Rembrandt and the Metropolitan Museum of Art

The day after Thanksgiving, I headed out to the Met. When I left my house it was hailing but by the time I hit the highway the sun was out and shining and the temperature rose to 48 degrees. It turned out to be a great day and I left the Met thinking 8 hours is not enough! I was overwhelmed and excited all at the same time. The place was packed. In fact, I saw someone with an Albertus Magnus sweatshirt on and I wondered if she was one of my classmates - KJ, was that you?

The portraits above are oil on wood done by Rembrandt and entitled "Portrait of a Man" (1632). Rembrandt (1606-1669) was born Rembrandt Harmenszoon Van Rijn and is "regarded as the greatist artist of Holland's Golden Age". His style and his subjects were constantly changing but this painting attracted me because of the detail. It looked more like a photograph than a painting. Notice the bags under his eyes, the cragginess of his face (no airbrushing here!) and the hair wispys. His ruffled collar is so finely detailed and so stark white against the darkness of the picture. In fact, his whole face seems to be lit up against the darkness of the portrait. I was unable to get a good shot of the buttons on his coat because of the darkness.

Besides portraits, Rembrandt also painted landscapes and religious-themed pictures. It is estimated his works include 600 paintings, 300 etchings and 1400 drawings. He is considered to be a master of light and shadow and was particularly curious about direct observation of his subject matter. Besides light and shadow, this observation included "atmosphere, modeling, texture and human situations". In the early 1630's, Rembrandt's style was to use rich colors with "chiaroscuro" - Italian for light-dark. This is an art term for contrast between light and dark which I think is hilighted by the portrait I chose to show above. By the late 1630's, he began to paint quieter, warmer paintings. This may have been attributed to the turmoil in his life. Rembrandt married Saskia van Uylenburgh in 1634 and over the next few years, 3 of his 4 children died in infancy. One son, Titus (1641-1668) lived to adulthood. His wife passed away in 1642 of tuberculosis.

Can you see the signature of Rembrandt in these pictures?

Early in his career, Rembrandt signed his pictures either R or RH (Rembrandt Harmenszoon). In 1629, he used the initials RHL with the L standing for Leiden, where he was from in the Netherlands or RHL-van Rijn. In 1632, he began using Rembrant (the original spelling of his first name) which he changed to Rembrandt in 1633.


This is a self-portrait of Rembrandt done in 1660. When he had no models, he painted or sketched his own image. It is estimated there are between 50 and 60 self-portraits. Again, I love the detail in his painting. You see a man who has probably lived a good life with the soft jowls, a double chin, the hair that is turning white and the creases in his forehead.

Titus (1641-1668), son of Rembrandt, done by an unknown artist in the style of Rembrandt. This is an oil on canvas probably done in the 17th century or later.

Works Cited:

"Rembrandt (Rembrandt Harmensz. van Rijn): Portrait of a Man (64.126)". In Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History. New York: The Metropoitan Museum of Art, 2000-. http://metmuseum.org/toah/hd/rmbt/ho_64.126.htm (October 2006)

Liedtke, Walter. "Rembrandt Harmensz. van Rijn (1606-1669): Paintings". In Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2000-. http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/rmbt/hd_rmbt.htm (October 2003)