Rembrandt
2 of the 6 encyclopedias on this shelf carry an entry for Rembrandt. Both are reproduced below, so you can see where they agree and where they differ.
Aiton's Encyclopedia (1910)
rem'brant (1606-1669), a celebrated Dutch painter and etcher. He was born in Leyden. His full name was Rembrandt Hermanzoon van Ryn. The father was a well-to-do miller. Having launched four sons in trade, he intended Rembrandt, the fifth son, to be a scholar, and therefore sent him to the Academy of Leyden, "that when he became of age he might serve the city and the republic with his knowledge." But the boy disappointed expectation and showed no inclination toward books. He would be a painter, and finally his parents allowed him his way. The boy commenced to study art when twelve years of age. At seventeen his education was looked upon as finished, and he began to paint portraits. After a few years he went to Amsterdam where he won immediate success. He married a wealthy woman, Saskia van Ulenburgh, whose portrait he painted many times. Rembrandt established a fine home, surrounded himself with books and pictures, was very popular, and for some years prosperous and happy. In 1642 his wife died. The artist then seemed to lose heart in his work. He continued to paint, but his work was less in demand. Hard times came on and, perhaps through mismanagement, Rembrandt became involved financially and finally went into bankruptcy. His beautiful home and all his costly works of art were sold to satisfy his creditors. Rembrandt was left with nothing. The great painter sank into obscurity and died unnoticed. Of Rembrandt's paintings, the Night Watch is considered his masterpiece. It is in the Museum of Amsterdam. It represents twenty-three personages, officers, soldiers, a standard bearer, and a drummer patrolling the street. The Syndics of the Cloth Makers hangs in the same collection. Saint Paul in Prison is at Stuttgart; The Supper at Emmaus in the Louvre. Rembrandt was noted also as an etcher. Three Trees, Burgomaster Six, The Death of the Virgin, The Goldweigher, and The Cottage with the Great Tree are noted. The tri-centenary of Rembrandt's birth was celebrated at Leyden and at Amsterdam July 16, 1906, with appropriate exercises. See Painting
Collier's New Encyclopedia (1921)
VAN RYN, one of the most celebrated painters and engravers of the Dutch school; born in Leyden, " VAN RYN REMBRANDT Holland, July 15, 1606. He acquired his art from several masters at Amsterdam, and early in life grew famous. Rembrandt was master of all that relates to coloring, distribution of light and shade, and composition. His etchings have wonderful freedom, facility, and boldness. Rembrandt was twice married, resided during the greater part of his life at Amsterdam. Among his well-known works are: "The Anatomical Lecture" (1632); "Descent from the Cross" (1633); "St. Thomas" (1634); "Tobias and the Angel" (1638); "Portrait of his Mother" (1639); "The Gilder" (1640); "The Night Watch" (1642) considered his masterpiece; "Christ Healing the ; (1657); "The Synodics" (1661); and The " Betrothed Jewess" (1669). He died in Amsterdam and was buried Oct. 8, 1669.
What Has Changed in the Last Century
Aiton's account of 1910, that Rembrandt after 1642 "sank into obscurity and died unnoticed," is the version modern scholarship has most firmly overturned: he was bankrupt in 1656 but never forgotten, and won major late commissions such as the Syndics of the Drapers' Guild in 1662. The size of his output has shrunk drastically — the Rembrandt Research Project, which worked from 1968 to 2011, cut the accepted list of paintings from something like 700 to roughly 350, demoting famous pictures such as the Berlin "Man with the Golden Helmet" to his workshop in 1985. Collier's statement in 1921 that he was "twice married" is no longer accepted: Saskia was his only wife, and his later partners Geertje Dircx and Hendrickje Stoffels, now central to any biography, go unmentioned in both entries. The Night Watch, still in Amsterdam and still called his masterpiece, has since survived knife attacks and an acid attack and been the subject of a public conservation campaign, Operation Night Watch, begun in 2019.
Written for this edition, 2026.