Rembrandt harmenszoon van rijn's main creations. Famous paintings by Rembrandt van Rijn

Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn [ˈrɛmbrɑnt ˈɦɑrmə (n) soːn vɑn ˈrɛin], 1606-1669) - Dutch artist, draftsman and engraver, great master of chiaroscuro, the largest representative of the golden age of Dutch painting. He was able to embody in his works the whole range of human experiences with such an emotional intensity that the fine arts did not know before him. Rembrandt's works, extremely diverse in genre, open to the viewer the timeless spiritual world of human experiences and feelings.

Rembrandt Harmenszon ("Harmen's son") van Rijn was born on July 15, 1606 (according to some sources, in 1607) in the large family of the wealthy mill owner Harmen Gerritszon van Rijn in Leiden. The mother's family, even after the Netherlands Revolution, remained faithful to the Catholic faith.

In Leiden, Rembrandt attended a Latin school at the university, but showed the greatest interest in painting. At the age of 13 he was sent to study fine arts under the Leiden historical painter Jacob van Svanenbürch, a Catholic by faith. Researchers have not been able to find Rembrandt's works related to this period, so the question of the influence of Svanenbürch on the formation of Rembrandt's creative style remains open: too little is known today about this Leiden artist.

In 1623, Rembrandt studied in Amsterdam with Peter Lastman, who completed an internship in Italy and specialized in historical, mythological and biblical subjects. Returning to Leiden in 1627, Rembrandt, together with his friend Jan Lievens, opened his own workshop and began to recruit students. For several years he gained wide popularity.

Lastman's passion for variegation and detail in performance had a huge impact on the young artist. It clearly shows through in his first surviving works - "The Stoning of St. Stephen "(1629)," A scene from ancient history "(1626) and" The baptism of the eunuch "(1626). In comparison with his mature works, they are unusually colorful, the artist seeks to carefully write out every detail of the material world, as faithfully as possible convey the exotic setting of biblical history. Almost all the heroes appear before the viewer dressed in fancy oriental costumes, sparkle with jewels, which creates an atmosphere of majesty, splendor, festivity (Allegory of Music, 1626; David before Saul, 1627).

The final works of the period - "Tobit and Anna", "Balaam and the Donkey" - reflect not only the rich imagination of the artist, but also his desire to convey the dramatic experiences of his heroes as expressively as possible. Like other Baroque masters, he begins to comprehend the importance of sharply sculpted chiaroscuro for conveying emotion. His teachers in relation to working with light were Utrecht caravaggists, but he was even more guided by the works of Adam Elsheimer, a German who worked in Italy. The most caravaggist paintings by Rembrandt are “The Parable of the Unreasonable Rich Man” (1627), “Simeon and Anna in the Temple” (1628), “Christ at Emmaus” (1629).

This group is adjoined by the painting "The Artist in His Studio" (1628; perhaps this is a self-portrait), in which the artist captured himself in the studio at the moment of contemplating his own creation. The canvas being worked on is brought to the forefront of the picture; in comparison, the author himself appears to be a dwarf.

One of the unresolved issues in the creative biography of Rembrandt is his artistic recall with Lievens. Working side by side, they more than once took on the same subject, such as Samson and Delilah (1628/1629) or The Resurrection of Lazarus (1631). In part, both were drawn to Rubens, who was then known as the best artist in all of Europe, sometimes Rembrandt borrowed the artistic finds of Lievens, sometimes it was exactly the opposite. For this reason, the distinction between the works of Rembrandt and Lievens of 1628-1632 presents certain difficulties for art historians. Among his other famous works - "Valaam's donkey" (1626).

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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 independently in his own workshop. This is the time of the artist's formation, when he was fond of the work of Caravaggio. During this period, he painted many 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 Dutch artistic culture, which naturally attracted the young artist. Here he quickly reaches fame, he has many orders. At the same time, he continues to improve his skills with enthusiasm. The 30s - 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 married a girl from a wealthy family - Saskia van Eilenborch - and from that time on, he fell into patrician circles. The happiest time of the artist's life begins: mutual passionate love, material well-being, a lot of orders. The painter often writes to his young wife: "Flora", "Self-portrait with Saskia on her knees." But the happiness did not last long. In 1642, Saskia died, leaving her young son Titus.

Moral depression and the passion for collecting that seized Rembrandt gradually led him to ruin. This was facilitated by a change in the tastes of the public, carried away by carefully prescribed 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 the shade and in partial shade. Orders were getting smaller. New girlfriend of his life Hendrickje Stoffels and his son Titus founded a company selling paintings and antiques to help the artist. But their efforts were in vain. Things were getting worse. In the early 1660s, Hendrickje died, and after a few years, Titus died.

However, in spite of everything, the artist continues to work. During these especially difficult years, he creates a number of remarkable works: "Syndics", "Return of the Prodigal Son", striking with inner drama.

The greatest artist died in extreme poverty on October 4, 1669. Contemporaries reacted coldly to this loss. It took almost two hundred years for the power of Rembrandt's realism, the deep psychology of his canvases, and his amazing pictorial skill to raise his name from oblivion and put him in the ranks of the world's greatest names.

Flora is the Italian goddess of flowers and youth. The Flora cult is one of the oldest agricultural cults in Italy, especially the Sabine tribe. The Romans identified Flora with the Greek Chloride and celebrated the so-called floraia in her honor in the spring, during which they played merry games that sometimes took on an unbridled character. People decorated themselves and animals with flowers, women put on bright dresses.
In ancient art, Flora was portrayed as a young woman holding flowers or scattering flowers.

The entire canvas is permeated with frank glee! The self-portrait depicts the spouses having a merry feast. Rembrandt, huge in comparison with his slender wife, holds her on his knees and lifts a crystal goblet of frothing wine. They seem to be taken by surprise, in an intimate atmosphere beating over the edge of life.

Rembrandt, in a rich military suit with a gilded sling and a rapier on his side, looks like some dandy raiter having fun with a girl. He is not embarrassed that such a pastime may be considered a sign of bad taste. He only knows that his wife is loved, and therefore beautiful in her luxurious bodice, silk skirt, magnificent headdress and precious necklace, and that everyone should admire her. He is not afraid to appear either vulgar or vain. He lives in a realm of dreams and joy, far from people, and it does not occur to him that he can be censured. And all these feelings are conveyed by the innocent expression of the shining 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 the death of Saskia, another woman entered the life of Rembrandt, a modest servant Hendrickje Stofffels, who brightened up the loneliness of the master. 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.
Even in the parental home of Jacob and Rachel, their beloved son Joseph appears as a dreamer. The father singles out Joseph among the brothers, and they, envious of his special position and beautiful clothes, sell Joseph into slavery to caravan men heading to Egypt.
In Egypt, Joseph serves as a slave to the wealthy nobleman Potiphar, the chief of the pharaoh's bodyguards. Potiphar trusts 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, falling in love with Joseph, and not achieving reciprocity, accuses him of rape.
In the prison where Joseph was sent, with him are the king's baker and cupbearer. Joseph interprets their dreams, according to which the baker will be executed, and the butler will be forgiven in three days. Joseph's prophecy is being fulfilled, and the cupbearer remembers him when the Egyptian priests find it difficult to interpret Pharaoh's dream of seven fat cows devoured by seven skinny ones and about seven good spikelets devoured by the skinny ones. Summoned from 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 confidant to stockpile during the famine.
Pharaoh appoints Joseph as his confidant, grants him with his ring, gives him an Egyptian name, and as his wife - the Egyptian Asenef, the daughter of a priest from Heliopolis.

Samson loved to wander around the country and one day he ended up in the city of Thimnath. There he fell madly in love with a stately Philistine woman and wished to marry her. He ran home and asked his parents to marry his beloved. The old men clutched their heads in horror: their son had caused them a lot of grief, and now, in addition to everything, he decided to marry a foreign woman, the daughter of a Philistine. Samson, however, stood his ground. Parents had nothing to do - sighing heavily, they obeyed the whim of their eccentric son. Samson became a groom and since then often visited the bride's parents.
Once, when Samson was briskly walking along the path between the vineyards, a young roaring lion barred his way. The strongman tore the lion to shreds and, as if nothing had happened, went to Timnaf, not telling anyone about his adventure. Returning home, he was surprised to see that a swarm of bees was nesting in the mouth of the killed lion and a lot of honey had already accumulated. Samson brought the honeycomb to his parents without saying a word where he got it.
In Timnafa, the matchmaking went well, there was a big feast, everyone congratulated the bride and groom, and appointed a wedding day. According to Philistine custom, the wedding celebration lasts seven days.
At the feast, the bride's parents, fearing the extraordinary strength of Samson, assigned him thirty strong young Philistines as marriage buddies. Samson, looking at the "guards" with a grin, invited them to solve the riddle. It was necessary to solve it by the end of the wedding, on the seventh day.
The riddle sounded like this: "Out of the eater came out poison, and out of the strong came out sweet." Of course, no one could solve this riddle, since no one knew that we were talking about bees eating nectar (bees are "eating"), about honey ("food") and about a strong lion. At the same time, Samson set conditions: if it is solved, they will receive 30 shirts the same amount of top dress, and if not, they will pay him the same.
The dumbfounded Philistines pondered this strange riddle for three days. Desperate, they went to his young wife and threatened that if she did not get 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 of money.
By cunning and affectionate, 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 pay off the agreed debt, and his parents were very poor. Then he killed 30 Philistines and gave their clothes as a debt. Samson himself, realizing that his wife had betrayed him, slammed the door and left again to his parents.

Artemis (Artemis) - daughter of Zeus and Leto, sister of Apollo. Originally revered as a goddess of the animal and plant world. She is the "mistress of beasts", Tavropol (protector of bulls), Limnatis (marsh), a bear (in this form she was worshiped in Bavron). Later - the goddess of the hunt, mountains and forests, the patroness of women in labor.
Artemis begged for eternal virginity from Zeus. Sixty Oceanids and twenty nymphs were her constant companions on the hunt, participants in her games and dances. Its main function is to guard the established customs, sacrifices to the gods, for the violation of which she severely punishes: she sends a terrible boar to the Calydonian kingdom, and deadly snakes to the marriage bed of King Admet. She also protects the animal world, calling to answer Hercules, who killed the Kerinean doe with golden horns, and demands a bloody sacrifice in exchange for the sacred doe killed by Agamemnon - his daughter Iphigenia (on the sacrificial altar, Artemis secretly from people replaced the princess with a doe, and transferred Iphigenia to Taurida her priestess).
Artemis is the protector of chastity. She patronizes Hippolyta, who despises love, turns Actaeon, who accidentally saw the goddess naked, into a deer, who was torn apart by his own dogs, and the nymph Calypso, who broke her vow, into a bear. She has decisiveness, does not tolerate rivalry, uses her well-aimed arrows as a weapon of punishment. Artemis, together with Apollo, exterminated the children of Niobe, who took pride in the mother of the gods Leto with her seven sons and seven daughters; 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 nursing goddess, "hard work"; she is the patroness of the Amazons.
Artemis was also revered as a goddess of war. In Sparta, before the battle, a goat was sacrificed to the goddess, and in Athens every year, on the anniversary of the Battle of Marathon (September-October), five hundred goats were laid on the altars.
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 mountain 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 portrayed Saskia, his wife, in the image of Juno. Juno is the ancient Roman goddess of marriage and birth, motherhood of women, and female productive power. The patroness of marriages, the guardian of the family and family regulations. 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, and the fall of Babylon is associated with his name. Despite the siege of the capital 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 a minor feast, Belshazzar made a magnificent feast, to which up to a thousand nobles and courtiers were invited. The table bowls were precious vessels selected 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, a human hand appeared on the wall and slowly began to write some words. Seeing her, "the king changed in his face, his thoughts got confused, the bonds of his loins weakened, and his knees began to beat one another in terror." The summoned sages were unable 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 in the Aramaic language briefly read: "Mene, tekel, uparsin." given to the Medes and Persians. "
On that very night, the biblical story continues, Belshazzar, the king of the Chaldees, was killed.

Tobit is an Israelite, distinguished by righteousness in his native country and did not leave the pious Assyrian government and generally endured a number of trials, including blindness, which ended for him and his offspring with the full blessing of God. His son, Tobiah, healed with the help of an angel.

God appeared to Abraham and his wife Sarah in the form of three travelers, three beautiful young men (God the father, God the son and God the Holy Spirit). The elderly couple showed them generous hospitality. Having accepted the treat, God announced to the spouses a miracle: despite their deep old age, they will have a son, and a great and strong people will come from him, 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 considered to be an angel) and fights with him all night. The angel fails to overcome Jacob, then he touches the vein in his thigh and damages it. Nevertheless, Jacob passes the test and receives a new name - Israel, meaning "the one who fights with God and will prevail over 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 the everyday life of ordinary people. Only angels descending into the twilight of a poor dwelling remind 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 does not make the picture down-to-earth. Rembrandt knows how to see in everyday life not the shallow and ordinary, but the deep and enduring. Peaceful silence of working life, the sanctity of motherhood emanates from this canvas.

The Jewish king Seoul sought to destroy young David, fearing that he would take his throne. Warned by his friend, Prince Jonathan, the conqueror of Goliath David says goodbye to Jonathan at the Azaille stone (the Hebrew meaning is parting, separation.) Jonathan is stern and restrained, his face is mournful. David in despair falls to the chest of his friend, 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 at that time away from home, serving in the army of David. Bathsheba did not try to seduce the king. But David was seduced by the beauty of Bathsheba and ordered that she be taken 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 place Uriah where there will be "the most powerful battle, and retreat from him so that he was defeated and died."
Indeed, this happened, and David subsequently married Bathsheba. Their first child lived only a few days. David later repented of what he had done.
For all her high position as the most beloved of David's wives, Bathsheba took a place in the shadows and behaved in a dignified manner. David crowned Solomon son of Bathsheba as king. Bathsheba was a wise woman and always trusted in 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. The canvas with tremendous power sounds a call to deep humanity, the affirmation of the spiritual community of people, the beauty of parental love.

It depicts a biblical story about a dissolute son who, after long wanderings, returned to his father's house. The whole room is plunged into 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 shoe with holes had fallen off, fell to his knees and pressed himself against his father, hiding his face on his chest. The old father, blinded with grief in anticipation of his son, feels him, recognizes and forgives him, blessing him.

The artist naturally and truthfully conveys all the power of his father's love. Nearby there are numb figures of spectators, expressing surprise and indifference - these are members of the 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 human feelings expressed in it - the bottomless vigilant love, the bitterness of disappointment, loss, humiliation, shame and remorse.

This is the best work of Rembrandt in the 1930s.

The picture is dedicated to the eternal theme of love. The plot is based on the myth about the daughter of Tsar Akrisiy Danae. The oracle predicted to Acrisius that he would die at the hands of his grandson. Then the king imprisoned his daughter in a tower forever. But the almighty Zeus turned into a golden rain and in this form penetrated to Danae and became her lover. They had a son, Perseus, and then again, on the orders of Aryxius, Danaus, 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 is happily awaiting Zeus. The old servant woman pulls back 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 asleep and bared a no longer young, heavy body, far from the laws of classical beauty. Nevertheless, it captivates with life truthfulness, soft roundness of forms. And although the artist refers to a theme from ancient mythology, the picture is clearly written in the spirit of realism.

Rembrandt wrote a lot on the themes of biblical stories, and they were all in his own way, updated in content. Often he painted pictures contrary to logic - lighting, paints, everything only according to his idea. The artist shows the same independence in the manner of dressing his characters. He dressed them up in strange clothes - and Saskia, and Juno, and others ...
The same is with the couple in the painting "The Jewish Bride". The name is strange, because the canvas depicts a married couple, and the wife is pregnant.
Against the background of indistinct greenery, part of the large wall and cityscape is guessed. A couple in red and gold clothes stand in front of a pilaster. Two faces and four hands a man leans towards a woman whose gaze is turned to herself, to her thoughts. Her right hand, holding the flowers, is resting on her stomach. In the face - the gullible seriousness of the wife, busy only with the presence of another life in herself. The man hugs her shoulders with his left hand. The right hand rests on the dress at chest level, where the woman's left hand touches it. Fingers touch each other. Soft touch. The man looks at the woman's hand touching his own.

In the painting, Rembrandt completely abandoned the classical ideal of a nude female figure. Here he portrayed 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 her easily written face and in the hands supporting her shirt.

Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn (1606 - 1669) - Dutch painter, draftsman and etcher. Creativity is imbued with the desire for a deep, philosophical comprehension of reality and the inner world of a person with all the wealth of his emotional experiences.

Realistic and humanistic in its essence, it marked the pinnacle of the development of Dutch art in the 17th century, embodying high moral ideals, faith in the beauty and dignity of ordinary people in a brightly individual and perfect artistic form.

Rembrandt. Drawing "Huts under the sky foreshadowing a storm" (1635)

Rembrandt's artistic heritage is distinguished by an exceptional variety: portraits, still lifes, landscapes, genre scenes, paintings on biblical, mythological and historical subjects. Rembrandt was an unsurpassed master of drawing and.

Rembrandt. Etching "Mill" (1641)

The future great artist was born into a miller's family. After briefly studying at Leiden University in 1620, he devoted himself to art. He studied painting with J. van Swanenbürch in Leiden (from 1620 - 1623) and P. Lastman in Amsterdam in 1623. In the period from 1625 to 1631 he worked in Leiden. An example of Elastman's influence on the artist's work is a painting " Allegory of music", Written by Rembrandt in 1626.

Rembrandt "Allegory of Music"

In pictures " Apostle Paul"(1629 - 1630) and" Simeon in the temple"(1631) Rembrandt first used chiaroscuro as a means to enhance the spirituality and emotional expressiveness of images.

Rembrandt "Apostle Paul"

During these years, Rembrandt worked hard on the portrait, studying the facial expressions of the human face. The artist's creative quest during this period is expressed in a series of self-portraits and portraits of the artist's family members. This is how Rembrandt portrayed himself at the age of 23.

Rembrandt "Self-portrait"

In 1632, Rembrandt moved to Amsterdam, where he soon married a wealthy patrician woman, Saskia van Eilenbruch. The 30s of the 17th century for the artist are years of family happiness and tremendous artistic success. The family couple is shown in the picture " The prodigal son in the tavern"(1635).

Rembrandt "The Prodigal Son in a Tavern" (1635)

At the same time, the artist paints a canvas " Christ during a storm on the sea of ​​Galilee"(1633). The painting is unique in that it is the only seascape of the artist.

Rembrandt "Christ during a storm on the Sea of ​​Galilee"

Painting " Anatomy lesson by Dr. Tulpa”(1632), in which the artist solved the problem of the group portrait in a new way, giving the composition a life-like ease, and uniting the people in the portrait in a single action, brought Rembrandt wide fame. He received many orders, numerous students worked in his workshop.

Rembrandt "Anatomy Lesson by Dr. Tulpa"

In the commissioned portraits of wealthy burghers, the artist carefully conveyed facial features, the smallest details of clothing, the shine of luxurious jewelry. You can see it on the canvas " Burgrave portrait", Written in 1633. At the same time, the models often received an apt social characteristic.

Rembrandt "Portrait of a Burgrave"

Freer and more diverse in their composition are his self-portraits and portraits of loved ones:

• » Self-portrait", Written in 1634. At the moment, the canvas is on display at the Louvre.

Rembrandt "Self-portrait" (1634)

• » Smiling Saskia". The portrait was painted in 1633. Today it is located in the Dresden Art Gallery.

Rembrandt "Smiling Saskia"

These works are distinguished by the lively spontaneity and uplifting of the composition, the free style of painting, major, filled with light, golden colors.

A bold challenge to the classical canons and traditions in the artist's work can be traced to the example of the canvas " Abduction of Ganymede", Written in 1635. At the moment, the work is in the Dresden Art Gallery.

Rembrandt "The Rape of Ganymede"

Painting "Danae"

The monumental composition is a vivid embodiment of the artist's new aesthetic views. " Danae"(Written in 1636), in which he argues with the great masters of the Italian Renaissance. The artist went against the generally accepted canons of the image, and created a beautiful picture that went beyond the then ideas of true beauty.

The nude figure of Danaë, far from the classical ideals of female beauty, Rembrandt performed about bold realistic immediacy, and the artist contrasted the ideal beauty of the images of Italian masters with the sublime beauty of spirituality and the warmth of a person's intimate feeling.

Rembrandt "Danae" (1636)

Subtle shades of emotional experiences were expressed by the painter in the paintings " David and Jonathan"(1642) and" Holy family"(1645). High quality reproductions of Rembrandt paintings can be used for decoration in many styles.

In 1656, Rembrandt was declared insolvent and all of his property was sold at a public auction. He was forced to move to the Jewish quarter of Amsterdam, where he spent the rest of his life.

Rembrandt "The Holy Family" (1645)

Painting "Return of the Prodigal Son".

A cold misunderstanding of the Dutch burghers surrounded Rembrandt in the last years of his life. However, the artist continued to create. A year before his death, he began to create his brilliant canvas " Return of the prodigal son"(1668 - 1669), which embodied all artistic and moral - ethical issues.

In this painting, the artist creates a whole range of complex and deep human feelings. The main idea of ​​the painting is the beauty of human understanding, compassion and forgiveness. The climax, tension of feelings and the moment of resolution of passions that follows it are embodied in expressive poses and mean, laconic gestures of father and son.

Rembrandt "The Return of the Prodigal Son"

The 40s-60s of the 17th century were the heyday of Dutch art. Rembrandt's work embodies the best qualities of Dutch art - the power of realistic reflection of reality, a deep individualization of images and phenomena; it bears the features of genuine democracy. Huge depth of ideological content, high spirituality of images, unsurpassed skill. Rembrandt differs from other Dutch painters in the breadth of the subject; he owns the highest achievements in almost all genres of painting - in paintings on biblical and mythological subjects, in the historical genre, in portrait, landscape and still life (he did not work - except for a few early paintings - only in the field of genre painting). His achievements are equally great in painting, engraving, and drawing.

The theme of art is real human life, the inner world of a person, the diversity of his experiences; Rembrandt's deep human feeling passes through all the phenomena of the real world, it transforms the ordinary and everyday into images of high beauty. Heroes are people of strong sincere feelings, great spiritual wealth, who managed to preserve the best human qualities even in the most severe living conditions. Very often the artist finds his heroes among ordinary people who most of all suffered from social oppression. Deep democracy of Rembrandt art. Awareness of the enduring value of a person. The contradictions of the era give rise to tragic collisions of his works, but faith in a person protects him from pessimistic conclusions.

1625-1632 - Leiden period of creativity. Search for creative independence ("Changer", 1627; "Samson and Delilah", 1628). "Apostle Paul", 1629 - one of the first works on a topic that occupies a very large place in Rembrandt's work: it gives an individual image of a hero, left, as it were, alone with himself and immersed in thought. Greatness, dignity, spiritual nobility. The viewer's attention is not overwhelmed by the details; The artist subordinates all means to the expression of the main thing - great spiritual strength, inner enlightenment of a person. Chiaroscuro is the main means of figurative expression, not only sculpts shape and volume, but also creates mood, emotional coloring. During these years, Rembrandt also worked on a portrait, studied facial expressions, and took the first steps in the art of etching.

1632 - Rembrandt moves to Amsterdam. The first piece - "Anatomy lesson of Dr. Tulpa", 1632. Brings the artist universal recognition in bourgeois circles. Instead of static composition and disunity of figures - a single action. 1634 - Rembrandt marries a wealthy patrician woman Saskia van Eilenburg.

Searches in the portrait technique are synthesized in a famous work "Self-portrait with Saskia on her knees", 1636. Cheerfulness, energy. Portrait + genre painting + parable of the prodigal son (the artist represents the prodigal son).

"Danae" 1636 - parallel to Titian's Danae. The depiction of human individuality: the body is painted in a very vital way, with attention to intimate details, the face is ugly. The task is to convey the high truth of life.

"The night Watch", 1642 - a work at the turn of the early period and the period of mature creativity. This is a group portrait of Captain Banning Cock's riflemen. Movement, particular excitement, agitation. Monumental scope. In this work, Rembrandt opposes the established canons of group portraits, the artist tries to make the usual conventional static scene more natural and dynamic. An attempt at a generalized image of society, an assessment of the historical era. It seemed incomprehensible and ridiculous to the viewer that strangers appeared in this scene, especially a little girl in a golden-yellow dress, crowding into the crowd of warlike men. Everything here caused bewilderment and irritation of the public, and we can say that the conflict between the artist and society begins and deepens from this picture. With the death of Saskia in the same 1642, Rembrandt naturally breaks with patrician circles alien to him.

The 40-50s is the time of creative maturity. It was not only Rembrandt's outer life that changed, he himself changed first of all. This is the time of the formation of his creative system, from which much will go into the past and in which other, invaluable qualities will be acquired. During this period, he often turns to previous works in order to remake them in a new way. This was the case, for example, with "Danae", which he wrote back in 1636. In the 40-50s, Rembrandt's skill was growing steadily. He chooses for interpretation the most lyrical, poetic aspects of human existence, that human, which is eternal, all-human: maternal love, compassion. The greatest material is given to him by the Holy Scriptures, and from it, scenes from the life of the holy family, plots from the life of Tobias. There are no external effects in the works of this period. Rembrandt depicts a simple life, ordinary people, as in the canvas "Holy Family": only angels descending into the twilight of a poor dwelling remind us that this is not an ordinary family.

For the past 16 years, Rembrandt has been ruined, he has lost all his loved ones, loved ones, and even his students betray him. But these years are full of amazingly strong creative activity, as a result of which picturesque images, exceptional in character monumentality and spirituality, are created, deeply philosophical and highly ethical works. Everything is cleared of the transitory, accidental, details are minimized, gestures, postures, head tilts are carefully thought out and comprehended, figures are enlarged, close to the front plane of the canvas. The main means of expression are not lines and masses, but light and color. The color scheme is dominated by shades of red and brown burning from within. The color acquires sonority and intensity. Rembrandt knew how to create a portrait-biography; highlighting only the face and hands, he expressed the whole story of life ("Portrait of an old man in red", circa 1654).

The epilogue of Rembrandt's work can be considered his famous painting "Prodigal son"(about 1668-1669), in which the ethical height and pictorial skill of the artist were most fully manifested. The plot of the biblical parable about the dissolute son, after many wanderings, returned to his father's house, attracted Rembrandt even earlier, as evidenced by one of his early etchings and several drawings. In this group - in the figure of a tattered young man who fell to his knees and laid his hands on his shaved head old man - the ultimate tension of feelings, emotional shock, happiness of return and gain, bottomless parental love, but also the bitterness of disappointment, loss, humiliation, shame and remorse. This Inhumanity makes the scene understandable to different people of all times and gives it immortality. The unity of color is especially striking here. From the orange-red tones of the background, this is all a single pictorial flow, perceived as an expression of a single feeling.

Rembrandt's work

1. Self-portraits

During his life, Rembrandt made about eighty self-portraits - paintings, prints and drawings. For him, it was a kind of autobiography, even if later the portraits were sold. One of the first is “Self-portrait” from the Amsterdam Rijksmuseum, where a disheveled twenty-two-year-old painter peers into his face, trying to convey with the help of chiaroscuro the first awakened awareness of himself as an artist.

Rice. 1. "Self-portrait" around 1628

In the self-portrait of 1629, a bright beam illuminates a beardless, inquiring face, shaded by a lace collar. But the self-portrait of the same year, kept in The Hague, is more official. In the small painting "An Artist in His Studio" (1629), which has long been attributed to Gerrit Dow, we see Rembrandt's Leyden workshop, with a table, easel, palette and a mortar for grinding paints. The artist depicted himself unusually far from the picture, as if wishing to give the viewer a feel for how he himself sees and understands painting.

In more mature portraits, the soul of the artist is sometimes expressed, and sometimes his outfit is carefully written out. "Self-portrait" of 1640, a painting unusually refined and harmonious, captured the thirty-four-year-old Rembrandt, who took a strong position in Amsterdam. Reference points for the artist were Titian's "Portrait of a Nobleman", now kept in London, and at that time in the collection of Rembrandt's friend the Portuguese Jew Alfonso Lopez, and "Portrait of Baldassar Castiglione" by Raphael. In rapprochement with Italian masters, one can feel the challenge from Rembrandt, as if emphasizing his spiritual closeness with his great predecessors with an unusual outfit of the 16th century. He paints himself in costumes, according to the custom of his workshop, where the most varied outfits for models listed in the inventories were kept - "Self-portrait" of 1658 from the New York collection of Frick. But he also likes to portray himself in the clothes of an Amsterdam merchant with a chain, pendants and fur trim, or an artist aware of his role and position in society, as in "Self-portrait at an easel" (1660) or in another self-portrait with a palette and tassels from London's Kenwood House, - modest clothes, a simple white beret on his head, a strong-willed, intelligent expression on his wrinkled face. And the look is imperious, proud and has become very tired in recent years, darkened by material hardships and family troubles.

Rice. 2. "Self-portrait" 1660

Cologne's unusual Self-Portrait, painted around 1665, expressive and impartial, shows Rembrandt still capable of smiling. The last two self-portraits of 1669, kept in London and The Hague, one with folded hands, the other in a multi-colored turban over long gray hair, convey the bitterness and disappointment of a man who was pushed into the background by his former students, a man who in 1641 was reputed "One of the most prominent painters of his time."

2. Early period of creativity

Rembrandt began his journey in Leidan - his first independent works date back to the mid-1920s; from 1632 until the end of his life, Rembrandt worked in Amsterdam - the main artistic center of the country. The second half of the 20s and 30s was the time of Rembrandt's search for his own path and creative method.

Rembrandt studies reality, seeks to master its various aspects (as evidenced by his drawings), but his primary interest is the individual human character and the variety of manifestations of spiritual life.

Attention to the inner life of a person determines the originality of the first plot paintings by Rembrandt (Tobias and his wife, 1625-1626, Apostle Paul in prison, 1627). The emphasis on the psychological experience of the event, which Rembrandt wants to see through the eyes of its participants, is especially pronounced in Christ in Emmaus (c. 1629). The artist shows the reaction of the characters - excitement, fear, shock. But, as in early self-portraits, emotional affects are still unambiguous and forced, postures and gestures are too demonstrative.

In the works of the late 20s - early 30s, the role of light as a means of enhancing the emotional expressiveness of a scene is already revealed. In The Apostle Paul, the lighting emphasizes the mood of the hero. In Christ in Emmaus, the opposition of light and shadow conveys the suddenness and strength of the feeling that gripped the apostles.

Historical painting became, along with portraiture, the main area of ​​Rembrandt's work. The plots of the Old and New Testaments made it possible to give the content of the work a figurative scale, and its meaning - a generalizing character. Turning to religious and mythological themes did not mean for Rembrandt a rejection of the life's veracity of the image, - on the contrary, he aims to combine the real, earthly, concrete with that lofty spirit and universally significant meaning that is contained in the legend.

However, the painterly style of the early period is controversial. Rembrandt does not always manage to organically combine sublimity and reliability, the majesty of feelings and the rough truth of reality. So, in "Christ in Emmaus" the contrast between the commonplace (the common people appearance of the characters and the everydayness of the entourage) and the miraculous event is too sharp.

Rejecting the stilted convention and idealization, Rembrandt deheroes the characters in religious and mythological legends, but at the same time over-emphasizes the proseism of nature and the low passions (Samson's Wedding, 1635). On the other hand, the sublime is still identified for Rembrandt with the external elevation of the stage, with its pathetics and stormy dynamics - in the works of the middle and second half of the 30s, it is no coincidence that the influence of the Italian and Flemish Baroque is reflected ("The Sacrifice of Abraham", 1634; "Blinding Samson ").

Rembrandt's craving for spectacular splendor and dramatic collisions - as well as his bravado, the desire to debunk the usual artistic norms and ideals - was largely associated with the desire to get away from the prosaism and burgher limitations of the established way of bourgeois life. From the world of everyday life, he is attracted to the world of heroics and fantasy. In the 30s, he often painted himself and his loved ones in "historical" costumes, in magnificent, fantastic attire ("Saskia in the form of Flora", 1634; self-portraits from Petit Palais, from Berlin and the Louvre, 1634). These, as they are called, imaginary portraits seemed to embody some kind of dream of a beautiful person, of an image elevated above everyday reality.

During this period, Rembrandt is not only looking for his own ideal of life and man - he also creates works that foreshadow his future path. The Descent from the Cross (between 1633 and 1639) was written under the influence of the famous composition of Rubens, but the plot is interpreted by Rembrandt as a chamber scene: this allows the viewer to feel like something personally related to him, personally calling out to him a human tragedy - the death of a tormented person Christ and the grief of his loved ones. Light cutting through the darkness gives rise to a feeling of intense silence, intensity of feelings, greatness of drama.

In the 1930s, Rembrandt was the most popular painter in Amsterdam. Success, fame, material well-being come to him. Students flock to his workshop.

Rembrandt performed many commissioned portraits at this time. They are painted with great plastic force, perfectly convey the resemblance, capture the characteristic in appearance, but Rembrandt has not yet found his path in portrait painting. And yet, perhaps it is no coincidence that Rembrandt, a portrait painter by the nature of his talent, it was in the work of this genre - a group portrait of the corporation of Amsterdam shooters - that he managed to embody the ideal of heroism, without falling into the extremes of theatrical pathetics and grotesque sharpening, to achieve an organic fusion of poetic uplift , colored with a touch of fantasy, and real vitality ("Night Watch", completed in 1642).

The artist's idea was unusual: he added fictional characters to the portraits of eighteen customers and connected them with a plot motif: the performance of a company that emerges from under the arch and crosses the bridge over the canal. Figures and faces are now concealed by a shadow, then snatched out by the bright light of the day. In the group of shooters, we see passers-by crowding into it, including a girl in a golden-yellow dress, like a bright light flickering in this energetic male crowd.

The combination of portrait images with nameless figures, the dynamics of the composition gave it a great life persuasiveness. But the uniqueness of "Night Watch" is that it is not only a group portrait, but also a crowd scene. The motive of the movement, the performances of the shooters, the majestic architecture of the background, the colorful various costumes, the contrasts of light and shadow, and finally, the enormous dimensions of the picture create the impression of a solemn procession, a significant public event. "Night Watch" has become a monumental composition, where the theme of patriotic enthusiasm, the triumph of civic spirit is clearly heard. Rembrandt reaffirms it when civic pathos and democratic ideals from Dutch reality and from Dutch art. The painting "Night Watch" became, as it were, the image of the republican Holland, the group portrait acquired the significance of a historical picture.