Creator Bio
Rembrandt van Rijn
1606–1669
Rembrandt von Rijn is considered one of the greatest artists of all time. Born in Leiden in the Netherlands as the son of a prosperous miller, he apprenticed with a local painter and an artist in Amsterdam as a teenager and eventually set up his own studio in Amsterdam. He pioneered a new way of using light and shadow. Rembrandt soon became the city’s most sought-after portrait artist, but despite his fame, he experienced financial difficulties and was forced to declare bankruptcy in 1656. Near the end of his life, he increasingly painted self-portraits. In addition to portraits, Rembrandt’s more than three hundred known paintings include historical and biblical scenes and landscapes.
Entries in the Posen Library by This Creator
Primary Source
Portrait of a Man, Thought to Be Dr. Ephraim Bueno
Rembrandt lived in the part of Amsterdam where the artist’s guild (St. Luke’s Guild) was located; by coincidence, it was home also to a number of Jews. His artworks attest to an interest in the…
Primary Source
Four Biblical Scenes
These four etchings were made by Rembrandt van Rijn for Menasseh Ben Israel’s book, Piedra Gloriosa (Glorious Stone), a messianic treatise. Clockwise from upper left, they illustrate the biblical…
Primary Source
Portrait of Dr. Ephraim Hezekiah Bueno
Rembrandt van Rijn lived in the part of Amsterdam where the artists’ guild (St. Luke’s Guild) was located. By coincidence, it was also home to a number of Jews. Rembrandt’s artworks attest to an…