Rembrandt

Rembrandt van Rijn was one of the greatest painters in history. He was born in the Netherlands in 1606. He was a master at using light and shadow to make his paintings look dramatic and real. Faces seemed to glow out of dark backgrounds. He painted portraits, Bible stories, and scenes of everyday life. He also made many paintings and drawings of himself throughout his life.

Master of Light

Rembrandt was famous for how he used light in his paintings. He made some parts very bright and left other parts in deep shadow. This made faces look three-dimensional and dramatic. His painting The Night Watch shows a group of soldiers stepping out of the darkness into the light. It is one of the most famous paintings in the Netherlands and hangs in a museum in Amsterdam.

Self-Portraits

Rembrandt made about 80 self-portraits during his life. He painted himself as a young man, a middle-aged man, and an old man. In some he looks rich and proud. In others he looks tired and sad. These paintings show how he changed over the years. No other artist before him had made so many pictures of themselves. His self-portraits are like a diary told through pictures.

Fun Facts

• Rembrandt made about 80 self-portraits, more than almost any other famous artist in history.
• The Night Watch is so large that a door was once cut in a wall to move it to a new room.
• Rembrandt sometimes used the wooden end of his paintbrush to scratch details into wet paint.

Did You Know?

Rembrandt's painting The Night Watch is actually not a night scene at all. It shows daytime, but dirt and dark varnish made it look dark over the centuries!