10 Paintings: Rembrandt van Rijn Quiz

Answer: Teaching an anatomy lesson

"The Anatomy Lesson of Dr. Nicolaes Tulp" was an early painting of Rembrandt's, commissioned to him when he was just 26 years old, his first in Amsterdam. Rembrandt was basing his painting on a real-life event, a dissection of a human cadaver that took place on January 31, 1632, by the Amsterdam Guild of Surgeons.

However, the scene Rembrandt depicts isn't realistic. In a true anatomy lesson of the time, the surgeons would start by opening the chest cavity as the organs there decay the most quickly. The dissection of the arm, as shown in the painting, would have happened much later.

The men in the painting were all real people who had paid to be in the commissioned painting, including Dr. Tulp. The identity of the man on the table is also known, a criminal named Aris Kindt. Dissections in Amsterdam at that time were performed only on those executed of a crime.

Answer: kenlijckheyt

One translation for "kenlijckheyt" would be "perceptibility." It can be seen as an aspect of spatial depth. Many of Rembrandt's paintings were said to harness techniques that created varying depths. This included color, but paintings aren't just simple, flat images. Rembrandt used the thickness of the paint itself to help create the depth and contrasts he wanted in his paintings.

Though "De Stijl" is also Dutch (meaning "The Style"), this art movement didn't take place until the 20th century and was related to abstract art.

Answer: Considerable portions of the painting were trimmed off so it would fit.

The alteration of the painting (60 cm from the left, 23 cm from the top, 12 cm from the bottom, and 7 cm from the right) allowed it to fit between two columns in the Amsterdam Town Hall. The trimming actually removed two whole subjects from the left side of the painting. Unfortunately, the fragments that were cut off are believed to be lost to history.

In 2021, a project to restore the painting to its full size was completed, giving museum-goers a chance to see what the full painting might have looked like and making it even larger than it already was. Artificial intelligence was used to help restore the painting. Dutch painter Gerrit Lundens's 17th-century copy of the original painting was used to help imagine the two subjects that had previously been cut off.

Answer: Isaac and Rebecca

Based on historical evidence and a past sketch Rembrandt had done featuring the Biblical couple, the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam has given this painting the alternate title of "Isaac and Rebecca". The museum goes on to explain that the scene depicted is the one in which the couple try to save their own lives by concealing their marriage and pretending to be brother and sister only to be caught in a tender embrace.

It is believed that the models for this painting were a Dutch married couple painted with clothing that was not contemporary to his time, more likely what Rembrandt imagined exotic Biblical clothing would look like.

Answer: False

"The Storm on the Sea of Galilee" likely had very few visitors as the painting was stolen from the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston in 1990. The painting has remained missing for over 30 years and its whereabouts are unknown. Another painting titled "A Lady and Gentleman in Black" by Rembrandt was also stolen, as well as paintings and sketches done by Vermeer, Manet, and Degas. In total, the heist was believed to have captured around $500 million in value at the time.

The painting was Rembrandt's only seascape.

Answer: Syndics of the Drapers' Guild

A draper is a person who sells cloth, and the men in the picture belong to the guild which oversaw its quality. Weavers would submit their cloth for inspection, and the syndics would assess its quality on a scale of 1 to 4. This painting was commissioned by the guild itself and hung in their guildhall until 1771. Rembrandt painted many portraits, and this painting was his last collective portrait.

Answer: True

Many art historians will tell you that some of Rembrandt's most emotional art comes from the period of his wife's sickness. Shortly after her death, Geertje Dircx came into his family's service as a wet nurse and became Rembrandt's mistress.

"Danaë" was originally painted in 1636, but Rembrandt went back and reworked the painting significantly years later, with most art historians guessing 1643, the year Dircx came into his service. Rembrandt replaced his deceased wife's face with that of Geertje Dircx. The two separated inhospitably in 1649.

Answer: Hebrew

The story of Belshazzar in the Bible doesn't specifically mention the language of the message left by the divine hand, but most scholars assume it to be Aramaic. Rembrandt's work instead paints it as Hebrew, a form that he altered to be incorrect. One character is transcribed incorrectly and the writing is put into columns rather than in the right-to-left row format of the Hebrew language.

The alteration is purposeful. The biblical story mentions how the Babylonian wise men couldn't decipher the message, and Rembrandt arranged the Hebrew characters to be nonsensical if read in a normal manner.

Answer: The Prodigal Son in the Brothel

"The Prodigal Son in the Brothel" certainly isn't Rembrandt's best painting, but it does show he had a playful side. The painting was done amidst the height of his success, which began to diminish with the passing of Saskia.

It is telling that Rembrandt painted himself as the "prodigal son" in the painting.

Answer: Circles

No one really knows what the circles behind Rembrandt are meant to signify, but some art historians posit that they are meant to depict a sort of imperfect perfection. At the time, stories of being able to draw perfectly round circles with one fluid line were a popular way of demonstrating one's inherent perfectness. Rembrandt instead made "perfect" circles with his typical rough, choppy strokes. Add in his somewhat combative pose, and there's a lot that one can read into while observing the painting.