Rembrandt's Money

Send us Fan Mail In a previous podcast, I ended with the problems surrounding the acceptance of Rembrandt’s inheritance which concerned various people. Here, I’ll provide some background information on these people. This podcast is a counterpart to podcast RM24022 which dealt with the last ten years of Rembrandt as a professional artist. Now, the subject is the last years of his private life.  1. ...

Send us Fan Mail At least five women played a role in Rembrandt's life and he had a love affair with three of them. First, with Saskia van Uylenburgh (1612-1642), whom he married. Second, after Saskia's death, with Geertje Dircx (approx. 1610-1656) who was nanny to his son Titus. This relationship soon floundered and Rembrandt's role in the acrimonious ending of their relationship w...

Send us Fan Mail Introduction From 1631 onwards, Rembrandt (1606-1669) led a turbulent life in Amsterdam that would span a period of thirty years. He reached the top of his professional field, producing many portraits and of course the famous Night Watch in 1642. But by the 1650s, he was facing financial problems. He and his life companion Hendrickje Stoffels were forced to leave the large house a...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode I will discuss these self-portraits and more specifically Rembrandt’s impressive self-portrait of 1658. Rembrandt was 52 years old when he painted it. For over 100 years, it has hung in New York’s Frick Collection. Why did  Henry Clay Frick buy it and what did he think of this portrait? What are the features of self-portraits and where do ‘tronies’ fit in? How is t...

Send us Fan Mail One of the reasons I decided to study Rembrandt, the artist-entrepreneur, was that I learnt he had gone ‘bankrupt’ in 1656. This would have brought him into contact with the legal system that existed at that time. During my research, I also discovered that he was a rather stubborn man who had got himeself into trouble a number of times. This all transpired when he was working as a...

Send us Fan Mail Without a doubt, the beautiful work The Night Watch is Rembrandt’s most striking painting. That’s why I’ve dedicated two podcasts to the painting. This second one is RM24019, The Night Watch – The Icon Painting. Where was this enormous painting made, why are some people in the foreground and others in the background? I’ll tell you the whole story. Enjoy. 1.    Idea, research, auth...

Send us Fan Mail If I say ‘The Night Watch’, most Dutch people can immediately conjure up an image of this famous painting. What’s more – they think about it with not only a sense of admiration, but also national pride. As I said in earlier podcasts of this series, citing the words of sociologist Paul Schnabel: ‘It has become our national icon and the whole world comes to see it.’ His most famous...

Send us Fan Mail Query In my podcast RM24011 about Rembrandt’s insolvency, I also discussed which assets where incuded in the well-known inventory-list. It was made up during a two-day period, on 25 and 26 July 1656, by Frans Bruijningh, the secretary of the Chamber of Abandoned and Insolvent Estates. On today’s terms one could sat the insolvency court. In that podcast I also tossed some queries w...

Send us Fan Mail Dutch East India Company (Verenigde Oostindische Compagnie, VOC) Between 1568 and 1648 the seven provinces of the Dutch Republic were at war with Spain. In 1621, a Twelve Years’ Truce ended without the need to extend it. Hostilities between the Republic and Spain resumed. During that period, international trade continued to flourish. The Dutch commercial companies at that time wer...

Send us Fan Mail Welcome, or welcome back again!  The other day I told you that Rembrandt’s main sources of income were three of a kind: (i) commissions (assignments) for paintings, (ii) selling etches, and (ii) fees for teaching students. See the related podcast Rembrandts Money (available via  www.rembrandtsmoney.com , under podcast 24014, ‘Studying with Rembrandt’).   In that podcast, I gave so...

Send us Fan Mail Welcome, or welcome back again. Today it is literally about Rembrandt's money. Rembrandt had three main sources of income: commissions for paintings, selling etches and receiving fees from teaching pupils. We are most familiar with his paintings and etches, commissioned by patrons or produced for the commercial market, or just simply for private use. Much less is known about...

Send us Fan Mail In my podcast on this subject, I had an interesting conversation with Dr. Maurits den Hollander. In the blog-text accompanying the podcast we decided to post a short summary of our discussion at the end of the text below. This is my description of the fascinating history of the birth of Amsterdam as a city, based on the specific rights it received in the 12th and 13th century.    ...

Send us Fan Mail In my podcast on this subject, I had an interesting conversation with Dr. Maurits den Hollander. As an introduction, Maurits den Hollander is a historian who specializes in legal and institutional developments in the late medieval and early modern period (around 1300 – 1700). Throughout his work, Maurits strives to embed legal developments into their broader social, economic, and...

Send us Fan Mail Welcome, or welcome back again.   When I tell people that Rembrandt, the famous Dutch painter, went bankrupt, half of them just didn't know. The other half had sometimes, some only vaguely, heard of it. Most people would like to know a lot more about it.    Well, the this podcast caters to their needs.   This happens in two ways. By telling the story, in short and summarized,...

Send us Fan Mail Welcome or welcome back again!  Rembrandt was 32 and Saskia 26 when they purchased a large house and premises in the Breestreet in Amsterdam. The contract dates from 1639. The house formed a part of their marital community of property.    Seventeen years later, in 1656, Rembrandt transferred the house to his son Titus. Until 2019, it was assumed that Rembrandt indeed transferred o...

Send us Fan Mail This we didn't know until the 1960s: Rembrandt had a relationship with his housekeeper and caretaker of his son Titus. Her name was Geertje Dircx and she was about four years younger than Rembrandt. It was shortly after Saskia's death. Geertje Dircks became Titus' caretaker in 1642. Rembrandt began a relationship with her. Later, this relationship became a thorny pa...

Send us Fan Mail Welcome, or welcome again. In this episode of Rembrandt's Money, I'll tell you about the house Rembrandt purchased in 1639. Spoiler alert: You can visit that house now: In this Rembrandt House Museum you can follow Rembrandt's life with new exhibitions every time. But, before you go... In this podcast  I’ll tell you everything you need to know about this house itsel...

Send us Fan Mail Welcome, or welcome back again! This time I will be taking you back to swirly Amsterdam in the first half of the 17th century and its mixed population. Migration is is deeply anchored in Amsterdam's DNA. Since the 16th century, many thousands of newcomers have settled there every year, whether refugees of faith, or persons in search of a better life. And this migration is the...

Send us Fan Mail Rembrandt married Saskia Uylenburgh in 1634. The marriage must have been the talk of the town. The great painter Rembrandt and Saskia, daughter of a former mayor of Leeuwarden and a high-ranking senior administrator in the province of Friesland – their union must have received a lot of attention. But there were no newspapers in those days. So, what do we know about the marriage? ...

Send us Fan Mail  Around 1630, Rembrandt worked in his first Amsterdam years with art dealer Hendrick Uylenburgh. Hendrick’s network had a significant impact on Rembrandt. Rembrandt painted between 1631 and 1634 at least fifty portraits. At the same time, Rembrandt experienced his first artistic breakthrough in 1632 with 'The anatomical lesson of Dr. Nicolaes Tulp'. Two years later, in 1...

Send us Fan Mail RM24004 – Uylenburgh art studio     I will be taking you back to swirly Amsterdam of the 17th century. Migration is is deeply anchored in Amsterdam's DNA. Since the 16th century, thousands of newcomers settled every year, whether refugees of faith, or persons in search of a better life. This migration is the driving force behind the enormous diversity, that still characterize...

Send us Fan Mail RM24003 – From birth name to brand fame    In this episode we will explore the story of Rembrandt’s different signatures under his artwork. A fascinating way to trace Rembrandt’s artistic development, his self image, and his desire to build a high-class reputation. So we understand how he wanted to be seen by his contemporaries, and by later generations. 1.    Idea, research, auth...

Send us Fan Mail RM24002 – A young entrepreneur in Leiden    This episode will be about Rembrandt’s signatures under his artwork. A surprising search into the way he presents himself in his first years in Amsterdam.  1.    Blog: https://www.rembrandtsmoney.com/blog/     2.    Sources: https://www.rembrandtsmoney.com/sources/     3.    Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rembrandtsmoney/   4.    F...

Send us Fan Mail RM24001 – A National Icon Welcome or welcome back again. In this episode I I wil tell you why Rembrandt is a national icon in the Netherlands.  How, when, and why did he become a Dutch national hero? Mmmm? Rembrandt a Dutch icon? There was plenty of criticism about him. He was bad with money. Wasn't he trying to defraud his creditors? Wasn't he grumpy and stubborn in his...