Description

Few who walk past No. 4 Breestraat in Amsterdam would give this unassuming house a second glance. Yet for 20 years, this was the home of Rembrandt--one of the greatest painters in history, king of the Dutch Golden Age of art. This is the story of that house, the world Rembrandt observed in and around it and the special universe he created in his studio there. In this unique and imaginative portrait, Anthony Bailey pieces together the events and circumstances which shaped Rembrandt's career--from his beginnings in Leiden and early apprenticeship to his marriage and personal relationships; his restless artistic energy, creative triumphs, and, finally, his slow fall into financial hardship. With as many levels and hidden corners as the house Bailey describes, this is at once biography, travel writing, and history of a golden cultural age.