One of the most famous Dutch painters of the 17th century, **Rembrandt van Rijn**, was one of the most fascinating artists of all time. His original, dramatic paintings, full of contrasts between light and dark, are known throughout the world. Rembrandt's work is incredibly diverse. He painted historical scenes and portraits, as well as works with mythological or biblical themes, landscapes, and still lifes. His artistic style, especially in his later period, was ahead of its time. During his career, he created approximately 300 paintings, three hundred etchings, two thousand drawings, and many other prints and engravings. His period of creation falls within what is known as the Dutch Golden Age, a period of flourishing of Dutch society and its culture in the 17th century, due to the country's economic development through colonial expansion. Rembrandt became a sought-after and famous artist during his lifetime and was soon considered the greatest Dutch painter. He remains a major influence on modern art. He was born as Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn on July 15, 1606, in Leiden. His father, Harmen Gerritszoon van Rijn, was a wealthy miller, and his mother, Neeltge Willemsdochter van Zuitbroeck, was the daughter of a baker. He was their ninth child, and as the most talented of his siblings, he was the only one who went on to study. He attended the local Latin school, which provided religious education, because his parents wanted him to become a pastor. In May 1620, at the age of almost fourteen, he enrolled at Leiden University, where he studied classical literature, grammar, and rhetoric, and gained an understanding of classical and biblical stories. After a year, he left school and became an apprentice to the history painter Jacob van Swanenburgh for three years. At the turn of 1624-25, he spent six months in Amsterdam as an apprentice to the painter Pieter Lastman, who had recently returned from Italy and was a great admirer of the Italian painter Michelangelo Merisi, known as Caravaggio. Caravaggio used the technique of "chiaroscuro," or strong contrasts between light and dark, which Rembrandt later developed extensively, creating a mysterious and almost magical effect in his paintings. In 1625, Rembrandt returned to his father's house, where he opened his own workshop. His oldest dated painting is "The Stoning of Saint Stephen" from 1625. He was successful, and commissions poured in, as even poorer people wanted their own paintings; he offered them prints. In 1628, he took on his first apprentice; this year also saw the creation of an etching of an old woman, likely his mother, and an etching of his own likeness, marking the beginning of his series of self-portraits. He portrayed himself most often – it is believed that he painted and graphically depicted about fifty or sixty of his own likenesses. A year later, he painted a self-portrait in oil and received a commission from the Dutch Stadtholder, Prince of Orange, and the court in The Hague. In 1631, Rembrandt, already a well-known and famous painter, moved to Amsterdam, where he lived in the house of art dealer Hendrick Uylenburgh and had a studio there. It was during this time that his passion for collecting expensive clothing, lace, jewelry, paintings, and prints began. He is said to have even ground gemstones into his paints to make the paintings more sparkly. In the same year, he painted the famous painting of a dissection, "The Anatomy Lesson of Dr. Tulp," as a record of a lecture in which the anatomist showed laypeople the anatomy of an arm during the autopsy of an executed criminal. He also created a series of portraits of prominent Dutch figures of the time.In Uylenburgh's house, Rembrandt met his cousin, the orphaned Saskia van Uylenburgh. Her father had been the mayor of the city of Leeuwarden and one of the founders of the second oldest Dutch university in Franeker (which no longer exists). They fell in love, and they were married in June 1634. Saskia was a wealthy bride, and her dowry, along with Rembrandt's substantial income, allowed the newlyweds to live comfortably. They bought a house near the district of wealthy Jewish merchants, where Rembrandt often sought models for his paintings of scenes from the Old Testament. His wife also served as a model for him. Today, the house serves as the Rembrandt House Museum. From 1635, the painter taught at his own academy. Unfortunately, the young couple was struck by tragedy – their first son, Rumbartus, died two months after his birth. Two other children, daughters named Cornelia, also died in 1638 and 1640, just weeks after they were born. In the autumn of 1641, their son Titus was born, but Saskia's tuberculosis worsened, and she died in July 1642 at the age of thirty. At that time, Rembrandt was painting one of his most famous works, "The Night Watch," commissioned by a guild of local city guards; however, the painting was not well-received by the commissioners, as some felt they were "depicted unfavorably." The painter hired a nanny, a young widow named Geertje Dirckx, to care for little Titus. After Saskia's death, Geertje became his partner. He painted her in the famous painting "Danae" in 1636. After seven years, their relationship ended in legal disputes over Saskia's jewelry and a lawsuit against Rembrandt for breach of marital vows. Rembrandt, who would lose Saskia's inheritance if he remarried, had to pay Geertje alimony, but because she allegedly blackmailed him, he eventually managed to have her sent to a women's reformatory in Gouda in 1650, where she died six years later. During the legal disputes, Rembrandt was unable to paint a single picture. Even during the legal proceedings, he began a relationship with a young maidservant, Hendrickje Stoffels, which lasted until her death. He later painted her in works such as "Bathsheba at Her Bath" and "Bathsheba Receiving the Letter from King David." Both paintings were created in 1654, when Hendrickje gave birth to their daughter, Cornelia. Hendrickje was brought before the church court for "living in sin" with Rembrandt, and Rembrandt began to lose commissions. It was also during this time that his financial situation began to deteriorate. However, he could not marry Hendrickje, as he would have lost the remainder of Saskia's inheritance. To escape his creditors, he began to sell his collections, and in 1658, he had to sell his house. Due to local laws, he was not allowed to sell his own works after his bankruptcy, so Hendrickje and Titus established a company for trading in paintings in 1660, and Rembrandt became their supplier. They secured a number of commissions for him from wealthy local families, as well as from the Amsterdam city council. In 1662, he painted "The Syndics," a group portrait of five officials and a clerk.Rembrandt was very modest in his life when it came to food or clothing, but he continued to pursue his passion for collecting, despite his debts and poverty. In July 1663, Hendrickje died, likely from breast cancer. Around this time, Rembrandt painted a portrait called "Portrait of an Old Man," which experts believe is a portrait of Jan Amos Komensky, whom he had met. In June 1665, Titus graduated from high school, and three years later, he married Magdalena van Loo, the daughter of a silversmith. Unfortunately, he died shortly after the wedding from the plague, and he did not live to see the birth of his daughter, Titi, in March 1669. Rembrandt then lived alone with his daughter, Cornelia. He died in Amsterdam on October 4, 1669, at the age of 63, likely due to depression, according to modern experts who study his later self-portraits. The exact location of his final resting place is unknown.

Translation: legacy (English)

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