One Page. Self-portraits of Rembrandt (1606-1669)

Self-portraits of Rembrandt (1606-1669)

1930 Netherlands postage stamps: Rembrandt series. Design by Jan Sluyters, gravure by H.Seegers. Head of Rembrandt in front of the "Syndics of the Drapers'Guild".

Head of Rembrandt is based on and a detail of "Self-portrait the Apostle Paul" from 1661. The Drapers'Guild is a painting made in 1662. Both are located in the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam.

Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn (15 July 1606 – 4 October 1669) was a Dutch draughtsman, painter, and printmaker. An innovative and prolific master in three media, he is generally considered one of the greatest visual artists in the history of art and the most important in Dutch art history.

Unlike most Dutch masters of the 17th century, Rembrandt's works depict a wide range of style and subject matter, from portraits and self-portraits to landscapes, genre scenes, allegorical and historical scenes, and biblical and mythological themes as well as animal studies. His contributions to art came in a period of great wealth and cultural achievement that historians call the Dutch Golden Age, when Dutch art (especially Dutch painting), although in many ways antithetical to the Baroque style that dominated Europe, was extremely prolific and innovative and gave rise to important new genres. Like many artists of the Dutch Golden Age, such as Jan Vermeer of Delft, Rembrandt was also an avid art collector and dealer.

1628: Netherlands FDC nr E-533 depicting on the left "A young Rembrandt when he was 22". A study of light and dark before the mirror. Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam

1628: Young Rembrandt, "the rebel". Rijksmuseum Amsterdam

1628: Netherlands Letter Card with Etching "Self-Portrait leaning forward"

1630: Etching "Self-portrait in a cap, with eyes wide open". Rijksmuseum Amsterdam

1630: Self-portrait with fur hat

1634: Self-portrait with cap

1633: Self-portrait with beret and gold chain. Museum Louvre Paris

1634: Self-portrait with raised kris. Montgomery Museum of Fine Arts

1635: Rembrandt and Saskia in the Parable of the prodigal son. Museum Dresden

1636: Etching Self-portrait with Saskia. Rijksmuseum Amsterdam

Rembrandt's foremost contribution in the history of printmaking was his transformation of the etching process from a relatively new reproductive technique into a true art form.

His reputation as the greatest etcher in the history of the medium was established in his lifetime and never questioned since. Few of his paintings left the Dutch Republic while he lived, but his prints were circulated throughout Europe, and his wider reputation was initially based on them alone.

1639: Detail of self-portrait.....

.....leaning on a sill. Etching.

National Gallery of Art, Washington D.C.

1640-1645: Banknote 1000Gld Netherlands. Design by J.F.Doeve. Valid 1956-1977. Rembrandt with beret and two golden chains. Museo Thijssen-Bornemisza, Madrid

1657: Mauretania, Self-portrait old Rembrandt. Museum Vienna, Austria

1665-1669: Netherlands, Self-portrait with two circles. Kenwood House, London

Ephemera

The Zero Euro is a souvenir banknote with authorized printing by the European Central Bank (ECB) and is on queue to be a popular in 2018 banknote collector markets. It’s origins stem from France in 2015 after Richard Faille, creator of popular French currency souvenirs, decided to create euros that promote tourism.

The banknotes are printed at a private fiduciary facility and they share many of the same characteristics of a real Euro except that they are marked as “0”, hence the name, and are tested to ensure they cannot enter circulation as legitimate financial currency. The front always includes a white zero followed by the Euro sign to denominate no financial value. It is also an excellent, new product for other tourism businesses such as gift shops and souvenir shops.

Notes

1. Most of the texts were taken from Wikipedia, a.o. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rembrandt

2. Illustrations are copied from various Internet sites or scanned from own stamp collection.

Thanks for your visit. Toon Oomens (Terneuzen, the Netherlands)