Getty Museum
Two Thatched Cottages with Figures at a Window
Creator
Rembrandt Harmensz. van RijnDutch Artist · 1606–1669
All works by this person →The ninth child of well-to-do millers, Rembrandt Harmensz. van Rijn was born in Leiden on July 15, 1606. In 1620, after two years at Leiden University, Rembrandt became the pupil of Jacob van Swanenburgh. He subsequently moved to Amsterdam to apprentice with the leading history painter in the Netherlands, Pieter Lastman, absorbing his colorful palette and eloquent narrative approach. After six mon
More on Getty ULAN- Date
- about 1640
- Medium
- Pen and brown ink, corrected with white gouache
- Culture
- Dutch
- Department
- Drawings
- Institution
- Getty Museum
Around 1640, Rembrandt van Rijn made five drawings, similar in setting and technique, of these two thatched cottages. Unlike most of his landscapes, this drawing almost entirely eschews atmospheric effects in favor of building up monumental architectural and textural forms with bold strokes of the quill pen. The larger house's monumentality and detail contrasts with the cursory jottings that compose the neighboring house and the few squiggly lines that indicate the earth. As always, Rembrandt drew only what was essential. His animated line moved vigorously across the sheet, creating rich and varied effects of texture and surface. At this point in his career, Rembrandt delighted in exploring the visual impact of varied, dense lines, as seen in the moss growing in the thatched roof of the nearest house. Rembrandt's bold quill pen work here brings to mind the work of Vincent van Gogh two-and-a-half centuries later.
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