Rembrandt's youth

Rembrandt was born in Leiden on July 15, 1606 as the son of the miller Gerrit van Rijn and his wife Cornelia van Zuydbroeck. He was educated in Leiden, first in Latin school and later he attended the university that had been established there in 1574. He had more interested in painting and his parents allowed him to be apprenticed to Jacob van Swanenburg and later to Jan Lievens.

Rembrandt and Saskia

By 1631, he had established himself in Amsterdam. He was doing so well that he was considered eligible to marry Saskia van Uylenburg, the great-niece of one of his patrons in 1634. The couple had several children who died in infancy. Their only surviving child was Titus, born in 1641. Saskia died in 1642, leaving Rembrandt to take care of his infant son.

Rembrandt hired Geertje Dircx, a soldier's widow, to take care of Titus. She became not only his son's nurse but also Rembrandt's lover. She even dragged him into court for not marrying him. At that time she had been replaced by another young woman, Hendrickje Stoffels.

Hendrickje Stoffels

Portrait of a woman believed to be Hendrickje Stoffels

Here's where my personal interest comes in. One of the brothers of Hendrickje Stoffels is my ancestor Harmen Jegers. Hendrickje is called either Stoffels (a patronymic) or Jegers.

Hendrickje became Rembrandt's wife in all but law. She ran his household, bore his child, and later even ran his artdealership together with Titus when Rembrandt was on the verge of bankruptcy. Rembrandt was never able to marry her, Saskia's will meant he could not remarry without loosing her sizeable estate.

Hendrickje Stoffels also modelled for Rembrandt. There are several oil paintings that show a woman suspected to be Hendrickje Stoffels.

The end

Rembrandt outlived both Titus and Hendrickje. Hendrickje Stoffels died in 1663, Titus in 1668. Rembrandt passed away on October 4, 1669 and is burried in the Westerkerk.

2006: Rembrandt year

Throughout 2006, many events celebrate the birthday of the famous Dutch painter:

• There is a brilliant exhibition in the Van Gogh museum in Amsterdam that features works by Rembrandt and Caravaggio and allows the viewer to compare the two. See Rembrandt-Caravaggio.
• The Leiden City museum De Lakenhal has several exhibitions throughout the year. I visited the one about Rembrandt and his mother. This exhibition did not only feature paintings and etchings by Rembrandt but also presented a lot of genealogical records about his family from the Leiden municipal archives.
  Check the Lakenhal Rembrandt website for more information about their exhibitions.
• Other events throughout the country can be found on the official Rembrandt 400 website.