Today, four of our intrepid travelers spent a number of glorious hours at the magnificent Hermitage Museum in central Amsterdam. With a number of exhibitions on display, we were able to gaze at masterpieces until our non-artistic brains froze in appreciative overload!

Rembrandt was born in 1606 in Leiden, a town in the southern province of The Netherlands. He died some sixty year later, an alcoholic and a pauper but leaving behind a legacy that still dazzles anyone who is lucky enough to view his works.

Following a number of years at a Latin school, Rembrandt is enrolled at Leiden University at the age of 13. However, this is not a good fit, and after only a few months, he leaves to pursue his true love of painting and becomes apprenticed to an artist.

In 1624, Rembrandt relocates to Amsterdam to work with Pieter Lastman, a painter of biblical, mythological and historical scenes with an eye for a landscape. From Lastman, Rembrandt learns how to paint faces, hands and feet………. this is his real introduction to portraits and what he is best known for as an artist.

When you stand six inches from the canvas, the brush strokes he uses to create a depth to the subject matter is mind-blowing; his painting technique introduces light and movement which so many of his contemporaries are unable to do; and he somehow conjures up a three-dimensional effect with the colours he selects.

In 1934, Rembrandt paints his young wife Saskia as Flora, the Roman goddess of spring, youth, flourishing nature and fertility. With her left hand, she gathers the heavy folds of her cloak around her stomach intimating to the viewer that she is pregnant. When you look really closely at Saskia’s left hand and pearl earring, you can see that Rembrandt has in fact moved both, yet the outline of where her hand and earring were originally located remain visible at close quarters!

 

A selfie with Rembrandt! From left: Mr. Bob, Uncle Mike, the blogger and Chris!