The Story Of The Rembrandt House

The Rembrandt House is the place where the great artist Rembrandt lived and worked for several years.

The house, which is now, a museum exhibiting the talent of this famous personality is located at Jodenbreestraat in Amsterdam.

Rembrandt house was purchased in the year 1639 until the artist was fully bankrupted when all his possessions went on auction in the year 1656.

This house was wonderfully constructed on two lots in the eastern section of the city.

The house is a two-storey residence with stepped gabble. Between the years 1627 and 1628, the house had been wonderfully remodeled. It was given a new façade, a triangular corniced pediment, with an additional storey afterwards.

Rembrandt purchased the Rembrandt house for a price of thirteen thousand guilders, which the artist was not able to spend at a time. He was therefore allowed to pay the money in installments.

By this time, Rembrandt was known by all as one of the greatest artists of the time. He received the prestigious commission to paint the Night Watch. Rembrandt got the money he wanted but he was simply disinterested in paying the mortgage.

Time went by and so also the money. At the end, Rembrandt was left with nothing. This brought about his ruin and in the year 1656, his property was inventoried to pay off his creditors.

Situation became so adverse that even his household effects and collection of art and curiosities were sold out to meet all fiscal ends.

After the year 1911, the house went through some major developments. The house was extended and the façade of the new building was exclusively designed by the architects Moshé Zwarts and Rein Jansma and the inside of the building was artistically adorned by Peter Sas.

The new wing of the house was opened on 7th May 1998 with two exhibition galleries, the secretarial department, offices, library and Rembrandt Information Center.

The restoration of the entire building was completed by the year 1999 and the structural drawing for the restoration was done by architect Maarten Neerincx after a consultation with Zantkuijl.

After the official inauguration of the Rembrandt house on the request of Queen Wilhelmina on 10th June 1911, it was decided that a number of Rembrandt’s etchings were to be collected and displayed.

The first gift of an etching was provided by Paul Warburg in New York and after that there was no looking back.

In the same year, artist Jozef Israels gifted Rembrandt House Museum six etchings, which include Abraham’s sacrifice from the famous English collections of William Esdaile.

The next donation of eleven etchings was done by Rijksmuseum. After this in May 1913, there was an auction in Amsterdam of thirty-three Rembrandt drawings from the famous English collection of J.P. Heseltine.

The Museum became successful in obtaining four of these famous collections – the ruins of the Old Town Hall in Amsterdam, Woman with a child in her arm, View of the Montelbaenstoren in Amsterdam and Amsterdam and Seated girl, sleeping.

In the present day, Rembrandt House attracts tourists and visitors to come and have a look at the etchings along with other exhibitions.

Such an attempt has helped to restore the lost and the valuable. Salute to those who have tried hard to help this museum come alive once again.

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