Rembrandt's Religion
Title: The Apostle Paul, c. 1657
Artist: Rembrandt van Rijn (Dutch, 1606-1669)
Medium: Oil on Canvas,
Dimensions: 131.5 x 104.4 cm (51 3/4 x 41 1/8);
framed: 177.8 x 150.5 x 13.3 cm
(70 x 59 1/4 x 5 1/4)
Permanent Collection: National Gallery of Art, Washington, Widener Collection,
1942.9.59
Image Courtesy: National Gallery of Art, Washington
Biblical imagery resonates in the works of Rembrandt van Rijn, particularly
during the later years of his life.
Rembrandt's Late Religious Portraits
through May 1, 2005
National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC
Title: The Apostle James the Major, 1661
Artist: Rembrandt van Rijn (Dutch, 1606-1669)
Medium: Oil on Canvas,
Dimensions: 94 x 79.6 cm (37 x 31 5/16)
Private Collection
Image Courtesy: National Gallery of Art, Washington
Rembrandt was the youngest child of a prosperous miller. Given his familial
placement he wasn't expected to follow in his father's footsteps. Well
educated, thanks to the success of his father, he was able to study with
Jacob Issacxz van Swanenburgh for 3 years. Rembrandt spent 6 months
under the tutelage of Pieter Lastman who was an important history painter
of his day.
Title: The Apostle Bartholomew, 1657
Artist: Rembrandt van Rijn (Dutch, 1606-1669)
Medium: Oil on Canvas,
Dimensions: painting: 122.7 x 99.7 cm (48 5/16 x 39 1/4);
with frame: 162.6 x 142.2 x 15.2 cm (64 x 56 x 6)
Permanent Collection: The Putnam Foundation, Timken Museum of Art, San Diego
Image Courtesy: National Gallery of Art, Washington
At the age of 22, Rembrandt's talent had come to the attention of
Constantijn Hygens, secretary of the Prince of Orange. The same year
Rembrandt, despite his youth, became a master with two students, Gerard Dou
and Isaac Jouderville.
He married Saskia in
1634, niece of art dealer Hendrik van Uylenburgh, in whose academy Rembrandt
both worked taught and eventually ran. Saskia was from a wealth family.
In 1639 Rembrandt over extended himself financially by purchasing a house that
was beyond his means and this debt figured in his tremendous monetary
burdens. Barely three years later Saskia died after a long illness.
Saskia died the year that Rembrandt completed his masterpiece, The Night
Watch. Rembrandt had four children with his wife, but only one lived past infancy,
his son Titus. Rembrandt's talent endured through personal tragedy.
Title: Saint Bavo, c. 1662-1665
Artist: Rembrandt van Rijn (Dutch, 1606-1669)
Medium: Oil on Canvas,
Dimensions: canvas only: 98.5 x 79 cm (38 3/4 x 31 1/8);
with frame: 138 x 119 x 10 cm (54 5/16 x 46 7/8 x 3 15/16)
Permanent Collection: Göteborgs konstmuseum, Göteborg, Sweden
Image Courtesy: National Gallery of Art, Washington
Rembrandt formed two significant relationships after the death of his wife.
The
first was with his son's nurse. After this liaison ended lawsuits between the
couple added increasing damage to the frail state of the artist's accounts.
Significantly, public favor for portraits had waned, reducing his commissions.
Things became so dire that Rembrandt declared bankruptcy and was forced to
sell his personal art collection.
Title: An Elderly Man as the Apostle Paul,
165(9?)
Artist: Rembrandt van Rijn (Dutch, 1606-1669)
Medium: Oil on Canvas,
Dimensions: unframed: 102 x 85.5 cm (40 3/16 x 33 11/16); framed: 132 x 116 x 12 cm (51 15/16 x 45 11/16 x 4 3/4)
Permanent Collection: The National Gallery, London
Image Courtesy: National Gallery of Art, Washington
He entered a long term relationship with Hendrickje Stoffels which resulted
in a child, Cornelia. A council of the Dutch Reform Church summoned Hendrickje for public condemnation for living with Rembrandt without
the sanctity of marriage. Rembrandt was precluded from remarriage given a
clause in Saskia's will.
Title: The Apostle Bartholomew, 1661
Artist: Rembrandt van Rijn (Dutch, 1606-1669)
Medium: Oil on Canvas,
Dimensions: 86.7 x 75.6 cm (34 1/8 x 29 3/4)
Permanent Collection: The J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles
Image Courtesy: National Gallery of Art, Washington
Hendrickje and Titus created a business partnership to
protect Rembrandt from his creditors, easing a burden that had haunted him
for years. However both would predecease Rembrandt. Hendrickje succumbed to
the plague of 1633. Within five years Titus died in similar
circumstances.
Title: A Bearded Man in a Cap, 165(7?)
Artist: Rembrandt van Rijn (Dutch, 1606-1669)
Medium: Oil on Canvas,
Dimensions: unframed: 78 x 66.7 cm (30 11/16 x 26 1/4);
framed: 110.9 x 96.3 x 14.5 cm (43 11/16 x 37 15/16 x 5 11/16)
Permanent Collection: The National Gallery, London
Image Courtesy: National Gallery of Art, Washington
Throughout these calamities, whether circumstance or self-inflicted, Rembrandt
worked.
Title: Self-Portrait as the Apostle Paul, 1661
Artist: Rembrandt van Rijn (Dutch, 1606-1669)
Medium: Oil on Canvas,
Dimensions: 91 x 77 cm (35 13/16 x 30 5/16)
Permanent Collection: Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam
Image Courtesy: National Gallery of Art, Washington
Rembrandt found the bible inspirational and many of the paintings in the exhibit
are of Christ and Madonna. The Apostles are represented by Paul,
Bartholomew, James and Simon.
Also included are saints such as Bavo the wealthy hermit. His conversion occurred after
he heard a sermon from St. Amand. Bavo walked home and gave away all of his
worldly possessions and entered a monastery that was later named for Bavo, at
Ghent.
Moral themes were constant in his work. Rembrandt was an extremely religious
man who became a Mennonite. At the time Mennonites were considered to be
radical Protestants. He always aimed for the highest values in his work. Occasionally the only way to get him to finish a painting on time was to bribe
him, and that didn't always work. No one told Rembrandt when a work was finished
but the master himself.
Some scholars believe that the religious paintings were part of a series. The
darkness of the subject's location suggests the burden the artist suffered in
his life as he focused on these amazing portraits.
Seventeen paintings are included in this retrospective of Rembrandt's Late
Religious Portraits from the 1650s into the early 1660s, when the artist
suffered great personal turmoil and produced these pensive images.
Rembrandt's Late Religious Portraits
National Gallery of Art:
January 30 - May 1, 2005
J. Paul Getty Museum:
June 7 - August 28, 2005
|