Great Dutchman Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn was born in 1606 in the city of Leiden. After studying as an apprentice, at the age of 19 he began to work as an independent artist.
In his first biblical compositions, the influence of the Italian Baroque is noticeable: in the sharp contrasts of chiaroscuro and the dynamics of the composition. But Rembrandt soon found his style in using chiaroscuro to express emotions in portraits.
In 1632, the painter moved to Amsterdam and married a wealthy patrician. During this period, he was especially successful, famous and happy. And his works are saturated with rich colors and breathe joy. He paints large religious compositions, many portraits and self-portraits with his beloved wife.
Rembrandt especially became famous as a portrait painter, writing over a hundred portraits and dozens of self-portraits during his career. It was in the image of himself that the artist boldly experimented in search of a special expressiveness of the face.
Rembrandt was the first to solve the problem of boring group portraits by uniting the depicted people in a common action, which gave faces and figures a natural ease.
The artist was glorified by a group portrait called “The Anatomy Lesson of Dr. Tulp” (1632), which depicts not even rows of pompous faces, but heroes fascinating history, as if caught by the artist in the midst of the action.
The crowning talent of Rembrandt as a portrait painter, researchers consider the "Night Watch" (1642) - a custom-made portrait of the shooting society. However, the customers did not accept the picture, rejecting the innovative idea, where instead of the shooters lined up in a row, a heroic composition on the theme of the liberation struggle was depicted. To the shooters, among whom were nobles, these images seemed alien and politically untimely.
This rejection was the first tragic chord in the life of the artist. And when his beloved wife died, Rembrandt's work lost its joyful notes. The 1640s become a period of calm biblical motifs, where the artist more and more subtly reveals the shades of spiritual experiences of the characters. Chiaroscuro play even more gracefully in his graphics, creating a dramatic atmosphere.
In "Danae" (1647), the artist revealed his aesthetic views on feminine beauty defying the renaissance. His naked Danae is emphatically far from classical ideals, but sensual and warm, like a living woman.
The period of creative maturity of Rembrandt fell on the 1650s - a time of difficult life trials. His property was sold at auction for debts, but the painter practically did not fulfill orders. He painted portraits of loved ones, ordinary people and old people. Special attention of the artist with the help of stains scattered light focused on faces with rich but subtle emotions, and overworked hands.
Rembrandt interpreted the Biblical images in his own way, clearly “grounding” religious legends, depriving them of the otherworldly. Often he gave features to the faces of saints specific people who posed for him for pictures.
By the mid-1650s, the painter had become a real master, skillfully conquering light and color for the sake of emotional expressiveness of images. But he lived out his life in poverty and loneliness, having buried his second wife and son. The last works of the artist are devoted to reflection on the collision in human soul evil with good. The final chord was major masterpiece masters - "Return prodigal son”, written in 1669, the year of the artist’s death. Repentant son on his knees expressed all the tragedy life path man, and in the image of the father you can see love itself and infinite forgiveness.
The attribution of Rembrandt's paintings is based on the latest research by a group of reputable scientists on his work and is updated in the course of ongoing research. The "Rembrandt Research Project" was founded in 1968 and set itself the goal of verifying the authenticity and belonging of the master's brushes on the basis of a detailed study of each, using the latest art history and technical achievements in this field.
Album layout and translation - Konstantin (koschey)
It's always hard to talk about what you truly love. You carefully choose the right words, turns of speech, you don’t know where to start ... Therefore, I’ll start with a little revelation: Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn- my favorite artist, and I got to know him for a very long time.
As a child - in the Hermitage, with the stories of the professor-father. In youth, on MHC lessons at the institute, with old slides in a dark auditorium on long December evenings. In his youth - in amazing Amsterdam, joyfully laughing in the rays of the setting August sun. I have already read hundreds of lectures about Rembrandt, conducted more than a dozen excursions, but still there is a feeling that now you have to plunge into something unknown, huge, incomprehensible.
It's like jumping from a pier into the waters of the sea, where you were for the first time. You don't know if the water is cold there, how many stones are at the bottom. It's anticipation and doubt that makes your hands tremble nervously. There is only one way to defeat this - jump from a running start, feeling your heart pounding and how at one moment the whole world around you is carried away somewhere into the distance, and now you are alone with something completely new ... Well, well! Let's jump, open our eyes and see!
At 27, he had everything an artist could dream of. Fame, fame, money, beloved woman, hundreds of orders. He was considered the best portrait painter in one of the richest cities of his time, in the pearl of northern Europe - Amsterdam.
Yes, there has never been an artist in the world capable of creating this! The portrait had to be perfect, had to brighten up all the shortcomings of a person, but Rembrandt thought otherwise. His portraits were alive. They conveyed character, there was conflict in them. Before you is a fragment of a portrait of the chief tax collector of the province of Holland, Jan Wtenbogart.
Almost the entire state of the republic passed through the hands of this man. And his clothes - an airy lace collar, a long fur coat made of Russian sable fur - clearly testify to his condition. Now just look at those eyes. You see sadness in them ... And the canvas of Rembrandt's great predecessor is immediately remembered -. Does not the apostle look at Christ with the same expression when he calls him to him? This portrait is the story of a very rich but very unhappy man, and the Dutch painter was able to show it in one frozen moment.
All free time Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn spent on the study of facial expressions. He stood for hours at the mirror and made faces, which he then transferred with charcoal to paper. It was important for him to catch the slightest shades of emotions.
The face of a person, according to the artist, was a mirror of the soul, he realized this long before Oscar Wilde with his “Portrait of Dorian Gray”. But portraits are not the only thing Rembrandt excelled at. His large canvases impress us no less. The game of chiaroscuro, which he so developed in his painting by Caravaggio, from our master acquires a truly gigantic scope.
He was only 28 years old when he created his first absolute masterpiece. This painting is "Descent from the Cross". You simply cannot pass by this painting in the Hermitage. In one moment, the artist managed to depict the whole essence of Christianity, to tell one of the greatest human stories as honestly and touchingly as possible, in a way that no one did before or after him.
Jerusalem in the background sinks into darkness. The Savior is dead. We see his lifeless body in the center of the picture. This is the moment of the highest despair, no one yet believes in the resurrection. People see only the corpse of a man they loved and worshiped as a god, and the Virgin Mary faints, her skin is deathly pale - she has just lost her only son.
There is one detail on this canvas that is not immediately evident. This is lighting. The source of light is a lantern in the hands of the boy, but the body of Christ and the clothes of the apostle holding him in his arms reflect the light like a mirror. And it is through the light that the true story is told here, revealed philosophical meaning paintings.
The light of a lantern is the light of faith, and what we see in the picture is an initiation into its mystery. One gets the feeling that the very body of the Savior becomes the source of light here. The face of the Mother of God and the shroud, illuminated by the dim light of a candle, stand out from the darkness, in which the body of Christ should be wrapped. On this canvas, Rembrandt first applied the technique that in the last years of his life became the main one in his work.
And now we see how a person who ideally mastered the technique of writing wrote out everything in the smallest detail. central figures on the canvas, but as you move away from the light, the faces of people became more and more blurred, almost indistinguishable. Everything is very simple - the mystery of what is happening passed them by.
However, on this canvas there is another character that is not noticeable at first sight. Despite the fact that he is in the shadows, Rembrandt depicts him very clearly. In the lower right corner of the canvas, from the darkest place, hiding behind the thistle stalks, the Devil in the form of a dog is looking at you and as if asking you a question:
"Are you involved in what's going on?"
Yes, Dutch master there were always few frames of the picture, he dreamed that his canvases would become part of this world, and the viewer would be a direct participant in what was happening. But it was precisely this desire that overthrew him from the heights of glory into the abyss of centuries of oblivion.
Misfortune and oblivion come as swiftly as fortune and glory. Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn experienced this first hand in 1642. Of course, there were grievances before that: his children died in infancy. Only one son survived, Titus, born in 1641. But a year later, his beloved wife Saskia left this world, with whom he lived long years. And along with this loss, luck also turned away from the artist, turned away at the moment when he created one of his greatest paintings.
One can talk endlessly about Rembrandt's Night Watch. This canvas is so large-scale in its content, so unique in its built composition, that the history of its creation is quite worthy of a separate book, not an article. But, as often happens in life, it was this creation, which subsequently radically changed the entire development of world painting, was rejected by contemporaries.
The customers did not like the way they were depicted, and many of them refused to pay for the artist's work. The most famous painter of the Netherlands has never experienced such humiliation. In one year, Rembrandt lost his beloved wife and failed with his best work. It would seem that this is quite enough, but no, it was only the beginning of the tragedy. Orders became less and less (classicism and the style of ceremonial portraits came into fashion), and soon the artist's property was sold for debts. From a huge mansion in the very center of Amsterdam, he was forced to move to the outskirts of the city, to the Jewish Quarter, where he rented several rooms with his beloved son Titus.
The most interesting thing is that Rembrandt could easily adapt to the latest fashion trends in art and again get big money for their canvases. But the painter was convinced that he must create a completely new style. In his portraits now were not rich people, but the most ordinary citizens of the city of Amsterdam. Such, for example, is the “Portrait of an Old Jew”.
Rembrandt was not interested in the detailed depiction of all items of clothing, he strove for more abstraction, strove to show the feelings of his characters in perfect accuracy. For his perseverance, he received only suffering and slaps in the face. This happened with his painting "The Conspiracy of Julius Civilis".
Instead of the classic, pompous, outgoing patriotic image old master presented this to the public.
Before us is a picture of a barbarian feast, rude, unsightly. This canvas was almost 300 years ahead of its time, anticipating Expressionist painting. It is not surprising that the master's masterpiece was rejected, and his name was covered with indelible shame. But it is precisely these last eight years of his life, spent in absolute, impenetrable poverty, that are one of the most fruitful periods in Rembrandt's work.
I think that I will write about the paintings of that period, including his The Return of the Prodigal Son, in a separate article. Now I want to talk about something else. I was always amazed how Rembrandt could work and develop his talent when the blows of fate rained down on him from everywhere. It could not go on like this for a long time, and the artist foresaw it.
The final blow is always applied to the most painful place. They were the only son of Titus - a very sickly boy, similar to his dead mother. It was him that Rembrandt depicted then most often: both in the form of an angel in the painting “Matthew and the Angel”, and reading, and in various costumes. Perhaps the painter thought that with the help of his talent he would somehow be able to delay the inevitable... He failed...
In my opinion, "Portrait of Titus in a monastic cassock" is one of the most soulful paintings by Rembrandt. All her father's love, all the talent of a painter, manifested itself in her. In all these rough strokes, in this darkness advancing on the young man from the left, in the plants already surrounding his body, one thing stands out - the pale face of the artist's son with lowered eyes full of humility.
Titus died in 1668, Rembrandt survived him by only a year.
He was dying on the outskirts of Amsterdam, absolutely alone, having gained everything in this life and lost everything. They forgot about his canvases for a long time... But 150 years have passed, and other artists have already heard what the master was trying to tell his contemporaries, choosing his own unique path instead of fame and money.
"Flora" (1641, Dresden)
The Parable of the Rich Man (1627, Berlin)
Return of Judas 30 pieces of silver (1629, private collection)
Self-portrait (1629, Boston)
Jeremiah laments the destruction of Jerusalem (1630, Amsterdam)
Portrait of a scientist (1631, Hermitage)
Anna the prophetess (1631, Amsterdam)
Apostle Peter (1631, Israel)
Storm on the Sea of Galilee (1663, Boston)
Self-portrait with Saskia (1635, Dresden)
Feast of Belshazzar (1638, London)
Preacher and his wife (1641, Berlin)
"Saskia in a red hat" (1633/1634, Kassel)
Stone Bridge (1638, Amsterdam)
Portrait of Maria Trip (1639, Amsterdam)
Sacrifice of Manoy (1641, Dresden)
Girl (1641, Warsaw)
Night Watch (1642, Amsterdam)
holy family(1645, Hermitage)
Flora (1654, New York)
The Return of the Prodigal Son (c. 1666-69, Hermitage)
Saskia (1643, Berlin)
The conspiracy of Julius Civilis (1661, Stockholm)
Young woman trying on earrings (1654, Hermitage)
Syndics (1662, Amsterdam)
Jewish bride (1665, Amsterdam)
Portrait of Maertena Soolmansa (1634, private collection)
Allegory of music. 1626. Amsterdam.
self-portrait
Martin Loten
man in oriental clothes
Portrait of Hendrickje Stofells
***
self-portrait
Tobit suspecting his wife of stealing. 1626. Amsterdam. 
Valaam's donkey. 1626. Paris. 
Samson and Delilah. 1628. Berlin. 
Young Saxia. 1633. Dresden. 
Saxia van Uylenburgh. 1634. Amsterdam. 
Portrait of Jan Utenbogart. 1634. Amsterdam. 
Flora. 1633-34. Hermitage. St. Petersburg. 
The Abduction of Ganymede. 1635. Dresden. 
Blinding of Samson.1636.Frankfurt am Main. 
Abraham's sacrifice. 1635. Hermitage. St. Petersburg 
Andromeda.1630-1640. Hague. 
David and Jonophan.1642. Hermitage. St. Petersburg. 
Mill. 1645. Washington. 
Still life with a peacock. 1640s. Amsterdam. 
Portrait of an old warrior. 1632-34. Los Angeles. 
Susanna and the Elders. 1647. Berlin-Dahlem. 
The man in the golden helmet. 1650. Berlin-Dahlem. 
Aristotle with a bust of Homer. 1653. New York. 
Bathsheba. 1654. Louvre. Paris. 
Portrait of Jan Sixt. 1654. Amsterdam. 
Joseph's accusation. 1655. Washington. 
Hendrikje entering the river. 1654. London. 
Blessing of Jacob.1656. Kassel. 
Renunciation of the Apostle Peter. 1660. Amsterdam. 
Hendrikje at the window.1656-57. Berlin. 
Evangelist Matthew and an angel. 1663. Louvre. Paris. 
Frederic Riel on horseback. 1663. London. 
Portrait of an old woman. 1654. Hermitage. Svnkt-Petersburg. 
Batavian conspiracy. 1661-62. Stockholm. 
Portrait of Jeremiah Dekker.1666. Hermitage. St. Petersburg. 
Self-portrait.1661. Amsterdam. Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn(Rembrandt Harmensz van Rijn) (1606-1669), Dutch painter, draftsman and etcher. The work of Rembrandt, imbued with the desire for a deeply philosophical comprehension of life, inner world man with all the richness of his spiritual experiences, marks the pinnacle of the development of the Dutch art XVII century, one of the peaks of world artistic culture. The artistic legacy of Rembrandt is exceptionally diverse: he painted portraits, still lifes, landscapes, genre scenes, paintings on historical, biblical, mythological themes, Rembrandt was an unsurpassed master of drawing and etching. After a short study at the University of Leiden (1620), Rembrandt decided to devote himself to art and studied painting with J. van Swanenbürch in Leiden (circa 1620-1623) and P. Lastman in Amsterdam (1623); in 1625-1631 he worked in Leiden. Rembrandt's paintings of the Leiden period are marked by a search for creative independence, although they still show the influence of Lastman and the masters of Dutch caravagism (“Bringing to the Temple”, about 1628-1629, Kunsthalle, Hamburg). In the paintings “The Apostle Paul” (circa 1629-1630, National Museum, Nuremberg) and “Simeon in the Temple” (1631, Mauritshuis, The Hague), he first used chiaroscuro as a means of enhancing the spirituality and emotional expressiveness of images. In the same years, Rembrandt worked hard on the portrait, studying the facial expressions of the human face. In 1632, Rembrandt moved to Amsterdam, where he soon married the wealthy patrician Saskia van Uylenburgh. The 1630s are a period of family happiness and Rembrandt's great artistic success. The painting “The Anatomy Lesson of Dr. Tulp” (1632, Mauritshuis, The Hague), in which the artist innovatively solved the problem of a group portrait, giving the composition a vital ease and uniting the portrayed in a single action, brought Rembrandt wide fame. In portraits painted by numerous orders, Rembrandt van Rijn carefully conveyed facial features, clothes, jewelry (painting “Portrait of a Burgrave”, 1636, Dresden Gallery).
But freer and more diverse in composition are Rembrandt's self-portraits and portraits of people close to him, in which the artist boldly experimented in search of psychological expressiveness (self-portrait, 1634, Louvre, Paris; Smiling Saskia, 1633, Picture gallery, Dresden). The search for this period was completed by the famous “Self-Portrait with Saskia” or “Merry Society”; circa 1635, Art Gallery, Dresden), boldly breaking with artistic canons, distinguished by the lively immediacy of the composition, the free manner of painting, the major, filled with light, colorful range.Biblical compositions of the 1630s (“The Sacrifice of Abraham”, 1635, State Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg) bear the stamp of the influence of Italian Baroque painting, which manifests itself in a somewhat forced dynamics of the composition, sharpness of angles, light and shade contrasts. A special place in Rembrandt's work of the 1630s is occupied by mythological scenes in which the artist boldly challenged classical canons and traditions (“The Abduction of Ganymede”, 1635, Art Gallery, Dresden).
Bright incarnation aesthetic views the monumental composition “Danae” (1636-1647, State Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg), in which he seemed to enter into a controversy with the great masters of the Renaissance, became the artist: the naked figure of Danae, far from classical ideals, he executed with bold realistic immediacy, and sensual-bodily, ideal beauty of images Italian masters contrasted the beauty of spirituality and the warmth of human feeling. In the same period, Rembrandt worked a lot in the technique of etching and engraving (Manneken Pis, 1631; Rat Poison Seller, 1632; Traveling Couple, 1634), creating bold and generalized pencil drawings.
In the 1640s, a conflict was brewing between Rembrandt's work and the limited aesthetic demands of contemporary society. It clearly manifested itself in 1642, when the painting “Night Watch” (Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam) provoked protests from customers who did not accept the master’s main idea - instead of the traditional group portrait, he created a heroically elevated composition with a scene of the performance of the guild of shooters on an alarm, i.e. . essentially a historical picture that evokes memories of the liberation struggle of the Dutch people. The influx of orders from Rembrandt is declining, his life circumstances are overshadowed by the death of Saskia. Rembrandt's work is losing its external showiness and the notes of major inherent in it earlier. He paints calm, warm and intimate biblical and genre scenes, revealing the subtle nuances of human experiences, feelings of spiritual, family closeness (“David and Jonathan”, 1642, “The Holy Family”, 1645, both in the Hermitage, St. Petersburg).
The finest chiaroscuro play, which creates a special, dramatic, emotionally intense atmosphere, is becoming increasingly important both in painting and in Rembrandt’s graphics (the monumental graphic sheet “Christ Healing the Sick” or “Leaf of a Hundred Guilders”, circa 1642-1646; full of air and light dynamics landscape “Three Trees”, etching, 1643). The 1650s, filled with difficult life trials for Rembrandt, open the period of the artist's creative maturity. Rembrandt is increasingly turning to the portrait genre, depicting the people closest to him (numerous portraits of Rembrandt's second wife Hendrickje Stoffels; "Portrait of an Old Woman", 1654, State Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg; "Son Titus Reading", 1657, Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna ).
More and more the artist is attracted by the images of ordinary people, old people, who serve as the embodiment of life wisdom and spiritual wealth (the so-called “Portrait of the Artist’s Brother’s Wife”, 1654, State Museum fine arts, Moscow; “Portrait of an old man in red”, 1652-1654, Hermitage, St. Petersburg). Rembrandt focuses on the face and hands, snatched out of the darkness by soft diffused light, the subtle facial expressions reflect the complex movement of thoughts and feelings; sometimes light, sometimes pasty brush strokes create the surface of the picture, iridescent with colorful and light and shade shades.
In the mid-1650s, Rembrandt acquired a mature painting skill. The elements of light and color, independent and even partly opposite in the early works of the artist, now merge into a single interconnected whole. The hot red-brown, now flashing, now fading, quivering mass of luminous paint enhances the emotional expressiveness of Rembrandt's works, as if warming them with a warm human feeling. In 1656, Rembrandt was declared bankrupt, all his property was sold at auction. He moved to the Jewish quarter of Amsterdam, where he spent the rest of his life in extremely cramped circumstances. Biblical compositions created by Rembrandt in the 1660s sum up his reflections on meaning human life. In episodes expressing the clash of dark and light in the human soul (“Assur, Haman and Esther”, 1660, The Pushkin Museum, Moscow; “The Fall of Haman” or “David and Uriah”, 1665, State Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg), rich warm range , the flexible impasto style of writing, the intense play of shadow and light, the complex texture of the colorful surface serve to reveal complex conflicts and emotional experiences, to affirm the triumph of good over evil.
The historical painting “The Conspiracy of Julius Civilis” (“The Conspiracy of the Batavis”, 1661) is imbued with severe drama and heroism, a fragment has been preserved, National Museum, Stockholm). In the last year of his life, Rembrandt created his main masterpiece - the monumental painting “The Return of the Prodigal Son” (circa 1668-1669, State Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg), which embodied all the artistic and moral and ethical issues late creativity artist. With amazing skill, he recreates in him a whole range of complex and deep human feelings, subjugates artistic means revealing beauty human understanding, compassion and forgiveness. The climax of the transition from the tension of feelings to the resolution of passions is embodied in sculpturally expressive poses, mean gestures, in the emotional structure of color that flashes brightly in the center of the picture and fades away in the shaded background space. The great Dutch painter, draftsman and etcher Rembrandt van Rijn died on October 4, 1669 in Amsterdam. The influence of Rembrandt's art was enormous. It affected the work not only of his direct students, of whom Karel Fabritius came closest to understanding the teacher, but also on the art of each more or less significant Dutch artist. The art of Rembrandt had a profound impact on the development of all world realistic art subsequently.
Name: Rembrandt (Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn)
Age: 63 years old
Activity: artist, engraver, largest representative golden age Dutch painting
Family status: widower
Rembrandt: biography
Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn - famous painter, etcher and draftsman of the "Golden Age". Universal recognition and fame, a sharp decline and poverty - this is how the biography of the great genius of art can be characterized. Rembrandt sought to convey the soul of a person through portraits; rumors and conjectures still circulate about many of the artist’s works, shrouded in mystery.
The beginning of the 17th century was calm for the Dutch state, which gained independence as a republic at the time of the revolution. The country developed industrial production, agriculture and trade.
In the ancient city of Leidin, located in the province of South Holland, Rembrandt, who was born on July 15, 1607, spent his childhood in a house on the Wedeshteg.
The boy grew up in a large family, in which he was the sixth child. The father of the future artist Harmen van Rijn was wealthy man who owned a mill and a malthouse. Among other things, Van Rein had two more houses in his property, and he also received a significant dowry from his wife Cornelia Neltier, so big family lived in abundance. The mother of the future artist was the daughter of a baker and was versed in cooking, so family table replete with delicious food.
Despite their wealth, the Harmen family lived modestly, observing strict Catholic rules. The artist's parents, even after the Dutch Revolution, did not change their attitude to faith.
Self-portrait of Rembrandt at 23 Rembrandt was kind to his mother throughout his life. This is expressed in a portrait painted in 1639, which depicts a wise old woman with a kind and slightly sad look.
The family was alien to social events and luxurious life wealthy people. It is reasonable to assume that in the evenings the van Rijns gathered at the table and read books and the Bible: this was what most Dutch citizens did during the Golden Age.
The windmill owned by Harmen was located on the banks of the Rhine: before the boy's gaze a beautiful landscape of an azure river opened up, which is illuminated by the rays of the sun, making their way through a small window of the building and passing through the fogs of flour dust. Possibly childhood memories. future artist learned to skillfully master colors, light and shadow.
As a child, Rembrandt grew up as an observant boy. The vastness of the streets of Leidin provided sources of inspiration: in the trading markets you could meet dissimilar people different nationalities and learn to sketch their faces on paper.
Initially, the boy went to a Latin school, but he was not interested in studying. The young Rembrandt did not like exact sciences preferring drawing.
The childhood of the future artist was happy, as the parents saw their son's hobbies, and when the boy was 13 years old, he was sent to study at Dutch artist Jacob van Swanenburg. Little is known from the biography of Rembrandt's first teacher; the representative of late Mannerism did not have a huge artistic heritage, which is why it is almost impossible to trace Jacob's influence on the formation of Rembrandt's style.
In 1623, the young man went to the capital, where the painter Peter Lastman became his second teacher, who taught Rembrandt painting and engraving for six months.
Painting
Training with a mentor was successful, impressed by the paintings of Lastman, the young man quickly mastered the technique of drawing. Bright and saturated colors, the play of shadows and light, as well as scrupulous elaboration of even the smallest details of the flora - that's what Peter conveyed to the eminent student.
In 1627 Rembrandt returned from Amsterdam to native city. Confident in his abilities, the artist, together with his friend Jan Lievens, opens own school painting, which short time gained popularity among the Dutch. Lievens and Rembrandt were on a par with each other, sometimes young people carefully worked on one canvas, putting part of their own style into the drawing.
The 20-year-old young artist gained fame for his detailed early work, which includes:
- "The Stoning of the Holy Apostle Stephen" (1625),
- "Palamedea before Agamemnon" (1626),
- "David with the Head of Goliath" (1627),
- "The Abduction of Europe" (1632),
The young man continues to draw inspiration from the streets of the city, walking through the squares in order to meet a random passerby and capture his portrait with a chisel on a wooden board. Rembrandt also makes a series of engravings with self-portraits and portraits of numerous relatives.
Thanks to the talent of a young painter, Rembrandt was noticed by the poet Konstantin Heygens, who admired the canvases of van Rijn and Lievens, calling them promising artists. “Judas returns thirty pieces of silver,” written by a Dutchman in 1629, he compares with the famous canvases of Italian masters, but finds flaws in the drawing. Thanks to the connections of Constantine, Rembrandt soon acquires rich art admirers: because of the mediation of Haygens, the Prince of Orange commissions several religious works from the artist, such as Before Pilate (1636).
The real success for the artist comes in Amsterdam. June 8, 1633 Rembrandt meets the daughter of a wealthy burgher Saskia van Uylenbürch and wins a strong position in society. The artist painted most of the canvases while in the capital of the Netherlands.
Rembrandt is inspired by the beauty of his beloved, so he often paints her portraits. Three days after the wedding, van Rijn painted a woman with a wide-brimmed hat in silver pencil. Saskia appeared in the paintings of the Dutchman in a cozy home environment. The image of this plump-cheeked woman appears on many canvases, for example, the mysterious girl in the painting "Night Watch" strongly resembles the artist's beloved.
In 1632, Rembrandt was glorified by the painting "The Anatomy Lesson of Dr. Tulp". The fact is that van Rijn departed from the canons of standard group portraits, which were depicted with faces turned towards the viewer. Extremely realistic portraits doctor and his students made the artist famous.
Written in 1635 famous painting based on the biblical story "The Sacrifice of Abraham", which was appreciated in secular society.
In 1642, van Rijn received a commission from the Shooting Society for a group portrait to decorate the new building with canvas. The painting was mistakenly called "Night Watch". It was stained with soot, and only in the 17th century, researchers came to the conclusion that the action unfolding on the canvas takes place in the daytime.
Rembrandt thoroughly depicted every detail of the musketeers on the move: as if at a certain moment time stopped when the militia left the dark courtyard so that van Rijn captured them on the canvas.
The customers did not like that the Dutch painter departed from the canons that developed in the 17th century. Then group portraits were ceremonial, and the participants were portrayed full face without any static.
According to scientists, this painting was the reason for the bankruptcy of the artist in 1653, as it scared away potential customers.
Technique and paintings
Rembrandt believed that the true goal of the artist is to study nature, so all the paintings of the painter turned out to be too photographic: the Dutchman tried to convey every emotion of the depicted person.
Like many talented masters of the Golden Age era, Rembrandt has religious motifs. On the canvases of van Rijn, not just captured faces are drawn, but entire plots with their own history.
In the painting “The Holy Family”, which was painted in 1645, the faces of the characters are natural, the Dutchman seems to want to use a brush and paints to transfer the audience to a cozy atmosphere of a simple peasant family. On the works of van Rijn, one cannot trace a certain pomposity. said that Rembrandt painted the Madonna in the form of a Dutch peasant woman. Indeed, throughout his life, the artist drew inspiration from the people around him, it is possible that on the canvas a woman, copied from a maid, is lulling a baby to sleep.
Rembrandt's The Holy Family, 1646 Like many artists, Rembrandt is full of mysteries: after the death of the creator, researchers pondered for a long time about the secrets of his paintings.
For example, on the painting "Danae" (or "Aegina") van Rijn worked for 11 years, starting in 1636. The canvas depicts a young maiden after awakening from sleep. The plot is based on ancient Greek myth about Danae, daughter of the king of Argos and mother of Perseus.
The researchers of the canvas did not understand why the naked maiden did not look like Saskia. However, after x-ray it became clear that initially Danae was painted in the image of Eilenbürch, but after the death of his wife, van Rijn returned to the picture and changed Danae's facial features.
Also among art critics there were disputes about the heroine depicted on the canvas. Rembrandt did not sign the title of the painting, and the interpretation of the plot was hampered by the absence of a golden rain, according to legend, in the form of which Zeus appeared to Danae. Scientists were also concerned wedding ring on the ring finger girls that did not agree with ancient Greek mythology. Rembrandt's masterpiece Danae is in Russian museum Hermitage.
"Jewish bride" (1665) - another mysterious picture van Rijn. This name was given to the canvas at the beginning of the 19th century, but it is still unknown who is depicted on the canvas, because a young girl and a man are dressed in ancient costumes reminiscent of biblical clothes. Also popular is the painting "The Return of the Prodigal Son" (1669), which took 6 years to create.
Fragment of Rembrandt's "The Return of the Prodigal Son" If we talk about the style of writing paintings by Rembrandt, then the artist used a minimum of colors, while managing to make the paintings “alive”, thanks to the play of light and shadows.
Van Rijn also successfully manages to depict facial expressions: all the people on the canvases of the great painter seem to be alive. For example, in the portrait of an old man - Rembrandt's father (1639), every wrinkle is visible, as well as a wise and sad look.
Personal life
In 1642, Saskia died of tuberculosis, the beloved had a son, Titus (three other children died in infancy), with whom Rembrandt maintained friendly relations. At the end of 1642, the artist meets with a young special Gertier Dirks. Saskia's parents were upset by the way the widower handled his dowry while living in luxury. Dirks later sues his lover for breaking his promise to marry her. From the second woman, the artist had a daughter, Cornelia.
Painting by Rembrandt "Saskia in the image of the goddess Flora" In 1656, due to financial difficulties, Rembrandt declared himself bankrupt and left for a secluded house on the outskirts of the capital.
Van Rijn's life did not go up, but on the contrary, went into decline: happy childhood, wealth and recognition were replaced by departed customers and beggarly old age. The mood of the artist can be traced on his canvases. So, living with Saskia, he writes joyful and solar paintings, for example, "Self-portrait with Saskia on her knees" (1635). On the canvas, van Rijn laughs with sincere laughter, and a radiant light illuminates the room.
If earlier the artist's paintings were detailed, then at the stage of late creativity, Rembrandt uses broad strokes, and the sun's rays are replaced by darkness.
The painting "The Conspiracy of Julius Civilis", written in 1661, was not paid for by the customers, because the faces of the participants in the conspiracy were not scrupulously worked out, in contrast to previous works van Rijn.
Painting by Rembrandt "Portrait of the son of Titus" Shortly before his death, living in poverty, in 1665 Rembrandt painted a self-portrait in the image of Zeuxis. Zeukis is an ancient Greek painter who died an ironic death: the artist was amused by the portrait of Aphrodite he painted in the form of an old woman, and he died of laughter. In the portrait, Rembrandt laughs, the artist did not hesitate to put a share of black humor into the canvas.
Death
Rembrandt interred his son Titus, who died of the plague, in 1668. This sad event sharply worsened the state of mind of the artist. Van Rijn died on 4 October 1669 and was buried in the Netherlandish Westerkerk church in Amsterdam.
Statue of Rembrandt at Rembrandtplein in Amsterdam During his lifetime, the artist painted about 350 canvases and 100 drawings. It took mankind two centuries to appreciate this great artist.
Resmbrandt was born in Leiden, the son of a rather wealthy mill owner. First he studied at the Latin School, and then briefly at the University of Leiden, but left him to study painting, first with a little-known local master, and then with the Amsterdam artist Peter Lastman.
After a short study, Rembrandt leaves for his hometown to paint on his own in his own workshop. This is the time of the formation of the artist, when he was fond of the work of Caravaggio. During this period, he paints a lot of portraits of his family members - mother, father, sister and self-portraits. Already at this time, he pays special attention to the illumination and transmission of the spiritual experiences of his models. The young artist loves to dress them up in various clothes, drape them in beautiful fabrics, perfectly conveying their texture and color.
In 1632, Rembrandt left for Amsterdam, the center of the artistic culture of Holland, which naturally attracted the young artist. Here he quickly achieves fame, he has many orders. At the same time, he enthusiastically continues to improve his skills. The 30s were the time of the highest glory, the path to which was opened for the painter by his large commissioned painting "Anatomy Lesson". All poses and actions in the picture are natural, but devoid of excessive naturalism.
In 1634 Rembrandt marries a girl from rich family- Saskia van Uylenborch - and since then he has been in patrician circles. The most happy time artist's life: mutual passionate love, material well-being, lots of orders. The painter often writes to his young wife: "Flora", "Self-portrait with Saskia on her knees." But happiness did not last long. Saskia died in 1642, leaving her little son Titus.
Moral depression and the passion for collecting that took possession of Rembrandt gradually led him to ruin. This was also facilitated by a change in the tastes of the public, who became fascinated by carefully painted light painting. Rembrandt, who never yielded to the tastes of his customers, was interested in the contrasts of light and shadow, leaving the light at one point, the rest of the picture was in shadow and in partial shade. Orders became less and less. New girlfriend of his life, Hendrickje Stoffels and his son Titus founded a painting and antiques trading company to help the artist. But their efforts were in vain. Things were getting worse. In the early 1660s, Hendrickje died, and a few years later, Titus.
However, in spite of everything, the artist continues to work. In these especially difficult years, he creates a number of wonderful work: "Sindiki", "The Return of the Prodigal Son", striking inner drama.
The greatest artist died in extreme poverty on October 4, 1669. Contemporaries coldly reacted to this loss. It took almost two hundred years for the power of Rembrandt's realism, the deep psychology of his canvases, and the amazing skill of painting to raise his name from oblivion and put him among the world's greatest names.
Flora is the Italian goddess of flowers and youth. The cult of Flora is one of the oldest agricultural cults of Italy, especially of the Sabines. The Romans identified Flora with the Greek Chloris and celebrated in her honor the so-called floralia in spring, during which merry games took place, sometimes taking on an unbridled character. People decorated themselves and animals with flowers, women put on bright dresses.
In ancient art, Flora was depicted as a young woman holding flowers or scattering flowers.
The whole canvas is permeated with frank jubilation! The self-portrait depicts the spouses at a cheerful feast. Rembrandt, huge compared to his thin wife, holds her on his knees and raises a crystal goblet of foaming wine. They seem to be taken by surprise, in an intimate atmosphere overflowing with life.
Rembrandt, in a rich military suit with a gilded baldric and a rapier on his side, looks like some dandy-raiter having fun with a girl. He is not embarrassed that such a pastime can be considered a sign of bad taste. He only knows that his wife is loved, and therefore beautiful in her luxurious corsage, silk skirt, magnificent headdress and precious necklace and that everyone should admire her. He is not afraid to appear neither vulgar nor conceited. He lives in the realm of dreams and joy, far from people, and it does not occur to him that he can be blamed. And all these feelings are conveyed by the simple-hearted expression of the radiant face of the artist himself, who seems to have achieved all earthly blessings.
The picture expresses the joy of life, the consciousness of youth, health and well-being.
After Saskia's death, another woman entered Rembrandt's life, a modest servant Hendrickje Stoffels, who brightened up the master's loneliness. He often wrote her, but in the titles of works where she served as a model, he never mentioned her name.
The story of the biblical patriarch Joseph is told in the book of Genesis.
Also in parental home Jacob and Rachel, their beloved son Joseph appears as a dreamer. The father singles out Joseph among the brothers, and they, jealous of his special position and beautiful clothes, sell Joseph into slavery to caravaners heading to Egypt.
In Egypt, Joseph serves as a slave to the rich nobleman Potiphar, the head of the pharaoh's bodyguards. Potiphar entrusts Joseph with his entire house, but Potiphar's wife encroaches on his chastity, and Joseph runs away, leaving his clothes in the woman's hands. Potiphar's wife, having fallen in love with Joseph, and not having achieved reciprocity, accuses him of rape.
In the prison where Joseph was sent, the baker and cupbearer of the king are with him. Joseph interprets their dreams, according to which the baker will be executed, and the cupbearer will be forgiven after three days. Joseph's prophecy is being fulfilled, and the cupbearer remembers him when the Egyptian priests find it difficult to interpret the Pharaoh's dream about seven fat cows devoured by seven skinny ones and about seven good spikelets devoured by the skinny ones. Called out of prison, Joseph interprets the dream as a harbinger of the fact that after the next seven years of a good harvest, seven years of severe crop failure will come. He advises the pharaoh to appoint a trusted person to create supplies for the time of famine.
Pharaoh appoints Joseph as a confidant, favors him with his ring, gives him an Egyptian name, and as his wife - the Egyptian Aseneth, the daughter of a priest from Heliopolis.
Samson loved to roam the country and one day ended up in the city of Timnath. There he fell in love with a stately Philistine woman and wished to marry her. He ran home and asked his parents to woo his beloved. The old men clutched their heads in horror: their son had already caused them a lot of grief, and now, in addition to everything, he decided to marry a foreigner, the daughter of a Philistine. Samson, however, stood his ground. The parents had nothing to do - sighing heavily, they obeyed the whims of their eccentric son. Samson became a groom and from then on often went to visit the bride's parents.
One day, when Samson was walking briskly along the path between the vineyards, a young roaring lion blocked his way. The strong man tore the lion to shreds and, as if nothing had happened, went to Timnath, without telling anyone about his adventure. Returning home, he was surprised to see that a swarm of bees nested in the mouth of a dead lion and a lot of honey had already accumulated. Samson brought the honeycombs to his parents without saying a word where he got them.
In Fimnaf, the matchmaking went well, there was a big feast, everyone congratulated the bride and groom, and the wedding day was fixed. According to Philistine custom wedding celebration lasts seven days.
At the feast, the bride's parents, fearing Samson's extraordinary strength, appointed thirty young strong Philistines as marriage companions to him. Samson, looking at the "guards" with a grin, suggested that they solve the riddle. It had to be solved by the end of the wedding, on the seventh day.
The riddle went like this: "Out of the eater came something to eat, and out of the strong came something sweet." Of course, no one could solve this riddle, because no one knew that we are talking about bees eating nectar (bees are "eating"), about honey ("eating") and about a strong lion. At the same time, Samson set conditions: if it is solved, they will receive 30 shirts as much of the top dress, and if not, they will pay him the same.
The bewildered Philistines pondered this strange riddle for three days. Desperate, they went to his young wife and threatened that if she did not find out the answer to the riddle from her husband, they would burn both themselves and her father's house. The Philistines really did not want to pay Samson a rich sum.
By cunning and kindness, the wife found out from her husband the answer to the riddle, and the next day the Philistines gave the correct answer. The enraged Samson had nothing to do but repay the agreed debt, and his parents were very poor. Then he killed 30 Philistines and gave their clothes as a debt. Samson himself, realizing what his wife betrayed, slammed the door and went back to his parents.
Artemis (Artemis) - daughter of Zeus and Leto, sister of Apollo. Originally revered as the goddess of the animal and flora. She is the "mistress of the beasts", Tavropol (protector of the bulls), Limnatis (marsh), bear (in this guise she was worshiped in Bavron). Later - the goddess of hunting, mountains and forests, the patroness of women in childbirth.
Artemis begged for eternal virginity from Zeus. Sixty Oceanids and twenty nymphs were her constant hunting companions, participants in her games and dances. Her main function is to protect established customs, sacrifices to the gods, for the violation of which she severely punishes: she sends a terrible boar to the Calydonian kingdom, deadly snakes to the marriage bed of King Admet. She guards and animal world, calling to account Heracles, who killed the Kerinean doe with golden horns, and demands a bloody sacrifice in return for the sacred doe killed by Agamemnon - his daughter Iphigenia (on the sacrificial altar, Artemis secretly replaced the princess with a doe, and Iphigenia transferred to Tauris, making her her priestess).
Artemis is the protector of chastity. She patronizes Hippolytus, who despises love, turns Actaeon, who accidentally saw the goddess naked, into a deer, which was torn apart by his own dogs, and the nymph Calypso, who violated her vow, into a bear. She has determination, does not tolerate rivalry, uses her well-aimed arrows as a tool of punishment. Artemis, together with Apollo, destroyed the children of Niobe, who was proud of her seven sons and seven daughters before the mother of the gods Leto; her arrow hit Orion, who dared to compete with the goddess.
As the goddess of vegetation, Artemis is associated with fertility. This cult especially spread in Ephesus ( Asia Minor), where the temple of Artemis of Ephesus (one of the "seven wonders of the world") was built in her honor, burned by Herostratus. Artemis was revered here as a goddess-nurse, "hard-working"; She is the patroness of the Amazons.
Artemis was also revered as the goddess of war. In Sparta, before the battle, a goat was sacrificed to the goddess, and in Athens, five hundred goats were laid on the altars every year on the anniversary of the Battle of Marathon (September-October).
Artemis often approached the goddess of the month (Hecate) or the goddess of the full moon (Selene). There is a well-known myth about Artemis-Selene, in love with the handsome Endymion, who wished eternal youth and immortality and received them in a deep sleep. Every night the goddess approached the grotto of the Carian Mount Latm, where the young man slept and admired his beauty.
The attribute of the goddess is a quiver behind her back, in her hands a bow or a torch; she is accompanied by a deer or a pack of hunting dogs.
In Rome, Artemis is identified with the local deity Diana.
The artist depicted Saskia, his wife, as Juno. Juno is the ancient Roman goddess of marriage and birth, the motherhood of women and the female productive force. The patroness of marriages, the guardian of the family and family decrees. The main attribute of this goddess is a veil, a diadem, a peacock and a cuckoo. Rembrandt has a peacock in the lower left corner of the picture.
In biblical mythology, Belshazzar was the last Babylonian king, the fall of Babylon is associated with his name. Despite the siege of the capital, undertaken by Cyrus, the king and all the inhabitants, having a rich supply of food, could carelessly indulge in the pleasures of life.
On the occasion of one minor holiday, Belshazzar arranged a magnificent feast, to which up to a thousand nobles and courtiers were invited. Table bowls were precious vessels taken by the Babylonian conquerors from various conquered peoples, among other things, and expensive vessels from the Jerusalem temple. At the same time, according to the custom of the ancient pagans, the Babylonian gods were glorified, who turned out to be victorious before and will always be victorious, despite all the efforts of Cyrus and his secret allies, the Jews, with their Jehovah.
But now, in the midst of the feast on the wall appeared human hand and slowly began to write some words. Seeing her, "the king changed his face, his thoughts became confused, the bonds of his loins weakened, and his knees began to beat one against the other in horror." The summoned wise men failed to read and explain the inscription. Then, on the advice of the queen, they invited the aged prophet Daniel, who always showed extraordinary wisdom. And he really read the inscription, which briefly read in Aramaic: "Mene, tekel, uparsin" This meant: "Mene - God numbered your kingdom and put an end to it; tekel - you are weighed and found very light; uparsin - your kingdom is divided and given to the Medes and Persians."
That very night, the biblical story continues, Belshazzar, king of the Chaldees, was killed.
Tobit - an Israelite, distinguished by righteousness in his home country and did not leave the pious Assyrian government and in general survived a number of trials, including blindness, which ended for him and his offspring with the full blessing of God. His son, Tobias, healed with the help of an angel.
God appeared to Abraham and his wife Sarah in the form of three travelers, three beautiful youths (God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit). The elderly couple gave them generous hospitality. Having accepted the treat, God announced a miracle to the spouses: despite their deep old age, they will have a son, and from him a great and strong people will come, and all the peoples of the world will be blessed in him.
One of the most mysterious episodes in the Old Testament.
When Jacob is left alone, Someone appears (it is customary to consider him an angel) and fights with him all night. The angel fails to overcome Jacob, then he touches the tendon on the thigh and damages it. However, Jacob survives the test and receives a new name - Israel, meaning "he who wrestles with God and will overcome men."
That is why, to some extent, the postures of Jacob and the angel, embracing rather than fighting, are natural and justified.
The plot is from the Gospel, but the artist depicts how the life of ordinary people. Only angels descending into the twilight of a poor dwelling reminds us that this is not an ordinary family. The gesture of the mother's hand, throwing back the canopy to look at the sleeping child, concentration in the figure of Joseph - everything is deeply thought out. The simplicity of life and the appearance of people do not make the picture mundane. Rembrandt knows how to see in everyday life not the petty and ordinary, but the deep and enduring. Peaceful silence working life, the holiness of motherhood emanates from this canvas.
The Jewish king Seoul sought to destroy the young David, fearing that he would take his throne. Warned by his friend, Prince Jonathan, the winner of Goliath, David says goodbye to Jonathan at the Azail stone (Hebrew meaning - parting, separation.) Jonathan is stern and restrained, his face is mournful. David in despair clings to his friend's chest, he is inconsolable.
According to the Bible, Bathsheba was a woman of rare beauty. King David, walking on the roof of his palace, saw Bathsheba bathing below. Her husband, Uriah, is away from home at the time, serving in David's army. Bathsheba did not try to seduce the king. But David was seduced by the beauty of Bathsheba and ordered that she be brought to the palace. As a result of their relationship, she became pregnant and gave birth to a son, Solomon. Later, David wrote to the commander of the army where Uriah fought, a letter in which he ordered to put Uriah where "the strongest battle will be, and retreat from him so that he will be struck down and die."
Indeed, it happened, and David subsequently married Bathsheba. Their first child lived only a few days. David later repented of his deed.
With all your high position Bathsheba, the most beloved of David's wives, took a place in the shadows and behaved in a dignified manner. David crowned Solomon, son of Bathsheba, king. Bathsheba was a wise woman and always hoped for God. In relation to David, she became a faithful and loving wife and a good mother to her children - Solomon and Nathan.
One of the last paintings by Rembrandt. This is a deep psychological drama. In the canvas with tremendous power sounds a call to deep humanity, the affirmation of the spiritual community of people, the beauty of parental love.
Pictured here biblical story about a dissolute son who, after long wanderings, returned to his father's house. The whole room is immersed in darkness, only father and son are brightly lit. The son with the shaved head of a convict, in rags, with a bare heel from which a holey shoe fell off, fell to his knees and clung to his father, hiding his face on his chest. The old father, blinded by grief in anticipation of his son, feels him, recognizes him and forgives him, blessing him.
The artist naturally and truthfully conveys the full power of paternal love. Nearby there are numb figures of spectators expressing surprise and indifference - these are members of that society that first corrupted and then condemned the prodigal son. But paternal love triumphs over their indifference and hostility.
The canvas became immortal thanks to the universal feelings expressed in it - bottomless parental love, bitterness of disappointment, loss, humiliation, shame and repentance.
it best work Rembrandt 30s.
The painting is dedicated eternal theme love. The plot was the myth of the daughter of King Acrisius Danae. The oracle predicted to Acrisius that he would die at the hands of his grandson. Then the king imprisoned his daughter forever in the tower. But the almighty Zeus turned into a golden rain and in this form entered Danae and became her lover. Their son Perseus was born, and then again, on the orders of Arixius, Danae, together with his son in a box, were thrown into the sea. But Danae and her son did not die.
The artist depicts the moment when Danae joyfully awaits Zeus. The old maid draws aside the curtain of her bed, and a golden glow pours into the room. Danae, in anticipation of happiness, rises to meet the golden rain. The veil fell down and exposed a no longer young, heavy body, far from the laws classic beauty. Nevertheless, it captivates with its vital truthfulness, soft roundness of forms. And although the artist addresses the theme from ancient mythology, the picture is clearly written in the spirit of realism.
Rembrandt wrote extensively on the topics bible stories, and all of them were in his own way, updated in content. Often he painted pictures contrary to logic - lighting, colors, everything was just his own idea. The artist shows the same independence in the manner of dressing his characters. He dressed them up in strange robes - Saskia, Juno, and others...
The same with the couple in the picture "Jewish Bride". The name is strange, because the canvas depicts a married couple, and the wife is pregnant.
Against the background of vague greenery, part of the large wall and the urban landscape are guessed. A couple dressed in red and gold stands in front of a pilaster. Two faces and four arms, the man leans towards the woman, whose gaze is turned to herself, to her thoughts. Her right hand holding flowers rests on her stomach. In the face - the trusting seriousness of the wife, busy only with the presence of another life in herself. The man puts his left arm around her shoulders. The right hand rests on the dress at chest level, where the woman's left hand comes into contact with it. Fingers touch each other. Light touch. The man looks at the woman's hand touching his own.
In the painting, Rembrandt completely abandoned the classical ideal of the nude female figure. Here he depicted Hendrickje, his second wife, undressing before bathing, contrary to all the canons of beauty. A golden robe lies at the water's edge, and a sweet young woman, shyly lifting her shirt, enters the cold water. She seems to emerge from the brown darkness, her shyness and modesty are read both in the lightly painted face and in the hands supporting the shirt.
