Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn (1606-1669) is amongst the greatest painters and engravers of all time. He was undoubtedly the major exponent of the Dutch Golden Age in art, and explored all genres of painting, from the group portrait - which he radically reinvented with The Night Watch - to biblical themes, to his constant engagement with self-portraiture, to landscape. Rembrandt`s career is distinguished by his forceful personality, extraordinary technical ability, unceasing experimentation and vast visual knowledge, ranging from primitive Flemish painters to the Italian Renaissance. In a life marked by glory, misery, relationships contrary to bourgeois morality and numerous bereavements, Rembrandt always strove to represent reality and nature through isolating its innermost truth, in a search often opposed to artistic convention and the decorum of contemporary society. The book includes works from the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam (4); Mauritshuis, The Hague; Staatliche Museen, Gemaeldegalerie, Berlin; Staedelsches Kunstinstitut, Frankfurt; Alte Pinakothek, Munich; Mus