April 28, 2006

Rembrandt's 400th birthday is coming up in July this year. Here's the Webmuseum's introduction to Rembrandt, and here's Rembrandt's house. According to legend, Rembrandt had a pet monkey: when it died, he was so upset he painted it into the family group he was working on at the time, causing the client to reject the picture. Some say the picture still exists, but I'm not convinced myself.
posted by Plegmund 18 years ago
  • What a nice way to start a Friday, Pleg! I think I've found my new desktop wallpaper.
  • Master of Light. That's not bad for a guy who shit in a bucket.
  • I don't see no monkey. I see a walrus.
  • I need to visit the Netherlands to go to the museums. I love Dutch painters, especially Rembrandt and Pieter Brugel.
  • Bruegel was Flemish, but same thing. /pedant I love Vermeer.
  • I see a leg of lamb.
  • I can't really see the rest of the body, but I can definitely see the monkey's head on a more high res picture. *peels walrus sticker off Chyren's screen, sneaks off*
  • A Rembrantasy Our monkey's alive. And this story is false. If and when he dies we'll lay him in our family vault. That mark? Where the lady spilled her wine and then scrubbed it about like turpentine. Her husband says it's spoiled and he won't pay but I won't refund the fee he gave me yesterday.
  • The original version of the painting has recently come to light. I can understand the patron being a little upset.
  • When I first saw the painting I laughed out loud at the very very obvious monkey. Go Remrandt! Of course I quickly relised that I was lauging at the young daughter of the patron. Oops.
  • Realised, laughing. Not previewing.
  • Bruegel was Flemish, but same thing. /pedant I had just thought I heard that much of his work was in the royal museum in the Netherlands (which city?). Maybe I had that wrong - if not, I wonder how the collection was built? Was Flemish a separate identity in the sixteenth century? The Low Countries hadn't been divided between the republic and the Austrian/Spanish Netherlands (now Belgium) yet at that point.
  • Gosh, I'm not even sure, now. /confused