The Artist Known as Rembrandt Trivia Quiz

Answer: It is his first name

His full name is Rembrandt Harmenszoon von Rijn. Thank goodness he wasn't known as "Harmenszoon"!

Rembrandt was actually born without the silent "D" in his first name; he tried using it temporarily in his early days of painting, removed it briefly in some of his signatures, then decided he liked it better with the "D" and continued to use it until his death. With the "D" inserted is the common way it is spelled today.

Answer: Vincent van Gogh

The Baroque Era of Art is firmly set in the 17th century. Rembrandt, Vermeer and Steen were all born in the early 1600's and died close to the year 1670. Van Gogh lived in the second half of the 19th century.

Answer: University of Leiden

All of these colleges and universities exist, but Rembrandt went to his home college of the University of Leiden. Founded in 1575, it is still looked upon by some as one of the top 100 universities in the world.

Answer: Sculpture

There are no surviving sculptures of Rembrandt today, so it is generally assumed it wasn't a medium he looked to work in. Overall, scholars estimate Rembrandt did over 3,000 works between etching, drawing and painting. A Google search of "Rembrandt Sculpture" will bring up a fair amount of links.

But this will likely be of 19th century sculptor Rembrandt Bugatti, a very prolific sculptor who only lived to 31.

Answer: Biblical Scenes

Stories from the Bible are a staple in Rembrandt's total surviving body of work. Scenes that he painted involve Stephen the martyr, Paul the apostle, Abraham and Isaac, Jesus' crucifixion and the blinding of Samson. There is a painting of a windmill near a river still in existence titled simply "The Mill", but this is simply to say he developed a marine theme in his paintings.

Answer: False

No, quite the contrary. Their life together was affluent, but they lived often beyond their means, and when Saskia fell ill, Rembrandt had an affair with her nurse. That would result in alimony payments to the nurse even after Saskia's death. And if that wasn't enough, he had a child out of wedlock with yet another woman, Hendrickje Stoffels, and they were considered married under common law, but never actually performed the nuptials.

Some just don't learn their lesson.

Answer: Huygens

Constantin Huygens, son of physicist Christiaan Huygens, found some of Rembrandt's art and brought it to the attention of his boss, Prince Frederik Hendrik. That led to a seventeen-year business relationship that put Rembrandt firmly on the map in Amsterdam and allowed him to make a fine living as an artist.

Answer: True

From the time he left the university to the time of his death, Rembrandt continued to boost his financial situation by teaching painting. There is some fogginess as to who is for sure a pupil of his. Because since Rembrandt was so prominent, many copied his style in order to palm off Rembrandt knockoffs for those looking to get one.

Some of his pupils included Willem Drost, Samuel Dirksz van Hoogstraten, and Jan Victors.

Answer: Night Watch

The title "Night Watch", or "Nachtwacht" in Dutch, was coined by other painters in the 18th century, certainly not by Rembrandt. Because this title is one of the more misleading monikers brought upon a painting in art history. After 100 years of wear, the painting, depicting a group of swordsmen leaving a hall, grew dingy and dark. After restorers had cleaned it up years after the "Night Watch" title had stuck, it was discovered that the scene showed the musketeer-like men leaving the hall ... in broad daylight.

The work is enormous. It measures 11'x14', and hangs in Amsterdam's Rijksmuseum.

Answer: Stereo Blindness

In 2004, a professor of neurobiology named Margaret S. Livingstone did a study on Rembrandt and determined that his lack of binocular vision made his brain focus all of its sight through one eye. While this can be a difficulty in real life, Livingstone feels this aided him in his painting, as many artists resort to closing one eye to gain a two-dimensional view of what they are trying to paint. If Rembrandt had that on a permanent basis it could be considered an advantage for painting portraits.