keyser, was formerly at Versailles. From the trammels
and restrictions which the art of de Keyser would have been likely
to impose on a less gifted and original mind, Rembrandt readily set
himself free; and he must have had great hopes for the future when, in
1634, he took to wife the wealthy Saskia van Uylenborch. However, the
oval _Portrait of Himself wearing a black cap_ (No. 2554), dated 1637,
is of marked inferiority to the dignified and deeply religious panel,
_The Archangel Raphael leaving Tobias and his Father Tobit_ (No. 2536),
of the same year. A year later he must have painted the _Portrait of an
Old Man_ (No. 2544), and his first pure landscape.
The influence of domestic bereavements on Rembrandt’s art is
clearly reflected in the choice of his subjects, in their more
intimate setting, and in the deep feeling which evidently inspired
them. No better example of this side of his character and his art could
be found than the _Holy Family in the Carpenter’s Shop_ (No. 2542),
which he painted in 1640. In that year his mother died, an event which
followed rapidly on the death of his two infant daughters and his son,
and his wife’s frequent illness. He, however, still went on painting
such varied compositions as the _Portrait of a Man_ (No. 2546), of
1645, and the _Woman Bathing_ (No. 2550), which he achieved two years
later.
[Illustration:
PLATE XXIX.—REMBRANDT
(1606-1669)