Rembrandt [antikvár]

chapter oneSon of a millerNo one can say what makes an artist. We know that Rembrandt was born at Ley den on 15 July 1606, that he was the sixth of a family of seven children, that his father Harmen Gerritszoon worked a mill near the Rhine (whence the name van Rijn), that his mother Neeltge Willemsdochter van Zuytbroek was a baker's daughter. About the origins of Rembrandt the citizen we are well informed, yet what do these details tell us of the origins of Rembrandt the artist?The normal career in Rembrandt's family was one of the manual professions: one of his brothers was to follow his father into milling, while another became a baker, and a third a cobbler. Who or what prompted the youngest boy to devote himself to artistic creation we do not know. Nor do we know at what point of time or in what circumstances his talent was revealed to him, nor what was the feeling of dissatisfaction with everyday life which made him want to produce a more exciting reality for which he alone would be responsible. These are questions for which no answers will ever be found.We are told that his mother inspired him with a love of the Bible, thus providing him with one of his main sources of inspiration. But7