Early Painting-2
The self-portraits also may have served to demonstrate Rembrandt's command of chiaroscuro; thus, it is difficult to tell what Rembrandt looked like from such a self-portrait as the one painted about 1628(Rijksmuseum, on loan from the Daan Cevat Collection, England), in which deep shadows cover most of his face, barely revealing his features. On the other hand, in none of these youthful self-portraits did Rembrandt attempt to disguise his homely features. Biblical subjects account for about one-third of Rembrandt’s entire production. This was somewhat unusual in Protestant Holland of the 17th century, for church patronage was nonexistent and religious art was not regarded as important. In Rembrandt’s early biblical works, drama was emphasized, in keeping with baroque taste. Among Rembrandt’s first major public commissions in Amsterdam was the Anatomy Lesson of Dr. Tulp (1632, Mauritshuis, The Hague). This work depicts the regents of the Guild of Surgeons gathered for a dissection and lecture. Such group portraits were a genre unique to Holland and meant substantial income for an artist in a country where neither church nor royalty acted as patrons of art. Rembrandt’s painting surpasses commemorative portraits made by other Dutch artists with its interesting pyramidal arrangement of the figures, lending naturalism to the scene.