The large collection of old master paintings in the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam comprises quite some works by Rembrandt van Rijn, made in different periods of the career of this most famous of all Dutch painters of the Golden Age. Hardly any other painter can fascinate us as much as Rembrandt does. That is why Kukullus offers a guided tour in the Rijksmuseum that focuses on paintings by Rembrandt and his private as well as artistic environment.
Rembrandt grew up in the Dutch city of Leiden where he visited the Latin school and even enrolled at the university. After his apprenticeship with the painter Jacob van Swanenburgh in Leiden and some months with Pieter Lastman in Amsterdam, he started his own workshop in Leiden. In this period, he worked closely together with his friend and colleague Jan Lievens, a “child prodigy” as a painter, with whom he even might have shared a studio. The Rijksmuseum presents some interesting works by Lievens and Rembrandt of this early period – a great opportunity to compare the paintings of these two young talents next to each other.
At the age of 25, Rembrandt moved to booming Amsterdam, a commercial city of international importance. Here he soon gained sympathies of exalted clients who ordered their portraits from him. During this museum tour, we can take a closer look at some exceptional paintings from this period.
Guided museum tour – Rembrandt as artist and as a person
Since its high-profile acquisition in 2022, Rembrandt’s imposing Ensign from 1636 has been on display in the Rijksmuseum’s collection. Rembrandt’s career peaked with the so-called Nightwatch, the undisputed masterpiece in the Rijksmuseum’s collection. A dedicated room was even created for it when the museum was built. Shortly before this commission, Rembrandt had moved to an expensive house on Sint Antoniesbreestraat in Amsterdam, in a neighbourhood that was also home to many other important painters. Today, this building houses the Museum Rembrandthuis. By the 1650s, however, Rembrandt’s star was declining and he increasingly fell into financial difficulties, resulting in his bankruptcy. A terrible tragedy for the artist, but quite a stroke of luck for art history. For Rembrandt’s misfortune provides us with unique contemporary documents and thus exciting glimpses into his personal life.
Rembrandt, painting of a young woman that presumably shows us his wife Saskia. Rijksmuseum Amsterdam
Except for the financial problems, Rembrandt also had to cope with quite some deep hits on a personal level, the loss of several family members. To start with, in 1642 his young wife Saskia died, and the sad times are not over yet when in 1663, his long time life partner Hendrickje Stoffels became a victim of the plague. But that does not stop the creative urge of Rembrandt. His oeuvre of his later years comprises some exceptional masterpieces, some of which are on show in the Rijksmuseum. Among them, the Syndics of the Drapers’ Guild (“Staalmeesters”) and the so-called Jewish Bride stand out. This painting can be identified as a portrait historié of a couple immortalised in the guise of Isaac and Rebecca. The impressive self-portrait as Apostle Paul also is a masterpiece, one of his numerous self-portraits, in which Rembrandt ruthlessly documented his own ageing process.
Since their acquisition by the states of France and the Netherlands a few years ago, the famous life-size portraits of Marten Soolmans and Oopjen Coppit have adorned the Rijksmuseum’s Gallery of Honour for several years. Rembrandt painted them in his early Amsterdam years. Meanwhile, Maarten and Oopjen temporarily moved to the Musée du Louvre in Paris. For both museums take turns in exhibiting this young and prosperous Amsterdam couple. When they will be back in Amsterdam temporarily, these portraits can again become real highlights of our Rembrandt tour in the Rijksmuseum, showing the way to his spectacular masterpiece of the Nightwatch a bit further down the hall.
Our Rembrandt tour in the Rijksmuseum gives you a vivid overview of the life and the versatile work of the artist. That is to say, of his painted oeuvre. Rembrandt also created numerous fascinating etchings and he was an exceptionally gifted draughtsman. Because of their sensitivity, these works on paper are only on display sporadically. But this does not lessen the pleasure during this guided tour, that can be enriched with paintings by fellow artists, pupils and co-workers of Rembrandt. And of course there is room for your own questions and observations.
