Rembrandt van Rijn (rem-brant van ryne) was born in the Dutch city of Leiden. As a child, his only interest in school was drawing and painting, so his parents took him out of school and apprenticed him to a local painter when he was only 14. He developed a style of using light values to emphasize what he thought was important, and dark shadows to make the rest of the work subordinate.

In 1631, Rembrandt moved from Leiden to Amsterdam, where he became very successful painting portraits. He eventually married Saskia, a woman from a wealthy family. Unfortunately, he spent most of his income and never gave a thought to managing his wealth.

During this successful period of Rembrandt’s life, Saskia bore four children, none of whom lived. Finally, in 1641, a son named Titus was born and survived, but in 1642 Saskia died. She left her fortune to Rembrandt with the condition that he would never marry again. Unable to manage money, Rembrandt lost his fortune. As a result, Rembrandt's work became more personal and expressionistic. Because of these changes, people were no longer anxious to have him paint their portraits.

In 1649, Hendrickje Stoffels came to live with Rembrandt. She and Titus took over the management of Rembrandt's finances. They protected him from creditors. Hendrickje died in 1663, Titus died in 1668, and Rembrandt died in 1669. In spite of his adversities, Rembrandt left more than 600 paintings, 300 etchings, and 2,000 drawings.