Hello and welcome back to the Giants of the Faith podcast where we're focused on people from Church history who have made an impact for the Kingdom of God on this mortal plane. In today's episode we're looking at the famous Dutch painter, Rembrandt. During the course of this episode any of the compositions I reference will be linked in the show notes so check those out if you are interested to see Rembrandt's work. Also, I'm definitely going to struggle with some of the Dutch pronunciations in this episode. Sorry in advance for that.
When I started this podcast I had a list of people I might be interested in featuring but Rembrandt was nowhere on the list. I knew who he was, of course, and seen his work in school Humanities and Art classes but I didn't understand or appreciate his work from the perspective of a Christian artist. It was Francis Schaeffer's How Should We Then Live? That put him on my radar and I'm glad he did. Like Roy Rogers and Handel that I've profiled before, Rembrandt serves as a reminder that Christians can serve God in whatever their profession or calling and that glorifying Him and advancing His Kingdom are not limited to theologians, pastors, and missionaries.
Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn was born on July 15, 1606, in the Dutch city of Leiden. His parents were Harmen, a miller, and Neeltgen, a baker's daughter, and he was the youngest of nine siblings. They were a devout family - Neeltgen was raised Catholic and Harmen was Dutch Reformed - and Rembrandt was brought up by them in the fear of the Lord.
Rembrandt attended Latin School as a boy and, at age 14, enrolled in the University of Leiden. He did not stay at the school long, and left to become apprenticed to a local painter, Jacob van Swanenburch. Swanenburch was a painter of historical scenes but is best remembered for his depictions of the torments of hell. Rembrandt studied under Swanenburch for three years as he developed an appreciation for the role of light and its source in his paintings. He then moved to Amsterdam to study under Pieter Lastman. While Rembrandt only worked with Lastman for six months it was likely from him that Rembrandt heightened his appreciation for color and an attention to the hand, feet, and faces of his subjects.
In 1624, Rembrandt opened a studio in Leiden with his friend Jan Lievens. Lievens had been a student of Lastman, as well, and the two worked together as they started off on their independent careers. Rembrandt soon began to take on students and also began to receive commissions for works for the court at The Hague. In 1631 the studio dissolved and Rembrandt left for Amsterdam where he would spend the rest of his life.
When he got to Amsterdam he lived with art dealer Hendrick van Uylenbugh for a time. The connection proved fortuitous because Hendrick's influence brought Rembrandt many commissions for portraits and also, in 1634, Rembrandt married Hendrick's cousin Saskia. Rembrandt also became a citizen of Amsterdam and a member of the local painter's guild. And he once again began taking on students.
The couple had a happy marriage - and an expensive one. They rented a fashionable home on the River Amstel before purchasing a brand new home on the Breestraat. The house was expensive and, when combined with Rembrandts expensive tastes, would later become a financial burden. The home was in a new, up and coming, Jewish neighborhood. And Rembrandt used that to his advantage. He often recruited his neighbors to stand in as models for his paintings that featured Biblical Jews.
Rembrandt was commissioned to complete a Passion of the Christ series for Frederik Hendrick, the Prince of Orange. The Passion was a series of works depicting some of the final acts of the life of Christ and was a common series to be commissioned. It consisted of The Raising of the Cross, The Descent from the Cross, The Entombment, The Resurrection, and The Ascension. My favorite of these is The Raising of the Cross, done in 1633. In it, Rembrandt painted himself, even in modern clothing, as one of the men in the crowd. He's demonstrating that he, himself, was responsible and played a part in the crucifixion of our Lord. And it's a reminder to all of the elect that Christ died for our own sins and that we, as individuals, bear the shame and guilt of the necessity of Christ's sacrifice. And that, ultimately, we should rejoice in that sacrifice and give God glory for it.
Commissions, fame, and money were pouring in for Rembrandt. He often used his wife as a model for his paintings and the couple was happy together. But not everything was going his way. He and Saskia had four children - two boys and two girls - from 1635 to 1641 but only one, Titus, born in 1641 lived past infancy. And shortly after Titus' birth Saskia was taken ill and died in early 1642. If you take a look at Rembrandts drawings and paintings of Saskia during her illness you can't help but see the grief pouring out of his pen and be moved.
Rembrandt was not a perfect man, though, and we will not hold him up here as one. He took as a lover the woman who he'd brought on as wet-nurse to his infant son Titus, Geertje Dircx. She lived with him for years but the couple were never wed. Rembrandt had income from a trust setup by his late wife that he would lose if he ever remarried. Eventually, Geertje got tired of the situation and left Rembrandt. She would go on to sue him for breach of contract. Basically, she claimed that he'd convinced her to become intimate under promise of marriage. She won her suit and was awarded alimony from Rembrandt.
During his life he produced many, many paintings of Biblical scenes, events, and characters. Some of my favorites are David Playing the Harp for Saul, The Apostle Paul in Prison, Simeon in the Temple, The Apostle Bartholomew, and The Return of the Prodigal Son. I'll put a link in the show notes to a listing of all of Rembrandt's paintings so you can check out these, and others, if you're so inclined.
One other amazing work is The Hundred Guilder print, which is a recreation of Matthew chapter 19. It's a black and white work but the detail and lighting are phenomenal.
Rembrandt's issues didn't go away with the breakup with Geertje. He took up with a woman, Hendrickje Stoffels, who was his maid. The couple were together long enough to be considered legally married but in 1654, when their daughter Cornelia was born, she was brought up on charges before the Dutch Reformed Church for committing "the acts of a whore with Rembrandt the painter". She was censured and banned from receiving communion. Rembrandt was not punished, but only because he was not a formal member of the church. Again, Rembrandt would not marry Hendrickje.
In 1656 Rembrandt was forced into near bankruptcy. His years of living beyond his means had caught up with him and he had to sell off all of his possessions to pay his creditors. He had in his possession several works of his own and other masters, suits of armour from Japan, and other Asian imports that showed where much of his money had gone. Rembrandt had to give up his home and move into smaller rented quarters. And just to make matters worse, only a couple of years later the Amsterdam Painter's Guild put new rules in effect that prevented someone in Rembrandt's position from selling their paintings and working as a painter. He got around it by having his son Titus and Hendrickje setup an art dealership and hiring Rembrandt on as an employee. Rembrandt continued to work fulfilling commissions but his pride had been struck.
It's interesting to note that there seems to be a particular focus on religious paintings from Rembrandt during these turbulent times. It's as if the artist was leaning on his faith, the faith that had been given to him by his parents but has become his own.
Tragedy struck Rembrandt in July 1663 when Hendrickje died suddenly, possibly of the bubonic plague. Then in September 1668 Rembrandt's only son Titus was taken by another wave of plague. Rembrandt had lost nearly everything and he himself died a year later on October 4, 1669. He was buried in a pauper's grave.
But he didn't die before completing what is one of his most moving works, The Return of the Prodigal Son. In it Rembrandt depicts the younger son from the parable being embraced by the father. And it is a touching memorial to Rembrandt's own life of excess and sin before his own return to the Father.
So, Rembrandt - not a perfect man but one who glorified God through his work and left a lasting tribute to his faith for us to enjoy.
Thanks for listening to this episode of the Giants of the Faith podcast. Until next time, God bless.
RESOURCES
Christian Today: https://www.christiantoday.com/article/rembrandt.and.the.bible/136244.htm
Christianity Today: https://www.christianitytoday.com/history/people/musiciansartistsandwriters/rembrandt-harmensz-van-rijn.html
Mercer University Press: https://merceruniversitypress.wordpress.com/2014/07/15/rembrandt-as-christian-artist/
Rembrandtpainting.net: http://www.rembrandtpainting.net/rembrandt_life_and_work.htm
National Gallery of Art: https://www.nga.gov/press/exh/0168.html
Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_paintings_by_Rembrandt
