Rembrandt

1606 – 1669 · died at about 63^[1][2]

Art

Fun Facts About Rembrandt

• Rembrandt's The Night Watch is not set at night. Its darkness comes from aging, and it shows a ceremony, not a watch or patrol.^[1]
• Rembrandt first signed his name "Rembrant". In 1633 he added a "d" and kept it from then on, though most documents of his lifetime used the original spelling.^[1]
• Rembrandt never traveled abroad, yet he was strongly influenced by the Italian Old Masters.^[1]
• After Rembrandt's house was sold at a foreclosure auction, his partner Hendrickje and son Titus set up a dummy art-dealing company so he could keep working.^[1]
• About 90 paintings were once counted as Rembrandt self-portraits, but he had students copy his self-portraits as training. Scholars now credit him with just over forty.^[1]
• Most of Rembrandt's painting The Conspiracy of Claudius Civilis is lost because he cut it up so it could be sold.^[1]
• Rembrandt was alive at the same time as Miguel de Cervantes — their lives overlapped for 10 years (1606–1616).^[1][2][3][4]
• Rembrandt shares a birthday with Emmeline Pankhurst: both were born on July 15.^[1][2][5][6]

Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn, mononymously known as Rembrandt, was a Dutch Golden Age painter, printmaker, and draughtsman. He is generally considered one of the greatest visual artists in the history of Western art. It is estimated that Rembrandt's surviving works amount to about three hundred paintings, three hundred etchings, and several hundred drawings.^[1]

Contemporaries

Diego Velázquez

54 yr overlap

Oliver Cromwell

52 yr overlap

Molière

47 yr overlap

René Descartes

44 yr overlap

Blaise Pascal

39 yr overlap

John Locke

37 yr overlap

Johannes Vermeer

37 yr overlap

Christopher Wren

37 yr overlap

Baruch Spinoza

37 yr overlap

Galileo Galilei

36 yr overlap

Peter Paul Rubens

34 yr overlap

Louis XIV

31 yr overlap

Their World

Questions About Rembrandt

When was Rembrandt born?

Rembrandt was born on July 15, 1606, and died on October 4, 1669.

How old was Rembrandt at death?

Rembrandt was born on July 15, 1606, and died on October 4, 1669, at age 63.

What was Rembrandt known for?

Rembrandt was known for: Dutch Golden Age master painter. Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn, mononymously known as Rembrandt, was a Dutch Golden Age painter, printmaker, and draughtsman. He is generally considered one of the greatest visual artists in the history of Western art. It is estimated that Rembrandt's surviving works amount to about three hundred paintings, three hundred etchings, and several hundred drawings.

Who was alive at the same time as Rembrandt?

Rembrandt's closest contemporary was Diego Velázquez. Their lives overlapped for 54 years.