[Bredius Collection, the Hague
PORTRAIT OF REMBRANDT'S MOTHER
(ABOUT 1628)]
Rembrandt's childhood, considering the condition of his father, was, we may be sure, at least a comfortable one, though of details we have none. We cannot even say where he learned to read and write, for neither of which exercises did he subsequently exhibit much affection. Probably at home, where maybe Coppenol, the great master of writing, at that time included among the fine-arts under the style of Caligraphy, taught him, and possibly gave him his first lessons in drawing also; for the art he professed, with its elaboration of curves and flourishes, and its, to our eyes, somewhat childish pictorial perversions, was a singular commingling of the two. One thing at least we may feel certain of, that it was at his mother's knee he began the study of the Bible, which she herself read so constantly, if we may judge by its frequent appearance in his portraits of her, and which he, following in her footsteps, knew so thoroughly and drew upon so often for inspiration.
The next fact we find chronicled is a passage in Orlers to the effect that his parents sent him to school to learn the Latin tongue, in preparation for the University of Leyden, that when he came of age he might by his knowledge serve the City and Republic; and in fulfilment of this laudable ambition we find that entry on May 25th, 1620, as a student in the Faculty of Letters, which has already been noted in another connection. But by this time, by what means we know not, the art craving was fully aroused, and his parents' ambitious scheme for his serving the City and Republic was as nothing beside his own irresistible desire to express himself in form and colour. He proved, we are told, but an unwilling scholar, the lines of Virgil and Ovid were lifeless to him, in comparison with those of Lucas van Leyden; and his elders, yielding with a fortunate wisdom to the inevitable, gave up the effort to make a statesman of him, and consented to apprentice him, according to his wish, to a painter to learn first principles from him.
CHAPTER II
ART EDUCATION AND EARLY WORKS
The exact date of this first step on the road to fame is also still somewhat uncertain. Vosmaer believes it was in 1619, but the assertion of Orlers that when his parents allowed him to abandon the unloved Latin, they apprenticed him to a painter, is so precise, that it is unreasonable to suppose that his father should have returned to the attack. We may consequently assume that the final desertion of the Muses and enlistment in the cause of the Arts came after, not before, that enrolment at the University—that is to say, late in 1620 or perhaps early in 1621. Further facts go to prove this point. His first apprenticeship, in accordance with the rules of the Guilds of Saint Luke, lasted three years, and came to an end therefore in 1623 or early in 1624. He then went to a second master in Amsterdam, but remained with him only six months; so that in either case the date of his leaving Amsterdam and returning to Leyden would have been some time in 1624. Now there is no doubt that it was in 1624 that this took place, and the only obvious conclusion is that his first apprenticeship did not commence before 1620.
The painter who was then chosen for the honour of first guiding the hand of the young Rembrandt, by which honour he is nowadays almost alone distinguished, was Jacob van Swanenburch. A man of good position, the son of one painter, the brother of another, and of an engraver, he was not, judging by his only known picture, "A Papal Procession in the Piazza of St Peter," artistically speaking, of much account, and it was probably more for personal reasons, and because of his propinquity, than for his conspicuous talents that he was selected. He was able only to impart "the first elements and the principles" of his art to his young pupil, as Orlers tells us; but indeed these were all that were needed by one with such an overmastering personality, with so powerful an artistic inspiration and energy. So successful was the process that Orlers describes his advance in craftsmanship as so swift and steady that his fellow-citizens were completely astounded by it, and could already foresee the brilliant career to which he was destined. We must, however, remember in weighing this statement that it was written when that career was at its most brilliant stage, and is to some extent the proverbial safe prophecy of one who knows.