Dutch painter Harmensz van Rijn Rembrandt (1606–1669) was born on this day in Leiden, Holland. One of history's greatest artists, he created over 500 paintings, 300 etchings, and 1,000 drawings. His Biblical scenes and self-portraits celebrated wisdom, love, and faith.

“Painting is silent poetry, and poetry painting that speaks,” explained lyric poet Simonides.

Rembrandt captured poetic passion and the personalities of his subjects. A deeply religious man who painted with color, he was a master of chiaroscuro—the ability to portray the contrast of light and shadow in a painting.

“Choose only one master,” said Rembrandt. “Nature.”

He excelled in landscapes, still lifes, and portraits. By age 30, he was the most successful painter in Holland and one of the first to regularly paint self-portraits.

“Painting is the grandchild of nature. It is related to God,” he believed. Masterpieces like Self-Portrait (1692), Night Watch (1642), and Jewish Bride (1665) remain deeply moving to this day.

Art critic Sister Wendy Beckett praised Rembrandt’s “tender reverence” and purity as an artist. “I am certain that Rembrandt never sold out,” she said.

His greatness, wrote artist Robert Henri in The Art Spirit, “lies in his intense feeling for his subject… It is as though the brush stroke had come out of the lifeblood of the model.”

Calling him “everyman's painter,” biographer Gladys Schmitt wrote, “It is hard to imagine a day when his canvases, with their mastery, their splendor, and their profundity, will cease to draw and stir our minds.”