Rembrandt (Leiden 1606 – 1669 Amsterdam) played a major role in determining the direction not only of Dutch but of seventeenth-century European painting quite generally. His teacher Pieter Lastman, a specialist in large-scale history paintings, instructed the young Rembrandt in Leiden in the art of three-dimensional figure composition and doubtless also the empathetic attention to emotional states as mirrored in facial expressions. This can be seen not only in his pupil’s narrative pictures with a biblical or historical theme, but also in his extensive portrait work.

From 1631, Rembrandt was working in Amsterdam, and enjoyed great success even during his lifetime. His personality and his skills attracted numerous pupils, who went on themselves to become the best in their field. Like almost no other artist of the period, Rembrandt confronted his own image with great intensity. Some 70 self-portraits have come down to us, giving revealing clues to his development both as a painter and as a person.

FURTHER INFORMATIONS

 Rembrandt Database
The Rembrandt Database is an inter-institutional research project devoted to the documentation of Rembrandt paintings in all museums worldwide.