Rembrandt in 2006: splendeur et misère van een herdenkingsjaar

Abstract

M. Alexander-Knotter, e.a., De 'joodse' Rembrandt. De mythe ontrafeld; S.A.C. Dudok van Heel, De jonge Rembrandt onder tijdgenoten. Godsdienst en schilderkunst in Leiden en Amsterdam; M. Roscam Abbing, Rembrandt 2006. Essays; Rembrandt 2006. New Rembrandt documents; R. van Straten, Rembrandts Leidse tijd 1606-1632; Chr. Tümpel, Rembrandt en de bijbel. Alle etsen; Ch. Vogelaar, e.a., Rembrandts landschappen; M. de. Winkel, Fashion and fancy. Dress and meaning in Rembrandt's paintings; E. Runia, e.a., Rembrandt in het Mauritshuis; G. Hoekveld-Meijer, De God van Rembrandt. Rembrandt als commentator van de godsdienst van zijn tijd; Ch. Vogelaar, e.a., Rembrandts moeder. Mythe en werkelijkheid; E. van de Wetering, e.a., Rembrandt. Zoektocht van een genie; M. Roscam Abbing, Rembrandt. Leven en werk van de grootste schilder aller tijden; A. K. Wheelock jr., e.a., Rembrandts late religieuze portretten; D. Bull, e.a., Rembrandt. Caravaggio; H. Beliën, e.a., Langs Rembrandts roem. De reputatie van een meester; F. Lammertse, e.a., Uylenburgh en zoon. Kunst en commercie van Rembrandt tot De Lairesse 1625-1675; G. Schwartz, De grote Rembrandt; A. McNeil Kettering, Rembrandts groepsportretten; M. Schapelhouman, Rembrandt en de kunst van het tekenen; B. Broos, Het Rembrandt boek

Rembrandt in 2006: splendeur et misère of a Year of Remembrance
The 400th anniversary of Rembrandt’s birth was celebrated with exhibitions and other activities. Compared to the previous celebration, the commercial aspects were strikingly evident. Various interpretations of Rembrandt’s work were presented; here they are considered from a historian’s point of view. To what extent did art historians incorporate historical aspects of Rembrandt’s life into their opinions? Many a book published on the occasion of an exhibition contained articles about art history but rarely a catalogue of the works on display. A few authors ventured to present historical interpretations, most of them marred by suggestiveness and/or faulty chronology. In more historically oriented publications efforts were made to present new facts. Did Rembrandt disclose his opinion on the religious quarrels in the United Provinces in his early paintings? Rembrandt’s presupposed intimate knowledge of Jews and Jewish life is now doubted. One thing is certain: the study of the clothes worn by those represented in Rembrandt’s works did lead to new findings about the artist’s intentions.