by Diane Olivia Valentine

Created on: October 08, 2008

Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn was born on July 15, 1606 in Leiden, Netherlands. He was the ninth child of well-to-do parents, his father was a miller and his mother was the daughter of a baker.
Rembrandt is considered to be one of the greatest painters of the Dutch Golden Age. He attended the Latin School and the University of Leiden. He was drawn to painting and soon became apprentice to a Dutch history painter for three years, followed by a brief, but beneficial apprenticeship under famous Dutch painter Pieter Lastman. In 1625 Rembrandt opened a studio and in 1627 he began taking students. Over a period of twenty years, he was the teacher to many well-known Dutch painters.

In 1634 Rembrandt married Saskia van Uylenburgh, who was the model for many of his paintings. They had four children, though only one, a son, Titus, survived to adulthood. Saskia died of tuberculosis in 1642, shortly after giving birth to Titus.
In the late 1640's Rembrandt began a relationship with Hendrickje Stoffels, his former housemaid and they had a daughter, Cornelia. This was considered a common law marriage. The Reformed Church, of which Hendrickje was a member condemned the union.

Most of Rembrandts work was drawn from his knowledge of classical iconography, combined with his own experiences with and observations of the Jewish population of Amsterdam. Rembrandt's work reflected his empathy for the human condition, which is reflected in his biblical scenes.

Rembrandt achieved success early on as a portrait painter and although in later years he experienced great financial hardship, his work remained popular throughout his lifetime.
Rembrandt lived beyond his means and in 1656 he was able to avoid bankruptcy by selling much of his work and his collection of antiquities, which was extensive. In 1660 he had to sell his home and his printing press in order to stay afloat. The Artist Guild, of which he was a member, had a rule that no one in his circumstances could work as a painter; to get around this, his wife and son set up business as art dealers and hired Rembrandt as an employee.
The realism and rawness of Rembrandt's self portraits reflect his devotion to the honesty of his art and serve as an illustrated biography of this life. Rembrandt is credited with producing over 600 paintings, 2,000 drawings and nearly 400 etchings.
Rembrandt died in Amsterdam on October 4, 1669 within a year of his son, who left a baby daughter. Hendrickje died in 1663.
He was buried in an unmarked grave.

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