Intro

Hello and welcome to this episode of the podcast, "The Mnemonic Tree", where we add a single mnemonic leaf to our Tree of Knowledge.

I’m Jans, your Mnemonic Man, and today's episode will be on the Dutch master Rembrandt van Rijn.

And just before we get into today’s episode, as you may have noticed, I took a small break to travel to the wonderful country of Japan. After seeing Tokyo for around a week, we took a cruise and managed to get the four main islands in, Shikoku, Hokkaido, Honshu, and Kyushu, along with South Korea. I must say that the Tokyo subway is massive and quite extensive, running many levels deep, but it runs like clockwork. The gardens, shrines, and architecture are a definite must-see, the traditional food to die for, and the people, kind, gentle, and humble. And a special shoutout to the Japanese lady who helped us out with directions in the middle of a bustling Osaka station, and also a very special shoutout to our trivia buddies on the boat, Lisa and Alex from Pennsylvania, and Reggie from Victoria in Australia.

With that being said, we will get into the introduction.

Born in Leiden in the Netherlands in 1606, Rembrandt is known as the greatest artist in Dutch history and one of the greatest artists of all time.

Moving to Amsterdam is in his early twenties, he achieved early success as a portrait painter. Known for his masterful use of light and shadow, Rembrandt built atmosphere, dramatic contrasts, and evoked emotion in his paintings.

Rembrandt’s body of work included self-portraits, landscapes, genre scenes, historical and biblical depictions, animals, and etchings. Some of his more notable works include ‘The Night Watch,’ ‘The Anatomy Lesson of Dr. Nicolaes Tulp,’ ‘The Storm on the Sea of Galilee,’ and a series of intimate self-portraits that chronicled his life.

Despite his success, Rembrandt faced personal and financial difficulties later in life. He lost two wives, four children, and declared bankruptcy in 1656.

His ability to capture the mood, expressions, and tell a story is what sets him apart from his contemporaries. It is estimated that Rembrandt produced around 300 paintings, 300 etchings, and approximately 2000 drawings.

He mentored many Dutch painters and influenced generations of artists. The museum, Rembrandt’s House Museum in Amsterdam, is dedicated to his life and work, and is actually located in the very building where Rembrandt lived and worked.

Today’s mnemonic will be on Rembrandt’s top six paintings.

So, with that being said, we will begin with a summary from Wikipedia.

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Rembrandt_van_Rijn_-_Self-Portrait_-_Google_Art_Project.jpg

Wikipedia Summary

Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn; (15 July 1606[1] – 4 October 1669), mononymously known as Rembrandt, was a Dutch Golden Age painter, printmaker, and draughtsman. He is generally considered one of the greatest visual artists in the history of Western art.[3] It is estimated that Rembrandt's surviving works amount to about three hundred paintings, three hundred etchings and several hundred drawings.

Unlike most Dutch painters of the 17th century, Rembrandt's works depict a wide range of styles and subject matter, from portraits and self-portraits to landscapes, genre scenes, allegorical and historical scenes, biblical and mythological subjects and animal studies. His contributions to art came in a period that historians call the Dutch Golden Age.

Rembrandt never went abroad but was considerably influenced by the work of the Italian Old Masters and Dutch and Flemish artists who had studied in Italy. After he achieved youthful success as a portrait painter, Rembrandt's later years were marked by personal tragedy and financial hardships.

Yet his etchings and paintings were popular throughout his lifetime, his reputation as an artist remained high,[4] and for twenty years he taught many important Dutch painters.[5] Rembrandt's portraits of his contemporaries, self-portraits and illustrations of scenes from the Bible are regarded as his greatest creative triumphs.

His approximately 40 self-portraits form an intimate autobiography.[3][6]

Extracted from: [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rembrandt]

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:La_ronda_de_noche,_por_Rembrandt_van_Rijn.jpg

Mnemonic

Rembrandt – Top 6 Paintings Mnemonic – Rembrandt SANDS

(Picture Rembrandt using a sand ground, as he did, to add texture to his paintings)

1. The Return of the Prodigal Son

2. Self-Portrait with Two Circles

3. The Anatomy Lesson of Dr. Nicolaes Tulp

4. The Night Watch

5. Descent from the Cross

6. The Storm on the Sea of Galilee

Five Fun Facts

1. Rembrandt was born in the city of Leiden, which was then part of the Dutch Republic. He spent his entire youth there before moving to Amsterdam in 1631, where he married Saskia van Uylenburgh in 1634.

2. Rembrandt could either be described as a little vainglorious or a selfie specialist. He made around 100 self-portraits, and this practice honed his skills in facial expression, which is impeccably illustrated in his painting ‘The Anatomy Lesson of Dr. Nicolaes Tulp,’ which depicts an anatomical dissection.

3. Rembrandt had more than his fair share of tragedy in his life, with his first three children dying at a young age. His fourth child, Titus, born in 1641, survived, but barely a year later, his wife, Saskia, died, succumbing to Tuberculosis. His second wife, Hendrickje Stoffels, also died before him, along with his son, Titus, who died one year before Rembrandt’s death in 1669.

On other matters of bad luck, he also had one of his paintings stolen at a museum. Apparently, a man ran in, ripped it off the wall with his bare hands, and evaded the efforts of two guards before jumping into a white van that sped away with prodigious acceleration. To rub things in even more, the man taunted the guards by waving the painting out the back of the van as it sped away. So, with the two guards left standing on the museum steps, one guard said to the other, “Wow, look at that van go!” and the other replied, “It’s a Rembrandt, you idiot!”

4. Despite his artistic success, Rembrandt faced financial troubles later in life, including bankruptcy in 1656. He lived modestly after losing his house and art collection, but continued to paint, producing some of his most profound works during that period.

5. Rembrandt was also a skilled printmaker, revolutionizing etching techniques by combining fine detail with expressive brush-like strokes. His prints were widely collected and helped spread his fame beyond the Netherlands during his lifetime.

6. Rembrandt’s famous painting The Night Watch is actually much brighter and more colourful than its name suggests. The darkened appearance is due to centuries of varnish and dirt. This dynamic composition features a military company in action, depicting motion and a lively scene.