Following a successful early career, Rembrandt van Rijn filed for ‘cessie van goede’ (insolvency) on July 26th, 1656. The poor management of his finances magnified other difficulties that he had with family, friends, neighbours, and patrons. 

Although Rembrandt’s bankruptcy was part of a scheme that purported to shield his house from his creditors, and pass it on to his family, he leant uncomfortably on his son Titus, insisting that once he turned 14 he was named in his will as his sole heir, shutting out his mother’s family.

In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly dig into the great artist’s Cabinet Of Curiosities; consider whether his lavish lifestyle was a necessity, given his high-class client base; and reveal how 17th Century Holland was a particularly brutal place to be buried…

Further Reading:

• ‘The misery that made Rembrandt a master: Bankruptcy, the loss of his family, a scheming mistress, the artist's messy later years produced the best work of his life’ (Mail Online, 2014): https://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-2797031/the-misery-rembrandt-master-bankruptcy-loss-family-scheming-mistress-artist-s-messy-later-years-produced-best-work-life.html

• ‘Rembrandt at The Wallace Collection: 'Titus, the Artist's Son'’ (Art UK, 2019): https://artuk.org/discover/stories/rembrandt-at-the-wallace-collection-titus-the-artists-son

• ‘The Tragic Real Life Story of Rembrandt’ (The School of Life, 2021): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fs4uHfZh3S4

#arts #Netherlands #1600s 

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The Retrospectors are Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina & Arion McNicoll, with Matt Hill.

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