1606-1669 Dutch painter, draughtsman and etcher. From 1632 onwards he signed his works with only the forename Rembrandt; in documents, however, he continued to sign Rembrandt van Rijn (occasionally van Rhyn), initially with the addition of the patronymic 'Harmensz.'. This was no doubt in imitation of the great Italians such as Leonardo, Michelangelo, Raphael and Titian, on whom he modelled himself, sometimes literally. He certainly equalled them in fame, and not only in his own country. His name still symbolizes a whole period of art history rightfully known as 'Holland's Golden Age'. In 1970-71 a great exhibition in Paris was devoted to it under the eloquent title Le Si?cle de Rembrandt. A century before, a popular work of cultural history by C. Busken Huet referred to the Netherlands as 'the land of Rembrandt'. His fame is partly due to his multi-faceted talent. Frans Hals was perhaps at times a greater virtuoso with the brush but remained 'only' a portrait painter. Vermeer may have excelled Rembrandt in the art of illusion but was less prolific. Rembrandt was not only a gifted painter but also an inspired graphic artist: he has probably never been surpassed as an etcher, and he often seems inimitable as a draughtsman. His subjects reflect his manifold talent and interests. He painted, drew and etched portraits, landscapes, figures and animals, but, above all, scenes of biblical and secular history and mythology.   Related Paintings of Rembrandt van rijn :. | two lod men disputing | self portrait at the age of 34 | Minerva | Bathsheba with David's Letter | Bust of a man in a gorget and a feathered beret. |
Related Artists:
Miguel Cabrera
(1695-1768) was an indigenous Zapotec painter during the Viceroyalty of New Spain, today's Mexico. During his lifetime, he was recognized as the greatest painter in all of New Spain. He was born in Antequera, today's Oaxaca, Oaxaca, and moved to Mexico City in 1719. He may have studied under the Rodreguez Juerez brothers or Jose de Ibarra. Cabrera was a favorite painter of the Archbishop and of the Jesuit order, which earned him many commissions. His work was influenced by Bartolome Esteban Murillo and the French painting of his time. While Miguel is most famous for his Casta paintings and his portrait of the poet Sor Juana, he also executed one of the first portraits of St. Juan Diego. In 1752 he was permitted access to the icon of Our Lady of Guadalupe to make three copies: one for Archbishop Jose Manuel Rubio y Salinas, one for the Pope, and a third to use as a model for further copies. In 1756 he created an important early study of the icon of Our Lady of Guadalupe, Maravilla americana y conjunto de raras maravillas observadas con la direccien de las reglas del arte de la pintura The essential purpose of Maravilla Americana was to affirm the 1666 opinions of the witnesses who swore that the image of the Virgin was of a miraculous nature. However, he also elaborated a novel opinion: the image was crafted with a unique variety of techniques. He contended that the Virgin's face and hands were painted in oil paint, while her tunic, mandorla, and the cherub at her feet were all painted in egg tempera. Finally, her mantle was executed in gouache. He observed that the golden rays emanating from the Virgin seemed to be of dust that was woven into the very fabric of the canvas, which he asserted was of "a coarse weave of certain threads which we vulgarly call pita," a cloth woven from palm fibers. In 1753, he founded the second Academy of Painting in Mexico City and served as its director.
Carl Friedrich Lessing
German Painter, 1808-1880,Painter, great-nephew of GOTTHOLD EPHRAIM LESSING. He studied architecture in Berlin at the Kenigliche Bau-Akademie under Karl Friedrich Schinkel, before transferring to the Kunstakademie, where he became a pupil of Wilhelm Schadow in 1825. The next year Lessing followed Schadow to Desseldorf, where the latter had been appointed Director of the Kunstakademie. Almost to the end of his career Lessing was to follow Schadow's rules for a standard series of procedures in the production of a finished work: compositional sketch, oil study, detailed model study, cartoon and underdrawing for the final painting. Without an official position, Lessing worked at the Desseldorf Akademie until 1858
Willem Van Leen
Dutch, 1753-1825