Fun Facts about Rembrandt

In my previous post about Rembrandt http://allsortsartbyali.blogspot.com/2015/01/get-to-know-rembrandt.html , I mentioned his significance as a master of the Dutch Renaissance. But in researching Rembrandt, I found out a couple of things that I didn't know before:

1. "The Nightwatch", one of Rembrandt's most famous paintings, was not originally named "The Nightwatch", nor was it even set at night! Between 1640 - 1642, Rembrandt painted "The Militia Company of Captain Frans Banning Cocq", pictured above. But by the 18th century, the painting had become so caked with grime that people referred to it as "The Nightwatch" because, well, as you can see, it looks like soldiers on patrol in the dark of night. Imagine everyone's surprise after the painting was finally cleaned and revealed that it was set in broad daylight!

2. Rembrandt changed the spelling of his name, which was originally Rembrant. My spell check is displeased by this, but apparently it is true. Actually, many historical texts maintained the original spelling, even after he had been signing the new and improved version to his paintings for quite some time. The pronunciation was not changed, so it looks like Rembrant/Rembrandt was the original Barbara/Barbra Streisand. Just like buttah!

Image from Wikimedia Commons http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Rembrandt_-_The_Nightwatch_-_WGA19147.jpg

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Get to Know Rembrandt

Those of you who only know Rembrandt as a brand of whitening toothpaste should get to know the very talented artist and portraitist Rembrandt van Rijn, after whom the paste was named. As a matter of fact, he was so famous and successful that his name has pretty much become synonymous with being an artist, which is why you might hear someone gushing about their child's painting, "He's quite the little Rembrandt!"

Rembrandt was born on July 15, in 1606. He died in 1669, and during his somewhat short life, he became one of the most renowned artists of the Renaissance in 17th-century Holland. He is widely regarded as the most important Dutch painter of all time, and is one of the most commonly referred-to artists when speaking of "the Old Masters". He has painted many subjects, but is perhaps best known for his portraits, many of which are self-portraits. His portraits make good use of dramatic lighting and brushwork, and they do not usually feature anything other than the sitter (I hate painting backgrounds, too).

I will be back soon with some fun facts about Rembrandt that you may not have known!

 Rembrandt's self-portrait from Wikimedia Commons en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Rembrandt_van_Rijn_-_Self-Portrait_-_Google_Art_Project.jpg

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