Rembrandt van Rijn is agreed to have been the greatest Dutch painter of the seventeenth century. The most versatile of artists, he excelled in all the genres while aspiring to be recognised as a 'history painter'. Although the opportunity to paint altarpieces was denied him in the officially Calvinist United Provinces where the interiors of the churches had been whitewashed, he was able to supply private collectors with biblical scenes. More mythological and biblical paintings were produced in Holland than we sometimes think, and Rembrandt received a number of such commissions. But the bulk of his practice was in portraits, and his ambition may explain why he began to invest them - especially the group portraits of corporate bodies - with the vivid semblance of narrative. His superb pictorial imagination and unparalleled technique enabled him to introduce drama and mystery by bold contrasts of light and shadow and of texture, from the delicately translucent to the thickly three-dimensional. His surfaces, unlike those of most of his contemporaries, are as alive as the characters he portrays. Not only was he able to evoke specific emotions to suit the action depicted, he convinces us that every figure he paints has the capacity to feel.

Preview	Picture Data	File Info	Comment
	The Anatomy Lecture of Dr. Nicolaes Tulp 1632 Oil on canvas, 170 x 217 cm Mauritshuis, The Hague	1700*1323 True Color 157 Kb
	The Anatomy Lecture of Dr. Nicolaes Tulp (detail) 1632 Oil on canvas Mauritshuis, The Hague	1133*1500 True Color 165 Kb
	The Anatomy Lecture of Dr. Nicolaes Tulp (detail) 1632 Oil on canvas Mauritshuis, The Hague	1094*1300 True Color 168 Kb
	The Anatomy Lecture of Dr. Nicolaes Tulp (detail) 1632 Oil on canvas Mauritshuis, The Hague	1045*770 True Color 71 Kb
	The Nightwatch 1642 Oil on canvas, 363 x 437 cm Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam	1600*1333 True Color 216 Kb
	The Nightwatch 1642 Oil on canvas, 363 x 437 cm Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam	1430*1200 True Color 195 Kb
	The Nightwatch (detail) 1642 Oil on canvas Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam	1200*1440 True Color 165 Kb
	The Nightwatch (detail) 1642 Oil on canvas Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam	1168*1400 True Color 198 Kb
	The Nightwatch (detail) 1642 Oil on canvas Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam	1018*850 True Color 105 Kb
	The Nightwatch (detail) 1642 Oil on canvas Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam	591*1000 True Color 66 Kb
	The Nightwatch (detail) 1642 Oil on canvas Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam	709*1196 True Color 98 Kb
	The Anatomy Lesson of Joan Deyman 1656 Oil on canvas, 100 x 134 cm Historisch Museum, Amsterdam	1600*1203 True Color 159 Kb
	Sampling Officials of the Drapers' Guild 1662 Oil on canvas, 192 x 279 cm Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam	1475*1000 True Color 120 Kb
	Sampling Officials of the Drapers' Guild 1662 Oil on canvas, 192 x 279 cm Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam	1180*800 True Color 141 Kb
	Sampling Officials of the Drapers' Guild (detail) 1662 Oil on canvas Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam	1177*1400 True Color 187 Kb
	Family Group 1666-68 Oil on canvaas, 126 x 167 Herzog Anton Ulrich-Museum, Braunschweig	1066*800 True Color 119 Kb