Rembrandt - St Paul and other Portraits

In the late 1650s, Rembrandt van Rijn was a man on a downward slide.

Where once he had risen the the illustrious heights of being one of the most famous (and wealthiest) artists in all of Amsterdam - now, his life seemed perpetually marred by tragedy. . . from losing three out of his four children shortly after their births - to the death of his first wife (Saskia) when she was only thirty years old - to the drying up of commissions and the financial difficulties which had left him borderline bankrupt.

Truly, the great man must have been suffering in ways that few can ever fully understand.

Yet in the midst of all this struggle, painting remained just about the only solace he still had. And with our main portrait here today, we can see Rembrandt’s depths of emotion brought to light in extraordinary form.

St Paul the Apostle - 1659 (National Gallery, London)

Dating from the year 1659 - Rembrandt’s “Paul the Apostle” is not a religious painting at all.

The title is given only in the hope that it might have made the work sellable (after all, there was never much of a market place for “portrait of an unknown man”)

So while Rembrandt does seem to have identified with St Paul throughout his life (even once painting a self portrait in the guise of the apostle) - here the real motivation is much deeper.

Detail from above

St Paul is not quite a physical likeness. Yet there is no doubt at all that he is intended a kind of emotional self portrait instead . . . reflecting the master’s true feelings at this stage of his life.

He is a man alone (truly - all too alone) - gazing off into an uncertain future, with those tragic eyes, and that pensive brow.

And much like Rembrandt’s other more traditional self portraits towards the end of his life, there is a noticeable new sense of self doubt here . . . almost as if Paul is, for a moment, questioning his own courage to carry on - just as Rembrandt himself would have done on so many lonely nights.

Bonus Section (Paid only)

Todays portrait is actually one of a series of half length works Rembrandt painted between 1659 and 1668 - all of which tell us far more about the artist himself than the figures he is claiming to portray.

So, with our little bonus section, I wanted to include a few more highlights from this period of Rembrandt’s career (Including close up details) - because, once again, they show us how great portraiture is not necessarily always about exactly “who” is being portrayed . . . but, rather, it about connecting us with emotion.

In other words - they do not just make us look. They make us feel.